Are Florida laws chasing university faculty away?

In the months before the Florida Board of Governors met in late March, more than 1,000 people wrote in, mostly to complain. Now, a dozen speakers lined up to be heard in person.

They had come to weigh in on a proposed state rule that would make it harder for university faculty to keep tenure. The board, which oversees the state’s 12 public universities, was nearing a decision. But many in the audience had other concerns.

Gov. Ron DeSantis had been talking since January about his plans to rid higher education of “woke” influences. He spoke of weeding out liberal professors, killing diversity programs and restricting course content. He railed against “zombie studies,” the college majors he saw as frivolous.

The speakers warned of damaging effects. Some faculty, they said, already had taken lower-paying jobs in other states, with more sure to follow. Top professors from elsewhere were staying away. The quality of a college education in Florida would quickly decline, they predicted.

“If you pass this regulation, Florida’s university system will go from the most competitive in the country to the least – and it will happen overnight,” said Andrew Gothard, head of the state’s faculty union.

It wasn’t true, said university system chancellor Ray Rodrigues, pushing back against the notion of a Florida brain drain. In the past when confronted with similar changes, he argued, people made “dire predictions” that hadn’t happened.

Which view is closer to accurate? Three months later, the answer remains elusive.

RISE IN STAFF DEPARTURES, TROUBLE FILLING POSITIONS

But some signs of an exodus are apparent.

The Tampa Bay Times reviewed records showing an upward tick in staff departures at some of Florida’s largest universities. And, as the Board of Governors discovered this spring, doubts about the state’s academic workplace are spreading fast.

Matthew Lata, a music professor at Florida State University, told board members that candidates were turning down positions in his college “because of the perceived anti-higher education atmosphere in the state.”

Talk of the phenomenon is everywhere, he said. “More and more often we are hearing ‘Florida? Not Florida. Not now. Not yet.’”

Across the State University System, the murmurs are getting louder: Some Florida schools are having trouble filling positions.

A candidate who applied to join the University of South Florida’s philosophy department instead took a job at a lowerranked school in another state, pointing to Florida’s political climate.

Among the hundreds of messages sent to the Board of Governors in recent months was an email from a finance professor at the University of Central Florida who wrote to say his department lost a candidate over concerns about tenure.

A University of Florida employee reported giving tours to a half dozen prospective hires, all of whom “expressed mixed feelings about moving to Florida in the current political climate.”

The African American studies department at UF made nine offers while trying to fill three positions. None accepted.

A report from the American Association of University Professors pointed to a law school position that couldn’t be filled and said some candidates were turning down Florida offers with nothing else lined up.

Wyn Everham, a professor of ecology at Florida Gulf Coast University, said it’s becoming more difficult to attract faculty to the Fort Myers school. Open positions that once drew over 200 applicants now see fewer than 20, he said.

The lack of interest isn’t just about state politics, Everham said. Faculty pay in the state hasn’t kept up with the cost of living and the school does not offer tenure to sweeten the deal. People also are wary about moving to a city still recovering from Hurricane Ian, he said.

Everham said his department has lost three of its 19 faculty in the past year, more than any year in memory. Some cited politics; others simply got anotherjob.

What matters, he said, is that qualified educators felt they could do better outside the state.

History professor Robert Cassanello, the union chapter president at UCF, said he hears every other week about job searches at the university where no qualified candidates have applied. He said he worries about the impact on students’ education.

Faculty members, he said, have shared concerns about being called out by online critics like Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist and a DeSantis ally who has been vocal in his opposi

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IF YOU PASS THIS REGULATION, FLORIDA’S UNIVERSITY SYSTEM WILL GO FROM THE MOST COMPETITIVE IN THE COUNTRY TO THE LEAST – AND IT WILL HAPPEN OVERNIGHT,” Andrew Gothard, head of the state’s faculty union.