New Story UF BOT Chair not happy with BD of Governors

[Ldgator]

Ruh-Roh


A message from UF BOT Chair, Mori Hosseini:

As many of you are aware, the State of Florida Board of Governors on Tuesday declined to confirm Dr. Santa Ono as president of the University of Florida. This action is unprecedented in the Board of Governors’ 22-year history.

Dr. Ono is one of the most accomplished academic leaders in the world. He most recently served as president of the University of Michigan, one of the nation’s top ranked public universities. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has led three globally recognized research universities. He has a distinguished record of academic excellence, executive leadership, and public service.

We had a national search led by a committee composed of faculty, the student body president, administrators, alumni, other stakeholders and a representative of the board of governors. The committee unanimously selected Dr. Ono as the recommended finalist in early May.

On May 27, after a thorough public interview and discussion, the UF Board of Trustees unanimously selected Dr. Ono as the 14th President of the University of Florida. The Board of Trustees is the governing body responsible for the leadership and day-to-day oversight of the University of Florida, and it conducted a thorough, deliberative, and principled process in reaching its decision. Our Board of Trustees stands by the integrity of the search, the strength of the candidates it produced, and the principles that guided our work. It also continues to stand by its selection of Dr. Ono and fully supported that selection at the Board of Governors confirmation meeting.

The Board of Governors provides state university system-level oversight, including the statutory mandate that it shall confirm the presidential selection by a university board of trustees. The Board of Governors failure to confirm Dr. Ono is deeply disappointing to our Board of Trustees.

We believe Dr. Ono was uniquely qualified to lead this University at this moment. The symbolism and substance of a sitting president of a university as prestigious as the University of Michigan choosing to come to the University of Florida should not be lost. It was a powerful signal that Florida’s model for higher education — grounded in merit, academic excellence, institutional neutrality, and accountability to students and taxpayers — is earning the trust and interest of top-tier leaders across the country who are ready to advance that vision. Still, we remain focused on our mission and united in our commitment to this institution.

Let me be clear: this moment, while disappointing to our Board of Trustees and many of you, will not diminish the University of Florida’s momentum, with or without Mori Hosseini.

We remain firmly committed to our students, our faculty, our staff, and our role as a national leader in public higher education. Our responsibility now is to move forward with strength, purpose, and an unshakable belief in UF’s future. We will continue to pursue the kind of bold, principled, and forward-thinking leadership that Gator Nation deserves.

Go Gators!

 

[vacate]

I was out of the country the last two weeks. So Ono isn't going to be the next president?

I assume it's because of his history on DEI at Michigan. Seems like that should have been vetted better before recommending him. Anybody have the 30 second version of what happened/where things stand?

 

[sternsgator]

Let's get this guy removed.

 

[vacate]

Let's get this guy removed.

Who are you referencing in "this guy"?

I also just read the Sun's story on it, so answered my own questions.

I am surprised that the BOT didn't get preliminary okays from the BOG before putting him forward. This is a significant issue and it's pretty well known where DeSantis and the public stand on it. Regardless of your views on Ono and the reasons he was rejected, it's sort of governance 101 to make sure you have the votes before you put him forward. He got rejected by a significant majority of the BOG.

 

[dale63]

The board of Trustees dont understand politics. Strange. Somebody screwed up. Lol

 

[sternsgator]

Who are you referencing in "this guy"?

I also just read the Sun's story on it, so answered my own questions.

I am surprised that the BOT didn't get preliminary okays from the BOG before putting him forward. This is a significant issue and it's pretty well known where DeSantis and the public stand on it. Regardless of your views on Ono and the reasons he was rejected, it's sort of governance 101 to make sure you have the votes before you put him forward. He got rejected by a significant majority of the BOG.

Mori Hosseini

 

[SpaceGrits]

"Let me be clear: this moment, while disappointing to our Board of Trustees and many of you, will not diminish the University of Florida’s momentum, with or without Mori Hosseini. "

Go Gators!

Should I read "...Mori Hosseini." as "...Dr. Santa Ono."?

 

[sternsgator]

Should I read "...Mori Hosseini." as "...Dr. Santa Ono."?

Haha, I saw that too. Typo or threatening a resignation?

 

[ebrownisfast]

It’s also being reported that someone on the BOG wanted the role of president and, when he was passed over, became a no vote for Ono. I believe this came out last week during a meeting following the vote. True or not? Idk.

 

[ftball0129]

It’s also being reported that someone on the BOG wanted the role of president and, when he was passed over, became a no vote for Ono. I believe this came out last week during a meeting following the vote. True or not? Idk.

I have not seen that rumor anywhere. I agree the BOT should have spread a wider net and also vetted Ono deeper...but IMO after what has been going on per on campus reports at Michigan which Florida won't tolerate, and the failure of the BOT "unanimous hire" of Sasse....Florida can't risk another failed appointment.

 

[NaturalBornGator]

Unqualified political bosom buddies of DeSantis have been handed plush university president positions: Corcoran, Nunez, and Diaz. If I'm not mistaken, DEI office at UF was eliminated as was the miniscule several million $ budget attached to it in the multi-billion $ enterprise that is UF. And yet, that tiny speck on the dog's tail is driving the future of our esteemed university. Sad day for us Gators.

 

[InstaGator24]

The whole thing is a clusterf*ck. Though I do agree with what some are saying on here and that is, make sure you got the votes first before pushing forward. Otherwise you get this embarassment for everyone to see.

That said, I feel like this is going to be a drawn out search that won't be resolved anytime soon.

 

[ebrownisfast]

Thread…

 

[mkwhi2]

The whole idea that there is a single Board of Governors overseeing every public higher education institution in the state is nuts. Especially when they are all political appointees. DeSantis fans like it today, but will they like it tomorrow with different politicians in office.

Not a good look for a university trying to be a top-tier public university.

 

[dmlgator1]

What you think of Ono aside, not a good look. Any respected future candidate will steer clear of us. That means some half ass politically connected hand picked candidate will wind up getting the job. While politics are an important aspect of this job, so too is having some form of academic background. Not saying I agree with the BoG, but If Ono never had a shot, the BoT should not have stuck there necks out for him. The vote was not even close, so that is truly a failure on their part.

 

[cking6178]

Haha, I saw that too. Typo or threatening a resignation?

Same...was like this is weird...why is this person referring to themselves in the 3rd person all of a sudden.

 

[Bayou Gator]

University President is always an overrated position. These guys (and gals) come and go and circulate with their bag of tricks and then move on when their show gets old.

Sort of like a lot of preachers I’ve known.

 

[AlphaGator1906]

The whole idea that there is a single Board of Governors overseeing every public higher education institution in the state is nuts. Especially when they are all political appointees. DeSantis fans like it today, but will they like it tomorrow with different politicians in office.

Not a good look for a university trying to be a top-tier public university.

Bingo

 

[bgator1]

I thought the BOT was the final word.
Didn't know/understand the role of the BOG.
I hope the next hire is a good one.

 

[sternsgator]

What you think of Ono aside, not a good look. Any respected future candidate will steer clear of us. That means some half ass politically connected hand picked candidate will wind up getting the job. While politics are an important aspect of this job, so too is having some form of academic background. Not saying I agree with the BoG, but If Ono never had a shot, the BoT should not have stuck there necks out for him. The vote was not even close, so that is truly a failure on their part.

Being an academic has very little to do with skill set required to run a large public state school and if anything, most likely a hinderance.

 

[sternsgator]

The whole idea that there is a single Board of Governors overseeing every public higher education institution in the state is nuts. Especially when they are all political appointees. DeSantis fans like it today, but will they like it tomorrow with different politicians in office.

Not a good look for a university trying to be a top-tier public university.

What are you talking about? Desantis fans shouldn't like this because in the future a Dem might appoint a liberal DEI president? That will always happen, and it does in 99% of universities around the country. Desantis won in a landslide, part of his agenda was taking our universities back and he should do so.

 

[rjcarter]

Same...was like this is weird...why is this person referring to themselves in the 3rd person all of a sudden.

Jimmy’s getting upset! 😂

 

[rjcarter]

Same...was like this is weird...why is this person referring to themselves in the 3rd person all of a sudden.

Seinfeld Jimmy GIF - Seinfeld Jimmy - Discover & Share GIFs

Click to view the GIF

tenor.com

 

[bigsnake49]

Unqualified political bosom buddies of DeSantis have been handed plush university president positions: Corcoran, Nunez, and Diaz. If I'm not mistaken, DEI office at UF was eliminated as was the miniscule several million $ budget attached to it in the multi-billion $ enterprise that is UF. And yet, that tiny speck on the dog's tail is driving the future of our esteemed university. Sad day for us Gators.

They have also be handing out judgeships at several DCAs.

 

[drs4114]

I thought the BOT was the final word.
Didn't know/understand the role of the BOG.
I hope the next hire is a good one.

It always has been. I believe this is the first time ever that they failed to ratify the recomendation of the Board of Trustees. Smells to me to be political on our governors part.

 

[Hotlanta_Bill]

View embedded media

Thread…

JBFC...what a cluster

 

[GatorMosc]

I don’t care what political party someone is affiliated with, but allowing appointed politicians to ultimately approve or deny a University president is ridiculous. Sometimes it seems like we have devolved into an Us vs Them culture with no in between or civility. Crazy the BoT would unanimously approve someone only to be told, “no, pound sand” by political Lackeys.

 

[rulers]

Unqualified political bosom buddies of DeSantis have been handed plush university president positions: Corcoran, Nunez, and Diaz. If I'm not mistaken, DEI office at UF was eliminated as was the miniscule several million $ budget attached to it in the multi-billion $ enterprise that is UF. And yet, that tiny speck on the dog's tail is driving the future of our esteemed university. Sad day for us Gators.

Hey isn’t Mori Hosseini deportable?? I should hope so

 

[LordGator66]

Who cares, I want to win football games

 

[markde]

I want the next president to want to win football games.

 

[claybox]

Who cares, I want to win football games

Well you would’ve like Ono. Big time athletic department supporter.

 

[geofk]

Ruh-Roh


A message from UF BOT Chair, Mori Hosseini:

As many of you are aware, the State of Florida Board of Governors on Tuesday declined to confirm Dr. Santa Ono as president of the University of Florida. This action is unprecedented in the Board of Governors’ 22-year history.

Dr. Ono is one of the most accomplished academic leaders in the world. He most recently served as president of the University of Michigan, one of the nation’s top ranked public universities. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has led three globally recognized research universities. He has a distinguished record of academic excellence, executive leadership, and public service.

We had a national search led by a committee composed of faculty, the student body president, administrators, alumni, other stakeholders and a representative of the board of governors. The committee unanimously selected Dr. Ono as the recommended finalist in early May.

On May 27, after a thorough public interview and discussion, the UF Board of Trustees unanimously selected Dr. Ono as the 14th President of the University of Florida. The Board of Trustees is the governing body responsible for the leadership and day-to-day oversight of the University of Florida, and it conducted a thorough, deliberative, and principled process in reaching its decision. Our Board of Trustees stands by the integrity of the search, the strength of the candidates it produced, and the principles that guided our work. It also continues to stand by its selection of Dr. Ono and fully supported that selection at the Board of Governors confirmation meeting.

The Board of Governors provides state university system-level oversight, including the statutory mandate that it shall confirm the presidential selection by a university board of trustees. The Board of Governors failure to confirm Dr. Ono is deeply disappointing to our Board of Trustees.

We believe Dr. Ono was uniquely qualified to lead this University at this moment. The symbolism and substance of a sitting president of a university as prestigious as the University of Michigan choosing to come to the University of Florida should not be lost. It was a powerful signal that Florida’s model for higher education — grounded in merit, academic excellence, institutional neutrality, and accountability to students and taxpayers — is earning the trust and interest of top-tier leaders across the country who are ready to advance that vision. Still, we remain focused on our mission and united in our commitment to this institution.

Let me be clear: this moment, while disappointing to our Board of Trustees and many of you, will not diminish the University of Florida’s momentum, with or without Mori Hosseini.

We remain firmly committed to our students, our faculty, our staff, and our role as a national leader in public higher education. Our responsibility now is to move forward with strength, purpose, and an unshakable belief in UF’s future. We will continue to pursue the kind of bold, principled, and forward-thinking leadership that Gator Nation deserves.

Go Gators!

So, is this also a letter of resignation? Seems, overall, a very poorly played hand.

 

[bollesboy]

So, is this also a letter of resignation? Seems, overall, a very poorly played hand.

As we have said in earlier posts and said by some folks more in the know, it looks like it is a mistake by whomever actually wrote this up and was meant to refer to Ono and not Hosseini.

And the Board did think they had the required votes when making their unanimous decision, but things changed in the final days leading up to the Board of Governors vote when some of the Florida politicians started voraciously weighing in on Ono’s DEI positions in the past and his flip flopping about his positions then vs now.

 

[geofk]

Oh, okay. Good to understand no mistakes were actually made by decision makers who might put UF in a poor light.

 

[gator1776]

Unqualified political bosom buddies of DeSantis have been handed plush university president positions: Corcoran, Nunez, and Diaz. If I'm not mistaken, DEI office at UF was eliminated as was the miniscule several million $ budget attached to it in the multi-billion $ enterprise that is UF. And yet, that tiny speck on the dog's tail is driving the future of our esteemed university. Sad day for us Gators.

Ummmmm……..what?

 

[rminela]

Is this the final word?

 

[vacate]

Ummmmm……..what?

That was my reaction as well.

Putting aside whether you liked the pick or not (overall I was mixed), this comment made no sense to me for several reasons:

1) The universities in Florida represent a major outlay of taxpayer funds. They absolutely should be subject to the political process and governance requirements of other taxpayer funded entities. Elections have consequences, and one clear outcome in Florida (and nationally) is that the majority of the voters want to eliminate preference-based approaches to running organizations of any kind.

2) DEI isn't just a little office--it's a cultural mindset that goes way beyond the number of people specifically assigned to the office (and that is also true in companies.) It has a significant influence on personnel decisions, admissions, procurement, and many other aspects of running a university.

3) The reason so many gov't entities have bloated financial budgets is exactly the sentiment expressed here--that eliminating a few million dollars from a budget doesn't matter. The budget of any entity is made up of thousands of individual line items that are all small by themselves. If something isn't necessary or doesn't add value to an organization, it doesn't matter whether it's a dollar or a billion dollars--it should be cut.

Universities are at the top of the list of some of the most poorly run organizations in the world. Their productivity has dropped by half in one generation and almost all of them have strayed way beyond their mission. We may not like all of the decisions that politicians make, but the people's representatives need to be much more aggressive in regaining control over public institutions funded by the state (not to mention federal grants and tuition paid by taxpayers.)

 

[duselton]

That was my reaction as well.

Putting aside whether you liked the pick or not (overall I was mixed), this comment made no sense to me for several reasons:

1) The universities in Florida represent a major outlay of taxpayer funds. They absolutely should be subject to the political process and governance requirements of other taxpayer funded entities. Elections have consequences, and one clear outcome in Florida (and nationally) is that the majority of the voters want to eliminate preference-based approaches to running organizations of any kind.

2) DEI isn't just a little office--it's a cultural mindset that goes way beyond the number of people specifically assigned to the office (and that is also true in companies.) It has a significant influence on personnel decisions, admissions, procurement, and many other aspects of running a university.

3) The reason so many gov't entities have bloated financial budgets is exactly the sentiment expressed here--that eliminating a few million dollars from a budget doesn't matter. The budget of any entity is made up of thousands of individual line items that are all small by themselves. If something isn't necessary or doesn't add value to an organization, it doesn't matter whether it's a dollar or a billion dollars--it should be cut.

Universities are at the top of the list of some of the most poorly run organizations in the world. Their productivity has dropped by half in one generation and almost all of them have strayed way beyond their mission. We may not like all of the decisions that politicians make, but the people's representatives need to be much more aggressive in regaining control over public institutions funded by the state (not to mention federal grants and tuition paid by taxpayers.)

That was my reaction as well. Sarcasm aside, it’s worth pointing out that government oversight and organizational competence aren’t exactly synonymous, especially when it comes to complex, mission-driven institutions like research universities.

I agree with you that universities should be accountable to taxpayers and subject to public oversight. No one disputes that. But “elections have consequences” doesn’t mean every decision made by elected officials or politically appointed boards is necessarily wise or grounded in the long-term health of the institution. There’s a difference between accountability and micromanagement.

As for university inefficiency, yes, there’s room for improvement, like in any large institution. But let’s not pretend that political appointees are uniquely positioned to fix those problems. Many of the “bloat” issues are the result of decades of underfunding core academics while over-regulating operations. The idea that aggressive political intervention will solve that is optimistic at best.

We should want thoughtful reform, not performative politics. Rejecting a nominee without a clear, substantive explanation undermines the credibility of the process more than it fixes anything, and it’s going to make it much harder to attract competent, qualified nominees going forward. Who would want to step into that process now, knowing the rules can change midstream?

 

[tightcherry]

Hypocrisy at it's finest ... Stupid is as stupid does and I'm not referring to Dr. Ono.


🥴

 

[BradDad57]

It always has been. I believe this is the first time ever that they failed to ratify the recommendation of the Board of Trustees. Smells to me to be political on our governors part.

It's a state run, state funded system - of course it's "political." It d@mn well better be, given taxpayers' money is being spent. If they (whomever "they" might be) want to do things their own way, they should spend their own money.

The Board of Governors, appointed by the elected Governor, is where that accountability lies. If the people don't like what's being done, they'll speak & things will change.

Board of Trustees needs to pick someone who's an obvious reformer because there's a lot that needs to be reformed. Too much about Ono suggested his talk of reform was lip service - at least, that's what the Board of Governors concluded.