When asked at Miami anti-corruption event how his UF commute was funded, Uthmeier said, “Seems like this is what the left news media wants to talk about. I’m focused on fighting crime and public corruption,” and left the room @miamiherald.com www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...
Uthmeier — a political lightning rod w/ relatively thin college classroom experience — has been lecturing students about constitutional law since August
Topics of classroom dicussion run the gamut of federalism and “the implications of executive overreach,” per the AG’s syllabi.
A member of UF’s Board of Trustees set Uthmeier’s faculty hire in motion soon after DeSantis tapped him as AG last winter, the law school’s dean told @miamiherald.com
The campus board is stacked with the governor’s appointees and donors.
Uthmeier is the highest-paid adjunct professor at UF’s Levin College of Law in at least a quarter century, records show.
His $100,000 salary is roughly eight times more than what the median law school adjunct earns.
New: Fla. Attorney General James Uthmeier earns $100k salary as a part-time professor at U. of Fla. law school for just two hours of instruction per week.
The teaching gig pushes his total state paycheck to $240k — nearly $100k more than Gov. RonDeSantis salary. www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...
Is the Republican chairman of U. of Florida’s Board of Trustees the only thing standing between Gator Nation and a full-fledged MAGA takeover? www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
NEW: Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday said the Florida Attorney General’s Office is “looking very seriously” at bringing state charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
(I mostly post on the other app but I’m trying to be more active on here.)
Some personal news: I’m wrapping up my first week as a State Government Reporter for @miamiherald.com’s Tallahassee bureau, where I’m covering all things immigration and education.
Got tips? Email me at garrett.shanley@miamiherald.com
U. of Florida is extending interim President Kent Fuchs’ contract through Sept. 1 as it continues to find a temporary successor after Santa J. Ono’s failed bid. A new search will launch early 2026. www.wuft.org/fresh-take-f...
can perhaps take it where we need to be in the current environment. And it wasn’t me.’”
“After the May 8 meeting and seeing how higher education is changing nationally, she said, ‘I thought, I am not the person to lead that change. I’ve done what I can do, and I’m happy with what I’ve done, and I’m leaving it in good shape. It’s time to give it to someone else who…
“When asked why she resigned, Saunders said, ‘Well, I think any president, if they tell you the truth, walks into the job thinking, this is what I can get done. And I always said the day I cannot move us forward, I will be the first to know, and I will take action.’”
via Outzen: “Did Saunders feel like she was ambushed? She said, ‘Yes. And I thought, ‘What in the world is going on here?’ Because I was not prepared to answer questions about events that happened six years before. And had I been asked beforehand, I would have been ready.’”
At the May 8 meeting, Saunders was confronted with a drag show — titled “Drag Me to Hell — that occured on campus under her watch in 2019. She was also pressed about an $800k NSF grant that referenced social justice
Ex-U. of West Florida prez spoke with Pensacola blogger Rick Outzen about her tenure and decision to resign after eight years in office on the heels of a testy meeting with the school’s new board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis inweekly.net/time-to-go/
Is a career academic who not too long ago was championing “DEI 2.0” fit to lead Florida’s flagship university?
The Florida Board of Governors will decide tomorrow, when they vote on whether to confirm Santa J. Ono as U. of Florida’s next president. @miamiherald.com
Here’s all the numbers and a link to the Ono’s contract: www.flbog.edu/wp-content/u...
Ono’s appointment must still be ratified by the state university system’s Board of Governors on Tuesday. If approved, his contract says he’ll take office Wednesday.
UF trustees unanimously approved Ono as president this week despite mounting right-wing backlash over his past support for DEI efforts. Since he was named as the sole finalist for the UF job, he has repeatedly denounced DEI.
It’s also worth noting that one-fourth of Ono’s tentative UF pay comes from a dual-role as chair of UF Health, the university’s hospital system. Neither Fuchs nor Sasse had that appointment in their contracts.
For context: In October, Ono agreed to a contract extension with @UMich that would have kept him in Ann Arbor until 2032 and raised his potential pay by 79%.
In February, UF’s board approved an annual compensation package of up to $3 million annually for the incoming prez. That same month, both Ono and the chair of the presidential search committee have said he was initially approached about the role — though the exact sequence of events remains unclear.
For comparison, former @UF Prez Ben Sasse’s five-year contract — inked in late 2022 — was worth up to $10m, or $3m a year. Interim prez Kent Fuchs’ agreement includes a base salary of $1m and a performance bonus of up to 15%. Unlike Sasse, Ono’s contract also includes tenure.
NEW: NEW: U. of Florida is offering President-elect Santa Ono a five-year contract valued at up to $15m, equating to $3m annually. Ono’s current contract with U. of Michigan, worth up to $2.5m per year, is among the most lucrative for a public university president.
Is U. of West Florida the next landing spot for one of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ allies?
Sources tell the @miamiherald.com that Manny Diaz Jr., the governor’s education commissioner, will be tapped as interim president on Tuesday.
amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/e...
Jeanette Nuñez took over Florida International University as interim president in February. Here’s the former lieutenant governor’s case for nixing “interim” from her title:
The move comes as Ono faces scrutiny from Florida GOP lawmakers — including the Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds — for his past support for DEI efforts. In March, Ono shuttered DEI initiatives at UMich, where he's currently president. t.co/PBRjk5Wjnd
U. of Florida prez finalist Santa Ono's name was removed from a statement opposing political interference in higher ed, though captures show he was listed as a signatory as recently as Monday, a day after he was named UF's sole finalist. t.co/ilFgXVoY8v
Gov. Ron DeSantis says he had no role in bringing the UMich prez to UF and gave his blessing to the selection process, adding that any incoming Florida university president expecting to push DEI efforts will “run into a brick wall.”
