Four months into the presidency of Adam Hasner, Florida Atlantic University finds itself on the Board of Governors’ “watchlist” for its low score on the state ranking system.
Each year, the State University System scores Florida’s 12 public universities on 10 “performance-based metrics.” Out of a possible 100 points for the 2024-25 year, FAU got 76. That was a drop of eight points from the previous year. Only Florida Gulf Coast University, at 67 points, scored lower.
Three metrics brought down FAU’s score. The university got just three of 10 points in academic progress—keeping first-year students enrolled for a second year with a grade point average of at least 2.0—a C. FAU also got just one point for its three-year graduation rate of students who transferred after obtaining an associate’s degree and for its six-year graduation rate of students who received a federal Pell Grant in their first year. Pell Grants go to students from low-income families.
FAU was the only university to score lower year over year. If its score drops again this year, FAU will have to submit a “student success plan” to the Board of Governors for approval. Florida Gulf Coast must do that this year. Though its score rose, the university got below a 70 for the second straight year.
Like Florida’s grading system for public schools, the university rankings may not present a true picture. A year of success in one area may make a similar gain harder to achieve.
In addition, a system that compares the University of Florida—with traditional students from lots of affluent families—and FAU may be unfair. FAU has a higher percentage of non-traditional students who take longer to graduate. And as Hasner told the Board of Governors at its meeting last month, 60% of FAU students are eligible for Pell Grants.
Nevertheless, the scores matter. They determine how much supplemental money a university will receive from the state. The Board of Governors can withhold money from universities that must present a “student success plan” until scores improve.
That 76 is also FAU’s lowest score since 2017, the second year the university system began compiling them. Since then, FAU never had scored below 80 and hit a high of 91 in 2021.
I asked FAU for comment from Hasner and did not hear back by deadline for this post. I was told later that he’s on vacation. I also was told that Hasner spoke with the administration’s chief data-cruncher and directed money to those problem areas. That’s what former President John Kelly did after FAU dropped to a 72 in 2017.
For all of Hasner’s lofty comments to the Board of Governors when it met last month in Boca Raton about FAU’s research work, the metrics remind that the university’s core mission is teaching undergraduates. Because Hasner has no background in higher education, responding to the watchlist designation will be a big early test.
That low score also could reflect the fact that FAU has been without a permanent president since Kelly retired in December 2022. The Board of Governors ended the first search a year later after it did not anoint Gov. DeSantis’ preferred choice—Randy Fine, a former state legislator who now serves in Congress.
Similarly, FAU also has not had a permanent provost—the chief academic officer—for three years. That person will be most responsible for implementing any improvement plan. In May, administrators held two “listening sessions” as part of a national search.
When FAU trustees chose Hasner, they acknowledged his lack of relevant experience but claimed that his ties to Tallahassee as a former legislator would help him secure money. Based partly on those scores, though, FAU will get roughly $32 million less in the July 2025 allocation than Florida International University in Miami, from which FAU is trying to distinguish itself. FIU’s last three scores have been 95, 96 and 96. As for more money from the state, Board of Governors Chairman Brian Lamb warned of “rainy days.”
Despite the “watchlist” status, Faculty Senate President William Tripani said, “I think optimism is generally high.” He added, though, “There’s a lot that’s going to happen in the next 12 months [such as the provost choice] that will probably shape our fortunes for the next decade.”
Gov. DeSantis announces new multi-state university accrediting system
Just after that Board of Governors meeting, Gov. DeSantis came to Boca Raton and hosted a press conference on June 26 at FAU.
The governor announced that Florida and five other states would form the Commission for Public Higher Education to create a new accrediting agency for state universities. DeSantis claimed that it would “upend the monopoly of the woke accreditation cartels, and it will provide institutions with an alternative that focuses on student achievement rather than the ideological fads that have so permeated those accrediting bodies over the years.”
Universities must receive accreditation from an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be eligible for federal money and student loans. For universities in Florida, the standard has been the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which is based in Atlanta.
DeSantis claimed that the association requires diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies for accreditation. But in an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel in 2023, the association’s president debunked that notion.
DeSantis’ gripe with the association began in 2021. The association raised questions when the University of Florida first refused to allow professors to testify in a voting-rights case against the state. The association also criticized the governor’s attempt to install former House Speaker Richard Corcoran as president of Florida State University. DeSantis later arranged for Corcoran to take over New College.
As for DEI, in 2021 the Board of Governors—with DeSantis as governor—made such policies a priority. In 2024, as DeSantis prepared to run for president, the board banned funding for DEI.
The Board of Governor will decide Friday whether to incorporate the Commission for Public Higher Education in Florida. The other states would be Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
An FAU petition aims to end campus police cooperation with ICE
Speaking of FAU, a petition drive seeks to have the university’s police department drop its cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Organizers note that nearly 4,000 students attended FAU last year on visas. The Trump administration has sought to revoke such visas, the latest example coming last month for students at Harvard. FIU was an earlier target.
DeSantis, though, this year issued an executive order that requires local police departments to have agreements with ICE under the 287(g) program. How agencies interpret that cooperation can differ. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said his deputies will assist only if the feds have a warrant; he wants the office to focus on “the bad guys.”
FAU’s police department confirmed its agreement in April. Little time remained before most students went home. Things may change in the fall. Either way, though, I doubt FAU will challenge the governor on this issue, no matter how many people sign the petition.
Political lines drawn in Delray budget discussion
Delray Beach city commissioners will hold their first serious discussion today about next year’s budget. Apparently, the lines remain drawn.
In advance of the workshop meeting, Mayor Tom Carney sent out an email with the subject line “Say No to New Taxes!” Carney told residents that he is “standing firm to protect your wallets” as he did last year.
In 2024, Carney and Commissioners Juli Casale and Thomas Markert approved a property tax rate that resulted in no overall increase in what residents paid. They did so over the objections of Commissioners Angela Burns and Rob Long.
City Manager Terrence Moore has presented four options—from holding to the current rate of roughly $5.90 per $1,000 of assessed value to a high of $6.26. The higher the rate, the higher the operating budget. It pays for most basic services, the largest share going for police and fire services. Whatever option the commission chooses, the budget will be about $200 million.
According to the staff presentation, the preliminary calculation resulted in a deficit of almost $24 million. After expense cuts, leaving positions vacant and factoring in turnover, the shortage went to about $7 million. The city would cover the shortage with money from reserves.
The political lines on the budget mirror those on the police contract, which the commission has yet to approve and could affect the budget numbers. Carney, Casale and Markert say the city can’t afford the union’s demand for a change in retirement rules. Burns and Long say the city can.
When I spoke with Carney on Monday, he noted correctly that the city already has raised or soon will raise rates for water/sewer service, flood control and trash pickup. He also mentioned the increasing cost of insurance, over which the city has no control. Carney wants more cuts to the budget.
I’ll have more after the meeting.
PBC to receive federal reimbursement for assisting Secret Service
Like all congressional Democrats, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel voted against President Trump’s tax and spending bill. But she did note that the bill will reimburse Palm Beach County for the cost of local law enforcement to assist the Secret Service in protecting Trump.
According to county officials, that cost is $240,000 per day when Trump is at Mar-a-Lago. During his second term, Trump has been spending much more time in Palm Beach. The bill covers expenses for the next five years.
