January 25, 2010. (Updated January 26) Over the past year the University’s top administrators have become especially adept at claiming there’s absolutely no money in the school’s coffers. But mention a new medical school and they’re ready to mortgage the farm. FAU’s pursuit of a medical school, particularly in these difficult times when Florida faces increasing budget shortfalls, will be bad for faculty, students, and the entire FAU community. Here’s why.
The FAU administration’s medical school proposal states that FAU can run the school with no additional dollars, if the state agrees to continue to provide the College of Biomedical Science with the 12 million dollar line item it currently enjoys. However, in all probability the School will require a good deal of extra money, and this money will have to come from other colleges, tuition increases and ultimately dollars that would normally go toward bolstering the already meager salaries of FAU faculty.
An even more troubling scenario is that the failure to request adequate funds to run the proposed medical school will likely lead to faculty layoffs, and Biomedical Science faculty are in a tough spot. A few years ago the FAU administration unilaterally took Biomed faculty out of the bargaining unit protected by the UFF-BOT Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on current university regulations, the Dean of Biomedical Science will be entitled to layoff whomever he chooses without regard to rank or tenure in order to keep the fledgling medical school afloat.
A medical school at FAU at this juncture is simply a bad idea–bad for students, faculty and staff, and the overall continued viability of FAU’s higher education mission.
FAU Medical Program a Milestone for School, County
Letter to the Editor by FAU President John Pritchett
January 25, 2010.
There are moments in the life of a university when it becomes clear that the institution is poised to take a quantum leap forward. Such a moment is unfolding at Florida Atlantic University right now. Last Wednesday, FAU’s board of trustees unanimously approved a proposal to end the university’s medical education partnership with the University of Miami and transition to FAU’s medical education program, in cooperation with The Scripps Research Institute. Read more at palmbeachpost.com
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