Bill would remove university presidential searches from behind closed doors

Job applicants for president at a Florida public university or state college would no longer be secret under new legislation filed by two Republicans.

Sen. Alexis Calatayud and Michelle Salzman filed bills to repeal a 2022 law that made the applicants for the lucrative jobs confidential in the first place. Only the finalists can currently be released.

Salzman, of Pensacola, called it landmark legislation and said their proposal would make Florida more transparent by pulling the search and hiring process from behind closed doors so the public can follow all the steps for such an important decision.

SB 1726/HB 1321 would make other changes, including cutting out the Florida Board of Governors from the university presidential search and selection process, so the state board would no longer confirm the new hires or reappointments. 

A Republican-controlled Legislature passed SB 520 in 2022 that shielded the school presidential candidates from public disclosure.

Advocates argued schools would get more applicants if people could apply without worrying about their names getting released — and their current employers finding out. Critics fought against it because they said the public records exemption eroded away at Florida’s open records laws and gave politically connected candidates a boost.

The law was passed when University of Florida, University of South Florida, the University of North Florida,  Florida International University and Florida Gulf Coast University were all searching for new presidents.

The most infamous of those new hires would be UF’s Ben Sasse.

Sasse was the school’s only presidential candidate, UF said.

Shortly after Sasse resigned last year, the UF student newspaper broke the story about Sasse’s overspending. Sasse spent money on lavish parties, hired employees who lived out of state and gave consulting contracts to GOP allies. 

When reached for comment Saturday, Salzman said her legislation “has nothing to do with UF’ and “more to do with creating transparency in bureaucracy.”  

If passed, the bill would take effect July 1.

The next Legislative Session reconvenes Tuesday.

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