TALHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The former lieutenant governor of Florida has been appointed the sole finalist to become the next president of Florida International University.
The unanimous choice of former Republican state legislator Janet Nunez’s Presidential Search Committee – she Interim president of the school He has been supported by the Republican Party since February Governor Ron DeSantis.
With over 56,000 students, FIU is one of the largest universities in the country and serves a significant population of Hispanic, first-generation, and low-income students.
Nuñez has been appointed to a temporary position after FIU Board Chairman Roger Tovar contacted her directly from Desantis’s office about tapping her for work.
“I can’t defend FIU any better than a South Florida alumni who worked for the Florida State Legislature and her days as lieutenant governor,” Tovar said at the time.
Nunez earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the university.
In a statement Thursday, Carlos Duart, head of the FIU search committee and vice-chairman of the board, announced that Nuñez has been selected after showing that he will only remain in the running if the other two finalists are nominated as the sole candidates.
“President Nuññez’s renowned career and commitment to further strengthening FIU’s further position as a leader in higher education across Florida and across the nation will make him an outstanding leader at FIU at this pivotal point of his university journey,” DuArt said.
Under the influence of Desantis, the board, which was tasked with hiring presidents of state public universities and universities, More and more Republican politicians are choosing Allied with his conservative agenda – Patterns that have Many students and professors were wary..
Select Desantis’ Desantis’s Deputy Commander for the President’s Post – Usually, Six-figure salary And luxury on-campus housing is one of the latest and clearest examples of the governor’s impact on higher education.
Measures designed to curb the governor’s impact on the university’s presidential search failed to pass this legislative session.
Next week, FIU will host a campus forum with Nunez for students, faculty and staff to ask questions. She will then conduct a public interview before the school’s board of directors. Her appointment will be subject to confirmation by the state’s Governor’s Board of Directors.
___Kate Payne is a legional member of the Associated Press/Reports’ American State University News Initiative. American Report It is a non-profit, national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms and reports on secret issues.
Source link
