by Kathleen Haughney
The News Service of Florida
The state university system’s governing board decided to end its fight with the Legislature over control of the 11 public universities, voting to drop a lawsuit it joined against the Legislature three years ago.
On a conference call Monday, the board voted unanimously to withdraw from a 2007 lawsuit that former Gov. Bob Graham and several other notable Floridians filed against the Legislature over the board’s right to set tuition, rather than lawmakers. The lawsuit set off a major fight between the Legislature and the university system, and university officials had little clout to push through any initiatives over the last few years.
But in the 2009 legislative session, the relationship between the two bodies began to improve when the Legislature voted to allow the universities some deference in setting tuition above the base rate approved by lawmakers. And when Chancellor Frank Brogan began his tenure as the top university system official in September 2009, he said one of this top priorities was to resolve the lawsuit.
The motion by the board to dismiss the lawsuit also authorizes board chair Ava Parker to negotiate an agreement with legislative leaders to fully outline the governance structure for the university system, clarifying the board’s role versus the Legislature’s.
“After many months of discussion with our legislative leaders, I’m really pleased that we’ve reached a point where we can put this lawsuit behind us with this motion,” said chairwoman Parker.
The discussions with legislative leaders to drop the lawsuit actually began over the summer when University of North Florida President John Delaney was serving as chancellor on an interim basis. Delaney told the News Service Monday after the vote that the decision was a win for both the board and Legislature.
“I think it’s a great start to build the kind of relationship with the Legislature that universities should have,” he said.
Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul also immediately released statements following the board’s decision applauding them for withdrawing from the suit.
“The Board of Governors’ decision today to withdraw from the lawsuit is good news,” Cretul said. “It is a very positive step and in the right direction in our efforts to support and enhance higher education in Florida.”
But the lawsuit hasn’t gone entirely away. Robin Gibson, the lawyer representing Graham, former Florida State University President Sandy D’Alemberte and several other Floridians in the suit, said they are still forging ahead with the case.
Gibson said that the board staff has kept him informed of their discussions with lawmakers and that he won’t really know how the decision affects the case until he sees the agreement worked out between the board and legislative leaders over the governance structure.
The case is set to go to trial on July 6 in Tallahassee. A pretrial conference has been set for a month earlier on June 3.