Almost two months after the state Board of Governors voted down the University of Florida’s top pick to be its next president, silence has largely surrounded what happens next.
Interim President Kent Fuchs’ contract expires July 31. The fall semester begins Aug. 20.
But the school doesn’t appear to be in a rush for a solution.
[Read more: After Ono’s rejection, what’s next for the University of Florida?]
At a virtual board of trustees meeting Wednesday, Board Chairperson Mori Hosseini said the university was looking for an interim president after July 31 and hoped to start a new search for a permanent leader in “this coming year.”
“We’ll get back and have another meeting on this once we know the direction we’re going,” Hosseini said.
Much remains unclear since the dramatic questioning session that led to the Board of Governors’ unprecedented decision to vote down former University of Michigan President Santa Ono, whom the UF trustees unanimously selected as their top choice with the help of the search firm SP&A.
It is unclear if UF plans to retain the same firm. The University of South Florida, which also has an open presidential spot, had initially planned to use SP&A as well, but later announced it would not. The costs of a second search — as well as the applicant pool — also remain unclear.
Republican state legislators have called for a more open search process since Ono was denied. Rumors swirled last week that Gov. Ron DeSantis wanted to make first lady Casey DeSantis the interim president, but a spokesperson for the university said there was no truth to that rumor.
Faculty union chairperson Meera Sitharam said the “sea of interims” — from deans to the provost — at the university has led to a feeling of instability.
Fuchs said Wednesday that despite the changes, the university saw its second-highest fundraising year ever, bringing in more than $560 million in new gifts and commitments, and reached an all-time record for research expenditures.