Update: Senate approves funding for stand alone FSU engineering school

Update: Senate approves funding for stand alone FSU engineering school


"State senators Thursday afternoon approved on a voice vote funding for Florida State University to begin planning for its own engineering school and ending its joint College of Engineering with Florida A&M University.
The proposal, first raised Wednesday evening as an amendment to the state’s $75 billion budget plan"

"Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine and the most prominent and powerful member of the Seminoles Caucus in the Legislature, insisted his amendment would not harm FAMU and that the result would be more admissions for black engineering students if FAMU had its own, stand-alone College of Engineering.

He said the college’s accreditation agency requires admission requirements be the same for all students and that FAMU students have been decreasing in the college.

“If I thought for one second that this was not going to enhance the Florida A&M University engineering school, I wouldn’t do it,” Thrasher said.

His amendment added $3 million to an existing $10 million in the Senate’s budget for FSU to begin planning for a new building. Thrasher said FAMU would continue to get the money it has been receiving from the state for the College of Engineering.

“This is new money which would go toward creating an operational fund for consideration of creation of a program,” Thrasher said."

"Thrasher said the leadership of both universities were already working on figuring out a way forward.

“I do know the two presidents met this morning,” Thasher said. “They agreed to create a joint memorandum of understanding that would go to development of this particular process. While we will hopefully adopt this today, I will abide by that memorandum of understanding. I believe these two presidents can work in good faith.”

Thrasher said the breakup of the engineering school had been “a topic of conversation for a long time” between former interim FAMU President Larry Robinson and former FSU President Eric Barron."

"The Senate’s version of the state spending plan is still being debated this afternoon. The House earlier in the day passed its version, which does not include the funding for FSU.

After each chamber has passed its separate plans, conference committees work out differences. An agreed budget will likely be passed before the Legislature’s scheduled May 2 adjournment."

"Stokes said FSU was not involved in the proposal to create a separate engineering program at FSU, but that FSU welcomed the proposed $13 million addition to the Senate budget, Mangum said.

“This proposal was a gift to them,” Mangum said. “They did not initiate it, but are supportive of it moving forward.”

FAMU had not been informed of any plans to separate the joint FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, created in 1983 by the Legislature, until Sen. John Thrasher added the amendment Wednesday. "