AGB in the News

When the University of West Florida’s Board of Trustees convenes soon, it will be the first time in at least five years in which all 13 seats are filled. This board, however, will have fewer local faces and more far-right leaning trustees with conservative views. Gov. Ron DeSantis last week announced the appointments of five new UWF trustees – Paul Bailey, Gates Garcia, Adam Kissel, Scott Yenor and Chris Young. As governor, DeSantis appoints six trustees to the board.

Outgoing University of Texas President Jay Hartzell wants his successor to focus on the “North Star.”“My hope for the next person in that chair is that they continue to think about how to move that great institution forward,” he said. The next leader of UT’s flagship campus will likely have other challenges to focus on as Republican politicians train their sights on remaking higher education with bills that could target faculty groups and further restrict diversity efforts on public campuses.

As the incoming Trump administration develops plans to seize control of American universities from the “Marxist maniacs” who allegedly rule them, it’s worth taking a closer look at their systems of governance.

News about former AGB Board Chair, L. Thomas Melly.

The next step in selecting the Community College of Rhode Island’s (CCRI) new president has been announced. The Council on Postsecondary Education announced on Tuesday who’s on the committee in charge of picking CCRI’s next leader. This process comes after Dr. Megan Hughes, who was president of CCRI since 2016, stepped down in August 2023. These are the members of the committee:Smith and Ortiz are co-chairs of the search committee.

(Subscription Required) At colleges across New England, no-confidence votes are piling up. Three times in as many years, professors at Lesley University came together to cast ballots over whether their president was fit to continue in her post. Then, just since May, similar moves to grab university presidents’ attention — or remove them entirely — occurred at Emerson and Brandeis.

Outgoing Alachua County Sheriff Emery Gainey is the newest member of the Florida A&M University (FAMU) Board of Trustees, courtesy of an appointment by Gov. Ron Desantis. The Governor named Gainey, who also chairs the Santa Fe College District Board of Trustees, to the 13-member FAMU Board. The move comes about a year and four months after DeSantis appointed Gainey as Alachua Sheriff.

Marked by large-scale campus protests, congressional hearings on antisemitism and waning public trust, 2024 was a hard year for college presidents.

When a typical student applies to UNC-Chapel Hill, they might submit their application and go months without hearing an update from the university. But for applicants who have ties to members of the university’s Board of Trustees, updates about admission are more readily available – just a text message away in some cases.

College enrollment has been falling in recent years, largely due to declining birth rates. For struggling schools, risk-sharing fees could tip the balance, said Larry Ladd, a consultant with the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.

The search for the next permanent president/superintendent at College of the Desert has been canceled, after a reported breach of confidentiality by “one or more members of the presidential search committee has compromised the fairness and trust that are fundamental to this process,” the college’s spokesperson said in a statement. The search committee includes 19 voting members, all of whom signed confidentiality agreements. The board of trustees approved the committee’s structure at the Aug.

PALM DESERT — It has long been said that it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind, and Laura Hope has exercised her prerogative and changed her mind — again. She has officially applied for the permanent position of Superintendent/President of College of the Desert, Nicholas Robles, Interim Public Information Officer & Interim Director of Educational Partnerships, confirmed for Uken Report. First, she was applying, then she wasn’t, and now she is.