[Fla-facrlboard] Fwd: FACRL Response to Governor Veto of Florida Plus Program

Thu Jul 2 09:41:40 EDT 2020

Here is the latest news, which is encouraging, if they can work out the legal details.  I was told it might be good strategy to temporarily suspend talks with legislators since the negotiations are now active.

 Florida to rescue ‘essential' online education programs after veto

By Andrew Atterbury

07/01/2020 07:28 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE — “Essential” pieces of a $29.4 million education program vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis will survive and be transferred from the University of West Florida.

The emergency rescue, which sidesteps Florida law and suggests that state officials were unprepared for the far-reaching fallout of the veto, was announced by the State University System Board of Governors and UWF just hours before the cuts took hold at midnight Tuesday.

The Complete Florida Plus Program in its current form will be dismantled. Programs deemed essential will be recreated under a new name, allowing the state to get around a law that put UWF in charge of the program and another that restricts spending on vetoed programs.

Without action, the governor's veto would have disconnected critical services like online library resources used by K-12 students, colleges, and universities across Florida as the state continues to battle economic and health crises triggered by a surge in Covid-19 infections.

Complete Florida, for now, will be kept afloat by reserve funding — the same pool of money state auditors said UWF had improperly tapped from state library resources, eventually leading the Department of Education and governor’s office to seek a change in leadership.

“We are confident that new management will improve oversight and decision-making processes,” the BOG said in a written statement issued late Tuesday.

UWF and the governor’s office signed off on the transition, noting that online education services will be the financial priority.

DeSantis spokesperson Helen Aguirre Ferré said “leftover rolled over funds” will allow the program to continue to operate until the transition.

The board will work with UWF and the Florida Department of Education, the agency that oversees the Florida College System, to move “essential” Complete Florida programs from UWF’s control. The board did not specify which services are considered essential and said more details will be provided in the coming months. It isn't known where the programs will be housed.

Programs like the $3 million initiative that helps former college students return to school to complete their degree are at risk of being cut.

The transition plan sends Florida into murky legal territory.

State law prohibits the governor, the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, and state agencies from authorizing expenditures for programs that were part of a vetoed appropriation.

And transferring Complete Florida away from UWF would conflict with a law that put the university in charge of that program and the Florida Academic Library Services Cooperative, which provides online access to 17 million books to 1.3 million students, faculty and staff.

Complete Florida will survive on $9.8 million in carry-forward accounts, the equivalent of about a third of its budget, according to UWF records. State auditors in March said UWF should repay Complete Florida $2.4 million in carry-forward cash that the university improperly pulled from the program's accounts, which could provide additional dollars.

State University System Chancellor Marshall Criser on Wednesday asked UWF to refrain from spending carry-forward dollars without first consulting system officials.

That way, the system “can ensure the carry forward funds are expended on services that are identified as essential going forward and that you provide an accounting of the funds that are currently encumbered,” Criser wrote in a letter to UWF leaders.

While university officials scramble to reconfigure the program, some 150 employees in Tallahassee, Gainesville and Pensacola are in limbo. Program staffers had not received termination notices as of Wednesday, according to UWF officials.

Gary Fineout contributed to this report.

To view online:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://subscriber.politicopro.com/states/florida/story/2020/07/01/florida-to-rescue-essential-online-education-programs-after-veto-1296642__;!!PhOWcWs!g4_SgQOZ4xe5FtLNNFhC192imGI_YmLslyL30F1Q0BChnRL7A5fLAKjxh2Suj9pF67pfTXcsSQ$ 

Rachel Cooke, MLS, MA
Education & Arts Librarian
Office - Library 225Q
Florida Gulf Coast University
Wilson G. Bradshaw Library
10501 FGCU Blvd. S., Fort Myers, FL 33965
239-590-7606 | rcooke at fgcu.edu | https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://library.fgcu.edu__;!!PhOWcWs!g4_SgQOZ4xe5FtLNNFhC192imGI_YmLslyL30F1Q0BChnRL7A5fLAKjxh2Suj9pF67prx6q_Og$ 
orcid.org/0000-0001-9379-9955<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9379-9955__;!!PhOWcWs!g4_SgQOZ4xe5FtLNNFhC192imGI_YmLslyL30F1Q0BChnRL7A5fLAKjxh2Suj9pF67rNXpUZdg$ >

Florida has a very broad public records law.  As a result, any written communication created or received by Florida Gulf Coast University employees is subject to disclosure to the public and the media, upon request, unless otherwise exempt.  Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records.  If you do not want your email address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity.  Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.

________________________________
From: Fla-facrlboard <fla-facrlboard-bounces at lists.fsu.edu> on behalf of Alyssa Koclanes via Fla-facrlboard <fla-facrlboard at lists.fsu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, July 2, 2020 9:16 AM
To: FACRL Board <fla-facrlboard at lists.fsu.edu>
Subject: [Fla-facrlboard] Fwd: FACRL Response to Governor Veto of Florida Plus Program

Hi All,

Please see the message below from Elijah Scott. Thank you all for your quick turnaround in drafting our response and thank you Guy for sending it out yesterday afternoon!  Hopefully there will be a positive outcome with more awareness of this veto. I sent my email to the Governor yesterday.

Thanks,
Alyssa

--
Alyssa Koclanes, M.A. (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor
Technical Services, Serials, and Instruction Librarian
Eckerd College Library<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.eckerd.edu/library/__;!!PhOWcWs!gXdUk5NPvgXJ4tQCWeGdRtlebYp0_9zdyLXVzRrqjTegJJWAl9wI75QqVkHZbVgdi0pc8-MQ5w$>
727.864.8460

Eckerd College<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.eckerd.edu__;!!PhOWcWs!gXdUk5NPvgXJ4tQCWeGdRtlebYp0_9zdyLXVzRrqjTegJJWAl9wI75QqVkHZbVgdi0pcF0iPFA$>
4200 54th Avenue South
St. Petersburg, Florida 33711

[https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1Mw-6ldJR5t2LgA1lgM5AHZcqGbumpeHs&revid=0B0yDfFkeC3R6c1I3YUpwODZ2NXBBVnRkSldWRFBQSTRkc1FnPQ__;!!PhOWcWs!g4_SgQOZ4xe5FtLNNFhC192imGI_YmLslyL30F1Q0BChnRL7A5fLAKjxh2Suj9pF67oNxBjZFg$ ]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Elijah Scott <EScott at flvc.org<mailto:EScott at flvc.org>>
Date: Wed, Jul 1, 2020 at 5:12 PM
Subject: RE: FACRL Response to Governor Veto of Florida Plus Program
To: Alyssa Koclanes <koclanan at eckerd.edu<mailto:koclanan at eckerd.edu>>

Hi Alyssa,

Again, THANK YOU for the support from FACRL!  The message that you all sent out this afternoon is excellent.

We still do not know what the future will look like for FALSC.  We have been told that there is a plan being created to transition “essential services,” but we do not have any details yet.

I will keep you updated as this situation develops.  Seems like it changes almost hourly.

Thanks so much,

Elijah

From: Alyssa Koclanes <koclanan at eckerd.edu<mailto:koclanan at eckerd.edu>>
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 6:55 PM
To: Elijah Scott <EScott at flvc.org<mailto:EScott at flvc.org>>
Subject: Re: FACRL Response to Governor Veto of Florida Plus Program

Hi Elijah,

We will definitely send out a message to the FACRL membership about this first thing tomorrow morning. The impacts of this would indeed be very drastic.

Please let me know if there is anything else FACRL can do to help this situation.

Thanks,

Alyssa

--
Alyssa Koclanes, M.A. (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor
Technical Services, Serials, and Instruction Librarian

Eckerd College Library<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.eckerd.edu*2Flibrary*2F&data=02*7C01*7CEScott*40flvc.org*7C9d95131ce3b948d162a708d81d488862*7C60ebd441a2f94841802f22bf1380b4ae*7C0*7C0*7C637291544657795501&sdata=6UD8RlF4XCtDlQR2CV9*2B4srm*2FmEXtdWyh*2FNlCWnRolQ*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!PhOWcWs!gXdUk5NPvgXJ4tQCWeGdRtlebYp0_9zdyLXVzRrqjTegJJWAl9wI75QqVkHZbVgdi0rsPoIjmw$>

727.864.8460

Eckerd College<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http*3A*2F*2Fwww.eckerd.edu*2F&data=02*7C01*7CEScott*40flvc.org*7C9d95131ce3b948d162a708d81d488862*7C60ebd441a2f94841802f22bf1380b4ae*7C0*7C0*7C637291544657805498&sdata=GT*2F3WKp1tCiWZRDzN6*2B0175IKuFYx*2BcRt4veAd*2BnbSw*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!PhOWcWs!gXdUk5NPvgXJ4tQCWeGdRtlebYp0_9zdyLXVzRrqjTegJJWAl9wI75QqVkHZbVgdi0qOLgKrUg$>
4200 54th Avenue South

St. Petersburg, Florida 33711

[https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1Mw-6ldJR5t2LgA1lgM5AHZcqGbumpeHs&revid=0B0yDfFkeC3R6c1I3YUpwODZ2NXBBVnRkSldWRFBQSTRkc1FnPQ__;!!PhOWcWs!g4_SgQOZ4xe5FtLNNFhC192imGI_YmLslyL30F1Q0BChnRL7A5fLAKjxh2Suj9pF67oNxBjZFg$ ]

On Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 6:39 PM Elijah Scott <EScott at flvc.org<mailto:EScott at flvc.org>> wrote:

Hello Alyssa,

Thank you SO very much for reaching out to me!!!  I deeply appreciate the support from FACRL!!!

I do indeed believe it would be very helpful for you to send a statement to the FACRL Membership about the veto of the Complete Florida Plus Program.  The veto eliminates ALL funding for FALSC – staff, integrated library system, databases and electronic resources, etc. – for the next fiscal year.  As you can imagine, this will have drastic impacts on all state college and state university libraries.

It will be very helpful for the membership of FACRL to be aware of this situation.

Again, thank you SO very much!

Elijah

From: Alyssa Koclanes <koclanan at eckerd.edu<mailto:koclanan at eckerd.edu>>
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 12:32 PM
To: Elijah Scott <EScott at flvc.org<mailto:EScott at flvc.org>>
Subject: FACRL Response to Governor Veto of Florida Plus Program

Hi Elijah,

I am writing to you as the current President of the Florida Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (FACRL). We heard about the Governor's veto of the Florida Plus Program and would like to offer our assistance.

We would like to send out a statement to the FACRL Membership that includes the link to the public news article on details of the budget cut, some of the implications and impact on higher education across the state that this budget veto has, as well as some basic action items to take. We would like to increase awareness of this and ask FACRL members to reach out to the governor's office.

Would this be helpful to you and FALSC at this juncture? Or should we hold off on this? We can also send a statement on behalf of the FACRL Board of Directors directly to the Governor's Office if that would be helpful as well.

Thanks,

Alyssa

--
Alyssa Koclanes, M.A. (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor
Technical Services, Serials, and Instruction Librarian

Eckerd College Library<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.eckerd.edu*2Flibrary*2F&data=02*7C01*7CEScott*40flvc.org*7C9d95131ce3b948d162a708d81d488862*7C60ebd441a2f94841802f22bf1380b4ae*7C0*7C0*7C637291544657815490&sdata=rK*2BTsVecyv5KBOjq9FEpn3w*2BFz5rlh4pR13cfgmqKwM*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJQ!!PhOWcWs!gXdUk5NPvgXJ4tQCWeGdRtlebYp0_9zdyLXVzRrqjTegJJWAl9wI75QqVkHZbVgdi0qPb7YUcA$>

727.864.8460

Eckerd College<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http*3A*2F*2Fwww.eckerd.edu*2F&data=02*7C01*7CEScott*40flvc.org*7C9d95131ce3b948d162a708d81d488862*7C60ebd441a2f94841802f22bf1380b4ae*7C0*7C0*7C637291544657815490&sdata=rVq1XaTmFDi3VkeWeUF7YO3SQ5K3bv0smzURxmQ5n0Q*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJQ!!PhOWcWs!gXdUk5NPvgXJ4tQCWeGdRtlebYp0_9zdyLXVzRrqjTegJJWAl9wI75QqVkHZbVgdi0p9HjNxfA$>
4200 54th Avenue South

St. Petersburg, Florida 33711

[https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1Mw-6ldJR5t2LgA1lgM5AHZcqGbumpeHs&revid=0B0yDfFkeC3R6c1I3YUpwODZ2NXBBVnRkSldWRFBQSTRkc1FnPQ__;!!PhOWcWs!g4_SgQOZ4xe5FtLNNFhC192imGI_YmLslyL30F1Q0BChnRL7A5fLAKjxh2Suj9pF67oNxBjZFg$ ]
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