Former Sen. Ben Sasse Takes Office as University of Florida President

Does a new "captain" have to chart a brand new course... or just steady the ship?

 

Flat out scumbag Repuli-ban grifters hiring other grifters and forcing everyone else to swear fealty to their grifting. Seems like a perfect Russian institution....exactly how the Republi-ban wants it.

 

he isn’t steadying the ship. He wants to change everything - which is totally fine but if you’re going to change everything you have to give people a path forward. He’s changing tenure, he’s talked about combining and cutting departments by as many as 40, he’s reorganizing administration but changes his mind on exactly how every few weeks, he’s changing online education, he’s changing standards for admission, etc. on and on I can go. And listen - change is not bad and he’s hired some legitimately cool people but he hasn’t provided any strategy or vision everyone is flying by the seat of their pants in a whirlwind of constant change and it’s not sustainable.

 

he likes to hire friends or friends of friends. Loyalty before higher Ed competence. This isn’t really arguable in most cases. And when I say competence I don’t mean intelligence or ability. He’s hired some legit smart people but a lot of them don’t know Jack about running a public r1 research institution and no one should be making hundreds of thousands of dollars and learning on the job.

 

Ok a few months in and all reports are Angle is just doing what the prez tells him not a lot of independent thinking. But it’s early.

 

The changes they've made to tenure are harmful.

 

So, I take it you don NOT like these changes... or do you like some but not all of these changes? Or are they all bad changes, not to your liking?

 

I cannot even tell you exactly what the changes are going to end up being because he won’t tell anyone the plan and he keeps changing his mind. What he needs to do first and foremost is to conduct some strategic planning and then effectively communicate the plan to the rest of us. If he does that we can all comment more on the changes. I think Uf administratively for example could use a huge overhaul so I say go for it sir just tell people what’s happening.

 

So... the least he can do is layout a plan so that everyone can see all of his proposals... Makes sense.

 

I must say. I feel good about things going on at the top of UF leadership outside of the mess our football program (and AD) is right now…

 

that’s the main complaint from the more moderate faculty and staff at Uf. Just tell us what you want to do and maybe we can, idk, help you accomplish your goals? Just maybe? But if you keep us all in the dark with no plan we may just end up accidentally working in the opposite direction not with any ill intent just out of ignorance. And then people get in trouble and things get stressful so a lot of people just say screw it and do the bare minimum keep their heads down and coast. Not good.

 

I would be surprised if Sasse is involved in that loyalty oath crap. Not his style. Likely someone below him trying to ingratiate himself to someone. Still crazy weird and wrong though if it’s as stated.

 

Yeah, I'm skeptical. On March 21, Ben Sasse put this in an email: "I want to let you know that earlier this month, Provost Angle and I met with Dean Richardson to discuss some concerning issues in CLAS. Dean Richardson acknowledged some egregious actions by others in the college and is working to get to the bottom of it. He will keep the provost and me looped. As educators and researchers, we know that this university depends on the ability to engage in rigorous scholarship, test controversial ideas through a posture of epistemological humility, and expose students to a wide range of opinions in an environment free from the fear of reprisal."

The article I posted came out on March 22, and Dean Richardson was the person at the center of the "investigation" into "academic freedom" who was allegedly demanding faculty sign the letter. I think the most generous interpretation is that he relied on the dean's representations and trusted the dean to handle it. But he sure seemed generally aware of what was happening.

 

What are some of the things happening that you feel good about?

 

UF continues to crush it when it comes to rankings and what the leadership is trying to accomplish. I suppose with your question you don’t think it is?

 

How have any changes affected the rankings?
For years we made fun of sow for their political appointees vs academic hires, and here we are. Surely there are some moderate academics vs the clas far left?

Really comes down to following orders. Political appointees do.

 

I thought you had some specifics that Sasse has been pushing for

 

Not be too critical, but so far, Sasse’s great claim to fame regarding rankings is that UF DROPPED from 5th to 6th under his leadership. I’m not sure how that’s “crushing it.”

I certainly like many things Sasse has done, like quickly quell the free speech-protest issues by condemning the speech while recognizing the first amendment. He has been quick to vocally support professor freedom to teach with free thought and ideas.

But otherwise, his plans for the school have been pretty quiet. I’m not sure what good he has done and what “bad” he has done.

Do you have insight?

 

Just the general we all know. Good points on how he handled the speech issue as well.

 

Both things can still be true. Sasse says he’s annoyed or wants to know why there is pushback, and some sycophant decides to go full McCarthy to impress him. Like I said, nothing in Sasse’s history shows him as a MAGA style tyrant demanding fealty. Doesn’t make what happened ok, assuming the story is accurate,