Florida universities required to send grant, hiring data to DeSantis under state's DOGE efforts
Governor Ron DeSantis is asking for years of detailed records from Florida’s public universities and colleges, and giving them a tight deadline to respond
The audit is part of Florida’s DOGE efforts, launched in February to “eliminate waste” in state government.
The request came in a letter, which was published by the Tampa Bay Times.
It was sent from the Governor's office to University Presidents.
It asks for detailed information, including grants, job descriptions, and salaries for the last six years, with a tight deadline of April 18th.
David Simmons is an engineering professor and faculty senate president at the University of South Florida.
He says the information they’re asking for can easily be found online and puts additional stress on universities.
“It takes money from the university. It takes time away from faculty and staff that could be doing innovation or supporting stud ents. And I think all of our faculty and staff probably are feeling that burden,”
Simmons adds that faculty at USF are proud of the work they do.
Florida universities to deputize campus police for immigration enforcement
According to The Associated Press, Florida Atlantic University, the University of Florida and the University of South Florida are all seeking to deputize their campus police for immigration enforcement,
The police departments of at least three public universities in Florida are seeking agreements with the federal government to carry out immigration enforcement on campus.
It's a significant shift in policy for schools that had previously been considered “sensitive locations” to be insulated from such law enforcement activities, under a federal policy the Trump administration rescinded.
If approved, the university police departments could be among the first in the country to be granted such authority.
Florida Humanities faces budget cuts after DOGE nixes funding
Lily Belcher spoke with the Executive Director of Florida Humanities, Nashid Madyun about how the cuts could impact the arts in Florida.
Florida Humanities exists as the storyteller of Florida and when you capture those stories you also preserve the heritage and culture of those communities. And some of those stories are in rural, underserved, or hard-to-reach places. They’re community heroes who are doing significant things to uplift society.
LB: And these DOGE cuts that the national endowment for the humanities has faced, how are those going to impact local humanities programs supported by your organization?
NM: We facilitate a lot of grant making and our grant making is supported with NEH federal dollars. We did have, slated for this year, two grant rounds and that’s about 250 thousand dollars there that we we won’t be able to award a variety of programs. Some of those programs will not happen. Disseminating that rich history will be reduced.
LB: In the absence of this federal money from the endowment, how will Florida Humanities continue to function and be funded?
NM: We have to look at alternative sources. We have a good history of membership support, foundation support, individual support over the past 50 years. And so, we will scale back some of the activities.
12-Year-Old Boy Suspected Shark Attack in Cocoa Beach
Brevard County Fire Rescue Emergency Medical Crews were dispatched to the 2000 block of East Cocoa Beach Causeway yesterday in response to a report of a shark bite involving a 12-year-old male.
According to Brevard County Fire Rescue, the shark bite victim who sustained significant traumatic injuries was transported to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, and his current condition has not been released.
More: www.floridatoday.com
