At a meeting on Thursday, a University of Florida Board of Trustees committee approved new policies regarding administrative hiring and consulting at UF, following reports of excessive spending by the university’s former president Ben Sasse. The policies were approved by the full board on Friday.
Under the new policies, any administrative hires with salaries above $200,000 per year require final approval from Board Chair Morteza “Mori” Hosseini. Additionally, the UF president must approve any consultant agreements between $100,000 and $1,000,000, and the board chair must approve any consulting agreements of $1,000,000 or more.
The moves come after it was reported spending by the president’s office more than tripled after Sasse took over as leader of the state’s flagship university.
Also at the meeting on Thursday, a committee voted unanimously to build a graduate campus in Jacksonville at the Prime Osborn Convention Center downtown. The campus will be home to the Florida Semiconductor Institute.
There were three potential parcels for the committee to choose from: the Prime Osborn Convention Center, Florida State College at Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Fairgrounds. The Prime Osborn Convention Center was seen as the optimal location for its access to transportation and employment opportunities and its visibility downtown and from Interstate 95.
Hosseini said when he went to the first meeting with then-newly elected Jacksonville mayor Donna Deegan in 2023, he had his doubts.
“ I never thought that I would leave that meeting feeling that we're all in,” he said. “The mayor made it so clear to us that she's all in with this.”
Hosseini said the board secured a $300 million commitment for campus construction, including $150 million in state funding.
UF officials also gave updates on campus construction projects and energy efficiency initiatives. According to UF’s Assistant Vice President of Planning, Design, & Construction Cydney McGlothlin, UF has $2.2 billion allocated to construction, including 40 major projects totaling $1.8 billion.
Some of these projects include constructing a new Dental Science building, remodeling the Hamilton Center and demolishing Maguire Village Commons graduate housing, a 220-unit apartment complex built in 1971. The latter drew public comment from three speakers on Friday, all opposed to the demolition.
As part of a 10-year housing master plan, UF Vice President for Student Life Heather White discussed adding 2,505 new beds to on-campus housing by demolishing multiple older residence halls including Trusler, Graham, Simpson and Rawlings, and starting five new housing construction projects by 2035. Additionally, five residence halls will be renovated over the next 10 years, including Beaty Towers East and West, Mallory, Yulee and Reid halls.
Another committee voted to approve a rate increase for on-campus housing to pay for UF’s 10-year housing plan. According to the board, “UF charges 63% of the average cost of private housing within a mile radius of campus.” The vote increased the cost of housing for students by 4% through fiscal year 2030.
Assistant Vice President of Facilities Services Mark Helms said UF has added 2.8 million square feet of facility space since 2015 while decreasing its energy consumption by 15%. At the board’s next meeting on March 27, 2025, members will vote on funding for a 12-year energy service plan that they hope will reduce the university’s energy spending and deferred maintenance costs.
The board also voted to approve $24 million to renew the university’s HiPerGator AI supercomputer, which was built in 2020 and has a life expectancy of around five years.