Academic freedom is central to the creation and maintenance of a world-class university system in the State of Florida. There must be a clear statement of commitment to the primacy of academic freedom in the legislation which reorganizes higher education in Florida. There must be a clear statement of commitment to the preservation of tenure within higher education in Florida, since tenure serves as one protection for academic freedom. There must be a clear statement of commitment to protection of the universities in Florida from political or other forms of interference in university teaching and research in Florida, since such protection is another safeguard of academic freedom. Each institution of higher education in Florida should be required to have a constitution which clearly articulates a commitment to academic freedom, tenure and protection of faculty and students from political and other forms of interference in their teaching, learning and research.
Academic excellence is key to the creation and maintenance of a world-class university system.
Stability of administration is achieved by implementing policies regarding accountability which reward academic excellence rather than mere productivity, and by all presidents being hired on renewable terms of office. Sufficiency of base SUS funding is achieved by a commitment to higher education from state funds which are independent of funding from lottery dollars or any other resources which were intended to be supplementary to state assistance. Shared faculty and administrative governance of universities is a fundamental component of higher education. There must be a clear statement of commitment to the principle of shared governance in the legislation which reorganizes higher education in Florida. The structure of the new Boards of Trustees of each university should explicitly include the chief officer of the faculty governance body of that university.