- Florida Gulf Coast University is continuing its Presidential Search Committee. Mike Martin, current university president, resigns to retire in December
- Revised timeline sets November deadline for successor, with presentation to school board no later than November 10
- The school has consulted with The Segal Group to establish an appropriate compensation plan for the candidates
Florida Gulf Coast University’s presidential search committee met on Friday, where a revised timeline was presented that calls for introducing a new president to the university’s board of governors no later than Nov. 10.
Current President of the FGCU, Michael Martin, has held this position for four years. Martin recently announced that he plans to retire in December 2022 at the end of the upcoming fall academic semester.
Prior to taking office, the FGCU lost $8 million in performance-based funding through a ranking system determined by 10 measures that rate Florida’s public institutions on a range of issues. In an effort to restore previous funding standards, Martin purchased over $23.7 million. During his tenure, the school’s four-year graduation rate improved by nearly 19 percentage points, the six-year graduation rate jumped 4.6 percentage points, and the net cost of tuition and fees decreased by 48% for those who graduated in four years. of six.
“I was struck very early on by the fact that the most important enduring problem [for FGCU] was economic sustainability. When you’re in the bottom three [of performance-based funding rankings]you take an $8 million hit your first day on the job, a variety of things like that make you say, “We need to put everything in place and make this place financially sound, so that the campus that we inherited really has a worthwhile goal that can be achieved,” Martin said at the time.
The committee consulted The Segal Group, which is undertaking studies to determine compensatory proposals for the successful candidates. Although a salary number has not been finalized, the scope of the study is expanded to include educational institutions with higher enrollment than FGCU rather than the previous review of smaller schools or the same size as the university.
“What you never want to do is demean your president or put him in a position when you hire him where he feels underappreciated or maybe undervalued,” said Sally Mason, consultant to the research committee. “The work Segall Group is doing is essential and will help the council make a decision about who to hire and how much to pay them.”
Since the presidential search was launched publicly in June, the school says interest among the candidates has been high, accumulating between twenty and 30 potential successors. Interview sessions will take place in the coming months before deciding on the semi-finalists and finalists for final consideration.
