Gov. Ron DeSantis’s appointment of controversial Boise State professor Scott Yenor has garnered statewide and national attention (How dare women go to college? DeSantis’ new university trustee pick will fix it). However, Yenor isn’t the only Trustee with ties to the Heritage Foundation.
Check out Adam Kissell from West Virginia will have a vote at the UWF Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 23.
Adam Kissel currently holds several positions:
• Visiting Fellow for Higher Education Reform at The Heritage Foundation
• Senior Fellow at the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy
• Chairman of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board
• Member of the Civics & Civic Engagement Advisory Council for America250
• Visiting Scholar at the Texas Public Policy Foundation
He contributed to the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Presidential Transition Project.
Kissel’s career history includes:
• Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education (2017-2018)
• Director of Civic and Higher Education Programs at The Philanthropy Roundtable (2019-2020)
• Program Officer for Higher Education at the Charles Koch Foundation (2012-2017)
• Vice President of Programs at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) (2010-2012)
PRIVATIZE UNIVERSITIES
Kissell believes universities should be privatized.
He has proposed two approaches:
- The first approach: gradually reduce state funding to zero while allowing universities to retain their land. This method would free up billions in state budgets but would likely face significant resistance from university stakeholders.
- The second approach: provide universities with a one-time endowment equal to 18-20 times their current annual state funding, financed through long-term bonds. They must agree never to receive state funding again.
Kissell argues that privatization could bring market discipline to higher education. Without guaranteed state funding, universities would need to:
– Focus on student outcomes to remain competitive
– Innovate in their program offerings and delivery methods
– Respond more effectively to market demands
– Compete fairly with existing private institutions
BUT FLORIDA ALREADY FOCUSES ON OUTCOMES – UWF DOES VERY, VERY WELL
Kissell might not be aware that Florida’s performance metric system already focuses on outcomes. The University of West Florida, under Dr. Martha Saunders, has excelled.
Graduate Employment and Wages: More than 79% of bachelor’s graduates are employed or furthering their education one year after graduation, ranking UWF 2nd in the Florida State University System for Metric 1. UWF graduates earned a median wage of $53,000 in 2021-22, setting a new record for the university and increasing by $4,200 from the previous year.
SHOW SUPPORT
The new Univesity of West Florida Board of Trustees holds its first meeting on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 10 a.m. Most of the new picks have little or no relationship with the university or the community. The meeting will be via Zoom, so they don’t have to visit the Pensacola campus before voting on the university’s future.
We know what happened at the New College of Florida. Inweekly will not sit silently and watch history repeat on Jan. 23.
I ask that you sign and share this online petition. I will email to the trustees. Thank you.
YENOR STILL NEEDS ATTENTION
UWF Trustee Scott Yenor will likely lead the fight to review all University of West Florida’s programs, just as happened when the new board took over New College of Florida in 2023. American Mind published his viewpoint on it yesterday – Tools for Conservative Education Reform.
In this viewpoint, Yenor discusses how conservatives can effectively reform higher education through program review processes, using the report Restoring Confidence in the University of Wyoming,” published by the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life.
He recommends more aggressive use of program review to eliminate what they term “ideological programs,” seeing this as a way to restore public confidence in higher education and prevent budget crises. Yenor argues for using established academic evaluation processes as a tool for conservative higher education reform, rather than traditional advocacy approaches.
Anybody want to bet Yenor launches the program review on Jan. 23?
Check out Yenor’s X account: x.com/scottyenor.