Manny’s Payday
The Harry Roy’s Membership Committee—also known as the UWF Presidential Search Committee—is recommending a seven-figure salary for the university’s new president. The prohibitive favorite, Interim President Manny Diaz, will become a millionaire overnight once the Board of Trustees, Rebecca Matthews, goes through the motions of making the search appear legitimate.
The BOT agenda for today’s meeting recommends the compensation range of $800,000 to $1.2 million.
The key findings:
- Presidential compensation among the State University System of Florida institutions range widely, but the most recent contracts (2025) show the range of total compensation from $810,000 (FAMU) to $1,701,982 (UCF). That range – and the salaries beyond that range – reflect a difference in institutional scale and visibility.
- UWF data shows previous President Martha Saunders with a compensation package of $784,000, and interim President Manny Diaz Jr.’s compensation at $744,000.
- Comprehensive compensation data is not as readily available in other states the way it is in the state of Florida. The in-state data annualizes deferred compensation and other benefits and will be the most complete view of Presidential compensation.
- Peer and Aspirant Institution data generally captures only base salary, and those institutions generally have longer-tenured leaders than those in the state of Florida. As a result, those figures may be relatively compressed.
- Trend: Across the sector, boards are increasingly using performance-based incentives and deferred compensation to attract and retain leadership, supplementing base salary.
Counter: Using total compensation supports the higher salary; however, the actual salary survey shows that salaries for Division 2 universities are significantly lower, at approximately $500,000 (Salary Survey).
You Can Be UWF Prez
The criteria to be UWF President have been diluted to fit almost anyone:
• A relevant graduate degree is preferred but not required.
• A distinguished record of leadership, preferably in higher education, public service, or business.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with experience working with diverse stakeholders to achieve local, regional, and national goals.
• A deep appreciation for UWF’s mission, culture, and role in the state of Florida and beyond.
• A passion and excitement for the university’s ability to change the lives of its students
Silencing Rick’s Blog
Several sources have shared that Rick’s Blog and Inweekly have been dropped from the internal media feed shared with UWF staff daily. I learned of the ban on the same day that UWF hosted, with The Center for Truth in Love, several local churches and far-right groups for a three-hour “Unsilenced—The Legacy Continues” rally on the UWF Commons. The speakers included Joel Barry, the managing editor of The Babylon Bee and Eric Hovind, founder of Creation Today.
Background: This blog took off in 2006 after I met with Max Brantley, the editor of the Arkansas Times. He developed a highly influential blog focused on politics and government accountability in the state, which drew the ire of then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Brantley’s blog and reporting frequently exposed scandals and alleged mismanagement during Mike Huckabee’s tenure as governor of Arkansas (1996–2007), and this adversarial scrutiny earned Brantley a brief ban from the Times’ access to official announcements and communications from the governor’s office. In public comments, Huckabee compared Brantley to notorious criminals, including likening him to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in an email to Newsweek.
- Brantley taught me that consistency and persistence are the keys to a successful news blog, which is why this is the longest-running news blog in Northwest Florida.
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