The University of West Florida Board of Trustees continues to send mixed message about whether there will be fair and open job search for the next president of the university. The latest indication that Diaz is more than an interim president is the board voting to give him $1 million for “President’s Division space configuration and initiatives.”
That’s right, $1 million for an interim to renovate his offices before he’s crowned president.
What else tells us that Diaz is more than an interim:
1. Board Chair Rebecca Matthews offered her board only one choice to be the interim president when Martha Saunders announced her resignation—Education Commissioner Manny Diaz. Diaz is the first UWF president without a doctorate.
2. Matthews recommended interim Diaz received a salary more than what Dr. Saunders made (after nine years on the job and two other previous university presidencies) and nearly double what he earned as Education Commissioner with no performance metrics.
3. She pushed Diaz to fire UWF General Counsel Susan Woolf when Woolf objected to Matthews’ choice for outside counsel and asked for the board to vote on the selection.
4. Matthews picked the Harry Roy Membership Committee—also known as UWF Presidential Search Committee—and failed to include the Black community or the UWF Foundation Board. The HRMC chair is Zack Smith, who also serves on the Pensacola State College Board of Trustees. Earlier this week, Smith questioned PSC President Dr. Ed Meadows’ oversight of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices on campus. In May, Smith targeted former University of West Florida President Martha Saunders about drag shows held on campus in 2019 before her regisnation.
5. The search firm that Matthews picked has proposed a compensation range of $800,000 to $1.2 million, which would attract candidates if Diaz didn’t have the inside tract.