Thomas St. Myer

tstmyer@pnj.com

Martha Saunders arrived at the University of West Florida campus Thursday morning determined to concentrate on her day-to-day operations as provost and ignore the presidential selection occurring a few blocks away.

President Judy Bense refused to let that happen. Bense coaxed Saunders into her office in Crosby Hall, and the administrators spent the late morning and early afternoon nervously watching the online feed.

Saunders locked her eyes on the monitor throughout, yet she learned her fate when her phone blew up with messages.

“We had a little bit of delay in the broadcast, so I was getting congratulatory notes before I saw the vote,” Saunders said.

The board of trustees named Saunders the sixth president in UWF history by a 9-4 vote Thursday afternoon in the 309-seat Center for Fine & Performing Arts Music Hall auditorium. The crowd filled nearly every seat in the auditorium and erupted in cheers after Saunders secured the seventh and decisive vote.

Sen. Don Gaetz secured the other four votes. Neither Frank Ashley nor Mike Sherman received a vote.

Asked if she felt confident about her chances before the vote, Saunders said, "No, I did not. I felt like just judging on the people who had made public statements about their support or who I kind of thought they’d support, I really thought it would be a tighter vote."

The pro-Saunders board members cited her success as the UWF provost and her previous presidential experience at the University of Southern Mississippi and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for why they voted for her.

Board members one-by-one voiced their feelings on the candidates, and a majority of them indicated who they decided to vote for before they circled the name on the ballot. Saunders nervously watched as they discussed their reasoning.

“It was horrible. I said, just make a decision, just do it,” Saunders said with a clap of her hands. “But it was certainly important to them, and I think it’s important to the broader community to understand where people are coming from.”

Board chair Lewis Bear Jr., vice chair Mort O'Sullivan, Dick Baker and LuTimothy May each voted for Gaetz. Bear said the final vote reflected the overwhelming support for Saunders from the UWF community.

"She'll be a great president for the University of West Florida," Bear said. "I have great faith and hope in her with the challenge of being an emerging preeminent, which was first discussed by Martha and myself in her office, and it's grown from there. She loves that challenge, and I can tell you she's going to work toward it."

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Board member Dave Cleveland voted for Saunders. He cited the state law prohibiting Gaetz from lobbying for a university in the state capitol for two years after he leaves the Legislature as one negative against the state senator.

FSU President John Thrasher, a former state legislator, navigates the system by accepting invitations from legislators and answering their questions. Cleveland doubted Gaetz as a UWF president would carry the same weight as Thrasher, though.

“I would suggest to you we’re not FSU. We’re UWF,” Cleveland said.

The UWF Presidential Selection Committee meeting preceded the board selection and lasted about an hour. The committee approved a motion to recommend all four candidates to the board by a 12-7 vote. Three faculty and one graduate student on the committee voiced their opposition to Gaetz and voted against the motion.

Scott Keller, professor of logistics and marketing, questioned if Gaetz met the minimum requirements to be UWF president, specifically the requirement to possess senior-level experience in higher education.

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Both the board and committee sessions opened with public comment, an overwhelming number of speakers supported Saunders or opposed Gaetz.

Alan Josephs, a research professor at the university since 1969, spoke to both the board and committee. He said faculty morale in the past two years is at an all-time high, and he credited Saunders for that improvement. He referred to Saunders as the “best” and “most inspiring” administrator in his 47 years at UWF.

Lamar White, a former principal in the Okaloosa School District where Gaetz served as a school board member and then superintendent, spoke in support of Gaetz. White poked holes in a student petition opposing Gaetz and the Florida State League of Women Voters voicing their opposition.

“How many of those students know Don Gaetz?” White said, noting 280 students is too small a number to take seriously.

White then referenced a comment from Sen. Andy Gardiner who described the League of Women Voters as “ill-informed ramblings of a political rival.”

UWF sophomores Leonie Dupuis and Abigail Megginson launched an online petition last week opposing Gaetz and collected 336 signatures. Megginson presented the "Argos Against Gaetz" petition to the board members before their vote. She left shortly after to attend another function, but she said friends texted her, "Martha" after the board vote.

"I would've been fine with Frank Ashley or Mike Sherman, but I like Martha, too," Megginson said. "Having a woman president is a great thing for a university. I like to see women in leadership positions. Martha's done a lot of great things for the university, and I think she'll continue to do so."

Board members such as Bear, O'Sullivan and Bentina Terry among others voiced their frustration with what they considered to be negative attacks on Gaetz. O'Sullivan primarily criticized the Faculty Senate for passing a resolution last week opposing Gaetz, just 48 hours before the second round of interviews commenced.

Gaetz said as a non-traditional candidate he considered himself to be an underdog throughout the selection process.

"I was surprised and gratified that I was able to make it to the finals. Just to be considered was a great compliment to me," Gaetz said. "... I believe that Dr. Saunders is an excellent choice for president. I fully believe she'll do a good job."

About an hour after her selection, Saunders celebrated with Bense and other faculty and staff in Crosby Hall. Bense threw a party planned only if the board voted for Saunders.

"We were openly, solidly behind Martha, although I wasn't as open as I probably could be," Bense said. "This is an endorsement of my presidency, too, because the choice was really clear. If people wanted a change, they had a change agent in Don Gaetz, or the other (two), but Don in particular. If they thought we were on the right path, that they wanted this vision that I and Martha developed to move forward, than the vote was really clear for her."

Bense said she will remain the president through the end of the calendar year, but her relationship with Saunders will be that of a partnership for the next three months. Saunders said she will step into an ideal situation in that there will be minimal change moving forward. She said the university will probably wait until the fall of 2017 to hire or promote within to fill her provost position, and vice provost George Ellenberg will potentially shoulder some of the workload after she moves over to the presidential office.

“The good news here is everybody is in place,” Saunders said.

Bear put O'Sullivan in charge of negotiating salary with Saunders. The Compensation and Contract Committee recommended UWF offer an annual base salary in the $308,750 to $341,250 range. Total salary compensation increases to $451,250 to $498,750 when including performance incentive, deferred/retirement, housing and car. The committee recommends a contract term of three years, with one year extensions subject to approval by the board and ratification of the Florida Board of Governors.

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