(upbeat music) - [Narrator] This is a production of WEDU PBS.

Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

(soft music) - [Narrator] Premier Eyecare is a leader in national managed eyecare with 4 million insured members nationwide through its network of optometrists, ophthalmologists, and specialists.

Recognized for best practices and delivery of case, associate engagement, and commitment to the community.

Premier Eyecare is proud to support That's All I'm Saying with Ernest Hooper.

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(soft music) (upbeat music) - Our motivation every day is the people around us in this community and making it better.

- [Woman] Workforce development, healthcare education.

- [Man] Getting out there and making a difference in the lives that need it the most.

(upbeat music) - Eight college or university leaders in Florida have stepped down in the past two plus years.

And college enrollment continues to decline across the sunshine state.

Students grapple with loan debt, and housing, and rising rental prices are a growing issue for students.

The passage of some controversial statewide laws have led some faculty members to believe Florida may be exerting too much authority over what's taught in the classroom.

Across the nation, the university landscape is undergoing significant changes.

On this episode of That's All I'm Saying, we'll speak to a collection of faculty members and students about the state of higher education here in Tampa Bay and across the state.

But first, we're thrilled to welcome the eighth and newest president in University of South Florida's history.

Rhea Law officially took over in March after serving as the interim president since August, 2021.

President Law, welcome to That's All I'm Saying.

- I am so glad to be here with you.

- Well, I'm thrilled to have you and let me just start by asking, how's it going?

- It's going great.

What a incredible place the University of South Florida is.

The students, the faculty, the staff, the administration, everybody's excited about the fall and the new students coming in.

So we're excited.

- I mentioned in the opening that we've seen some declining enrollment numbers across the state and in the nation, but you have some good news on that front in terms of where USF has headed.

- We've had 65,500 applicants for this fall.

That's 15,000 more than last year, and it's an all time high for the university.

- There is some talk about the value of a four year degree.

What's your response to people who say you don't necessarily need a four year degree to succeed in life?

- Well, it depends on what you wanna do.

And that's why we have a number of businesses, CEOs from different industries, that serve on our community advisory councils for each of our colleges.

And they help us make sure that our curriculum is relevant so that when students come out, they have the right kind of background.

So they'll be able to hit the ground running at those businesses.

- Strengthening that connection with the community is so important to you, not just the business community, but the broader community, overall.

Talk a little bit about that.

- You know, we serve the community.

That's what a state university system is.

And I see this as not only the businesses and industries, in our direct area, but we are a resource.

We're a resource for the community members at large, we're resource for our state, for our nation.

And even beyond.

- Now, I know faculty is one of the five pillars in your strategic vision.

And there are some state laws that have, some say, created a chilling effect for faculty in terms of how they can teach, what they can say in the classroom.

What's your perspective on that situation for USF faculty?

- You know, there's a lot of new laws that have come into play and we are studying those very carefully, but more importantly, we are looking at those with our faculty.

We are partnering with them.

We wanna make sure that we provide a place where free speech is in fact supported.

That's what a university is, but we wanna make sure that we stay on the right side of the law and so that's why we have committees that have been put together to address just those things.

- Do you feel like the atmosphere for faculty is, is a welcoming one and are you seeing indications that people still wanna work at USF?

- Well, I sure am.

Just recently, I had the opportunity to welcome 150 new faculty members.

They were smiling and energized.

We had three days of orientation and I can just see them moving into our university campuses and really making an impact.

And that's what this is all about.

How do you make an impact?

- You know, diversity is another pillar in your strategic vision and that's diversity on the campus for students and faculty.

How much success are you enjoying right now in adding to the diversity of the university?

- Well, we're making it a focus.

When we are employing people, we are looking for a diverse pool, we are looking for a diverse pool in our students, but we're also looking for a diverse pool in people that provide services to our university.

So supplier diversity is a very big impact.

As a matter of fact, we just started the second year of a cohort of mentoring for small and diverse businesses.

To teach them how to deal with a large organization like the university of South Florida.

We teach them about how you make a bid and what the contract terms really mean to them.

- You know, campus life has become more of a focus over the years at the University of South Florida.

Is that going to continue under your leadership and creating more of an on campus atmosphere of fun and excitement for the students?

- Well, I hope so because I'm all about fun and we should, I mean, you know, school is hard.

We get that, but this is a place where they meet friends that they're gonna have for life.

This is a place where they not only learn, but they can just expand their interests.

So we have so many things for them to be involved with.

And we're looking for some outreach to our community to have them come to the campus and be part of that.

- Yeah.

I think it would be great to strengthen that connection and make people feel like they're a part of the campus, even if they're not a student or a faculty member, or a graduate of the university.

- That's one of the things the new stadium will do.

It's an opportunity.

- I was leading up to that.

I was leading up to that.

We've heard a lot of talk about an on campus stadium for the USF football team.

Where are you in that process?

- Well, we've identified a location for it.

It's over on the west side of the campus, I'm sorry, the east side of the campus.

It's right where the Sycamore fields (mumbles) fields are, and we are going to be placing it there because it's very close to all of the student housing.

It's a place, it's easy to get to from people coming from outside, it'll provide an opportunity for our alums and people from the community to come to the campus.

And it's more than just a football stadium.

This is something for many different athletic opportunities, as well as we want this to be a 24/7 operation.

We wanna have it put into motion every day so there's reasons for people to be there.

- As we wrap up, what are some of the other achievements you hope to accomplish moving forward and what will be your second year?

- I am really looking forward to implementing our strategic plan in strengthening our connections with our community, strengthening our connections with our legislature who are investing in us, and making sure that we can have a return on investment for the people of the state of Florida, as well as all the communities we serve.

- And you recently enjoyed record support from the state legislature, correct?

- We did.

It was in fact, the highest ever support from the state that we have ever received.

And we've also had record support from our donors with a more than ever before.

- It's about 151 million.

- Million dollars, that's right.

And that's because people see USF as their university, they see it as a resource for the community.

- No, I think everyone does.

And we are certainly excited to see you into this leadership role.

And I wish you continued success as you try to navigate this change in landscape.

- Well, thank you so much.

It's as I said, I am blessed to be here and I'm just looking forward to making it at the best that it can be.

- Well, thank you so much, President Law.

I really appreciate you being here.

Education has been on the agenda in Tallahassee, like never before, and it could have a chilling effect on professors.

We'll talk about the impact coming up.

(upbeat music) University professors in Florida are facing a host of challenges that some believe our undermining academic freedom.

From laws that could crack down on discussions about race and gender, to limits on tenure and even discussions about who ultimately hires college professors.

Educators say these are unprecedented times.

While there's no clear data professors are also leaving academia as part of the great recession.

Joining me now to discuss these topics and more are Dr. Jennifer Jasinski Schneider, Senate faculty president at the University of South Florida, and Dr. Jeffrey Neeley, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Tampa.

Thanks to you both for being here.

And I want to get started by asking about some of the new laws that are going into effect regarding what professors can say and teach in the classroom.

Jennifer, how do you think that is impacting the faculty at the University of South Florida?

- Well, it is impacting faculty.

Thank you for having me here.

Across the board, everyone is concerned because there's some parts of the language that say you shouldn't talk about ideas.

And then, so the way that it gets interpreted could rub up against what your discipline is and what you need to talk about in class.

Other people are feeling, especially faculty, who've been traditionally marginalized, that discourses that they might bring up could be used against them.

So there's lots of uncertainty about it.

And it also, it vies in the face of academic freedom that we are expected to talk about certain things that sometimes might seem to, to go against these laws.

- I know that the university has created a task force to look at these new laws.

Do you think that's going to help mitigate this situation?

- It's providing very concrete recommendations for faculty in the classroom spaces, helping them understand the law in taking parts of it, you know, taking it apart.

And so, yeah, I think that that, that task force and the documents they're providing are going to help, but, you know, we have a lot of faculty and we have very different disciplines and we have, you know, thousands of students.

So understanding all those nuances is going to be a challenge for all faculty to be able to address this in the right way.

We, you know, at USF, we're not gonna go against the law, but we also owe it to our students to represent the disciplines that we're teaching.

- Yeah.

There's a question of intellectual honesty, I think, in all of this, Dr. Neely, what's the buzz at University of Tampa?

It's a private institution, so you don't have to be quite as concerned, but I'm sure the faculty at your university are talking about this, right?

- Yeah.

I, you know, and there's always been a certain amount of difference, I guess, in the way faculty see things or talk about things and the way administration talk about things, so even outside of the broader political discussion, I think there can be some conflict there or, you know, area for disagreement, which is why the issue of tenure and, and academic freedom is so important.

So I think the sort of atmosphere and climate and attitudes towards higher education as a whole is going to affect educators at both public and private institutions.

At UT, you know, I think we do our best right, to try to have those intellectually honest conversations, but at the same time, you know, I think students are, are bringing in some of the verbiage that they hear outside of the classroom from parents or other friends.

And, and so the highly charged political climate, highly charged, you know, social climate that we live in, you know, finds its way into to the classroom.

And so for myself, I think one of the challenges is trying to find how to have open, honest, constructive conversations without providing a platform for more of the toxic and non-constructive conversations that we see.

- Yeah.

So let me ask both of you.

I think some of this has arisen out of a concern from conservative parents, that their children could go into this atmosphere and not be treated fairly.

Is that a legitimate concern?

Should they be worried about how a liberal professor may treat their child because they, that child has conservative beliefs?

- In my opinion, no, we are professional people at the University of South Florida, and I think I can speak for other faculty across universities.

We approach this with a duty to the discipline that we are, are sharing with students.

And so they, but if they come in with an idea that rubs up against the field, they might feel that they're not heard, but it doesn't mean that they would be treated with disrespect.

- What do you think Dr. Neely?

- So, you know, my experience is that yes, I am surrounded by colleagues who are primarily liberal in their political perspective.

So in some ways I do sympathize or empathize with parents who may have those concerns.

At the same time, I can say that from my experience as well, I've always been able to have open, what I feel are, open and honest conversations with my colleagues.

You know, we're peers, and so maybe there's a, a difference there in power dynamics.

Maybe a student might feel a little more intimidated, but, you know, I think college is also a place where you have to learn to, to speak up and, and voice yourself in the square and in a way that's-- - [Ernest] Right, right.

- Honest and, and articulate.

- Yeah.

So, as we wrap up, there is this concern that this increased scrutiny on professors could result in people leaving the profession altogether or leaving the state of Florida.

Dr. Jasinski Schneider, what do you think?

Is that a possibility?

- Yes.

It's happening, yeah.

- [Ernest] Oh, it's happening?

Okay.

- Yeah.

Colleagues are leaving people in job searches for candidates to come in.

People are not choosing to look at Florida state schools.

And I can't speak for University of Tampa, but we're seeing that, yes.

- Dr. Neely, do you think that can, similar impact at UT?

- I think there's a lot of other reasons for turnover at UT and probably at other institutions as well.

I have not seen the current political or legislative environment really affect us in our-- - But there are some other stresses on faculty that could be playing a role in their decision to seek a different career, correct?

- Absolutely.

- What are some of those?

- Faculty members are just asked to be, are increasingly being asked to do more outside of the classroom and their research.

So in the areas of service, whether that's advising students or handling, you know, logistical matters, HR, human resource matters through, you know, a workflow software or something like that.

There there's just a lot of logistics and bureaucracy that I think is getting outsourced on to faculty who did not get their PhDs in these areas.

- All right.

Great.

Thank you so much.

Ultimately, colleges and universities exist to serve students.

We'll hear what some of them have to say about the state of higher education coming up next.

(soft music) The value of a college education appears to be changing in the eyes of young people today.

Christyna Reagan from Eckerd College and Nithin Palyam from the University of South Florida lead their respective student government associations.

They join us to give their perspective on some of the pressing issues that are impacting their education.

Thank you both for joining us today.

- Thank you for having us.

- Thank you.

- So let me start by noting that from 2020 to 2021, college enrollment in the state of Florida dropped 1% and across the nation, it dropped by 3%.

What is it about your peers that seems to indicate they may not value a college education as much as they used to?

Start with you, Christine?

- Right.

Well, thank you again for having us here today.

I think a really big issue right now is many students rely on merit scholarships to get into higher education.

I know that's my case personally at Eckerd is I rely heavily on merit scholarships from my institution, but since COVID there, hasn't been as much of an opportunity to engage in extracurriculars.

And it's been a struggle for many students in high school now to keep up their grades, to qualify for those merit scholarships.

And I know I, as a first gen student, wouldn't have been able to go to Eckerd without those scholarships.

And without those, students are turning to trade school and two year community colleges to get those degrees, to pay for their bills, to support themselves in life, to jump right into the job market and not go to the four year university that they might not be able to afford.

- Let me ask you about student loans.

There's a lot of debate about that.

How concerned are you and your fellow students about being saddled with college loan debt after they graduate?

- Florida State gives out a lot of scholarship in forms of bright futures and Pell Grant for financial, people in financial need, which is great.

And US have also spent $125 million every year on financial aid itself.

And this will help students that are in financial crisis to actually get a college education.

Also, they will end up having a little bit of college debt, but that, and not as much as the students who would attend colleges in different states of US.

- Well now at Eckerd, a private institution, tuition is considerably higher, Christyna, what's the perspective at Eckerd, as far as student loans and student debt?

- So a big thing for the higher tuition is Eckerd does really well with merit scholarships and financial aid support within the institution.

Personally, I am gonna have student loans coming out of college.

And with that, a four year degree leads you to getting higher job placements, management positions, being directors, because they university and the colleges teaches you how to learn and how to lead.

And with that, it makes you so much more competitive for these higher paying jobs to help pay off your student debt once you're in those positions.

- All right, let's turn to the debate swirling around what's being taught on campus in terms of critical race theory.

We have this new law, the Stop Woke Act that is regulating what professors can teach.

Christyna, what do you think should be taught in terms of America's long history of racial strife on a college campus?

- Right.

So personally I'm a triple major in American studies, political science, and women's and gender studies.

So critical race theory is something that we are talking about and learning about in my classes all the time.

This is a inherently higher education concept, something that came out of law school 40 years ago.

And this topic is one of a debate, it's a interdisciplinary look at how race affects people and individuals and society as a whole, the way that it is constructed.

And it is a conversation that needs to be had in classrooms because that's where it comes from.

And it comes from higher education.

- Tell me about another issue that students are concerned about and what you're trying to do in your position to help.

- I'd say student and faculty ratio is one of the things.

Students are not able to find enough resources for them to help themself in the academic problems because of the quick change from like remote learning to in person learning again, there's like, there's a trouble there.

- Christyna, you got the last word.

- Awesome.

I think a really large issue in classroom spaces is the rise of cancel culture that comes alongside the rise of technology and having those platforms.

Cancel culture goes far beyond just angry Twitter, angry tweets you're sending out, but it's jumping on someone for maybe having the wrong language within a classroom to express a thought that they want to, but maybe don't have the words to do so.

- Thank you so much for being here and-- - [Christyna] Thank you.

- I'll be back in a moment with my closing thoughts.

(soft music) So much discussion about collegiate life revolves around choosing a major that will lead to a high paying job.

It's an understandable concern, given the challenges of student debt and industries that have grown increasingly reliant on a highly educated workforce.

But sometimes I worry we've lost sight of all the roles a university should play in a student's life.

Ideas should clash on a college campus like no other place on the planet.

It should be a site of great debate and dialogue that's both conservative and liberal.

No, your political perspective should not impede your ability to get a good grade, but the Socratic Method, long hailed that's a standard for most universities, should remain in place.

As the son of collegiate professors, I've always possessed respect for institutions of higher learning.

It's not just the knowledge disseminated in the classroom that has earned my admiration, it's the life lessons that take place in dorm room lounges, outdoor gathering spots, and school cafeterias.

These lessons rely on giving professors academic freedom and challenging students to consider all sides.

Courageous conversations are as vital to our universities as room and board.

Let's not lose that valued asset of college life to a hollowed sense of fairness that negates intellectual honesty and guts first amendment rights.

Okay.

I wanna let our viewers and supporters know that this will be the last television episode of That's All I'm Saying.

For a number of personal and professional reasons, we're going to transform these important discussions to a podcast format.

Keep watching WEDU and visiting the website for more information, I'm excited about shifting this forum to a new medium.

In closing, I want to express my gratitude for the late WEDU CEO, Susan Howarth, who first gave me this opportunity in 2015.

And I also wanna express my gratitude for current CEO, Paul Grove, who continues to believe in me.

Also want to thank all the guests and all the wonderful people who have helped deliver this program to viewers, including my producer, Candace Rotolo.

For now, I'm Ernest Hooper and That's All I'm Saying.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Premier Eyecare is a leader in national managed eyecare with 4 million insured members nationwide through its network of optometrists, ophthalmologists, and specialists recognized for best practices and delivery of care, associate engagement, and commitment to the community.

Premier Eyecare is proud to support That's All I'm saying with Ernest Hooper, for more information, go to premiereyecare.net.

(upbeat music) - Our motivation every day is the people around us and this community and making better.

- [Woman] Workforce development, healthcare, education.

- [Man] Getting out there and making a difference in the lives that need it the most.

(upbeat music)