Interim President Castell V. Bryant has no term limit and the selection committee responsible for the search for a permanent president has not yet been formed.
Bryant entered the interim position at the beginning of the spring 2005 semester on Jan. 3 and has made various changes at the University in efforts to improve the state of FAMU.
Though Bryant said she was unaware of the financial crisis the University was in when she entered the position, she took a number of steps to improve university finances and at the beginning of the fall 2005 semester, she announced that FAMU is back in the black financially.
Bryant, a FAMU alumna, former college president and former member of the Florida Board of Governors is the first woman to lead the University.
In a previous interview with the Famuan, Bryant said she wants the University to be in a better financial state when she leaves and following all of the guidelines set by the state legislature.
Once Bryant leaves her position she is not eligible to become the University’s permanent president because of a FAMU policy that does not allow an interim president to apply for the permanent position.
Though Bryant does not have a term limit and will serve as Interim President until a permanent candidate is selected, SGA President Ramon Alexander, 21, a senior political science student from Tallahassee, wants the selection process to begin in the near future.
“By the next Board of Trustees meeting, the committee must be formed to move forward the process of selecting a new president,” Alexander said.
Alexander said he motioned the decision at the last BOT meeting.
BOT Liaison Kimberly Borland said the committee members’ names are not yet available.
After the upcoming board meeting scheduled for Oct. 6, committee members will be selected and will then begin the selection process.
Alexander said the BOT Chairperson Challis Lowe’s roll in the process ins to select committee members .
Many FAMU alumni, faculty and members of the student body are awaiting the selection of a permanent university president.
A number of students want to see the final outcome of the changes Bryant has made within the university since the start of her term.
“What she (Bryant) is doing will either be 100 percent effective or FAMU will be on a steady decline,” said Keenan Underwood, 20, a junior business administration student from Cleveland, Ohio.
Porsha Davis, 18, a freshman political science student from Lake Wales said she admires Bryant’s ambition and assertiveness and wants the new president to have some of Bryant’s characteristics.
“When she (Bryant) speaks, things happen,” Davis said.
Though the permanent presidential position is not filled yet, the process will begin when Lowe chooses members of the selection committee on Oct. 6.
contact Carla Jones at famuannews@hotmail.com