The Florida Board of Regents was from 1965 to 2001 the governing body for the

State University System of Florida The State University System of Florida (SUSF or SUS) is a system of twelve public universities in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2018, over 341,000 students were enrolled in Florida's state universities. Together with the Florida College Syst ...

, which includes all

public universities A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national university ...

in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It was created to replace a predecessor body called the Florida Board of Control, which had existed from 1905. Its powers are now held by the Florida Board of Governors. The Board of Regents was established in the Florida Statutes, Title XVI, Chapter 240, Part II.

Function

The Board of Regents had the responsibility for adopting system-wide rules and policies; planning for the future needs of the State University System; planning the programmatic, financial and physical development of the system; reviewing and evaluating the instructional, research, and service programs at the universities; coordinating program development among the universities; and monitoring the fiscal performance of the universities." (Title XVI Chapter 240.209, The 2000 Florida Statutes)

Composition

The Board of Regents had a total of 14 members, 13 of which were appointed by the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, and one who was the commissioner of education. One of the members appointed by the governor had to be a full-time student of the state university system; historically, Florida governors gave great weight to the recommendation of the

Florida Student Association Florida Student Association was formed in 1976 and is a board of the Student Body Presidents from each of the State University System universities. Florida Student Association, Inc. (FSA) was formed in 1976 under the "Florida Not For Profit ...

in filling that seat. The governor's appointments had to be approved by the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. The commissioner of education and the full-time student served for one year. while all other members served for six years. Excluding the full-time student member and the commissioner of education, no county could house two regents except for counties with over 900,000 residents. The regents were not paid; however, they were reimbursed for expenses incurred as a result of fulfilling their role, such as travel expenses. The board appointed a chancellor to serve as its chief administrative officer.

Institutions founded or incorporated

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

(1965) * Florida Institute of Oceanography (1967) *

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sc ...

(1969) * University Press of Florida (1973) *

New College of Florida New College of Florida is a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded in 1960 as a private institution known simply as New College, spent several years merged into the University of South Florida, and in 2001 became an aut ...

(1975) *

(1976) * Florida Gulf Coast University (1991)

Dissolution and succession

The Board of Regents hindered efforts by Governor

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...

and the Republican-controlled legislature to end affirmative action in Florida's public universities, and it was consequently abolished by an act of the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

which was signed into law by Governor Bush on July 1, 2001. The powers held by the Board of Regents were then divided between the Florida Board of Education (which was given some authority over all levels of public education in the state), and appointed boards of trustees, which operated independently for each separate institution.

Bob Graham Daniel Robert "Bob" Graham (born November 9, 1936) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States senator from Florida from 1987 to 2005. He is a member of the De ...

, a

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

from Florida, objected to the abolition of the statewide body, and responded by leading a ballot initiative to restore it through an amendment to the Florida

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

. This initiative succeeded in creating what is now called the Florida Board of Governors. As it is ensconced in the Florida Constitution, this new body can not be abolished by the legislature without another constitutional amendment. {{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Board Of Regents Government of Florida 1965 establishments in Florida 2001 disestablishments in Florida State University System of Florida