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Governor Ron DeSantis is asking for years of detailed records from Florida’s public universities and colleges, and giving them a tight deadline to respond.
The audit is part of Florida’s DOGE efforts, launched in February to “eliminate waste” in state government.
The request came in a letter, which was published by the Tampa Bay Times.
It was sent from the Governor’s office to university presidents.
It asks for detailed information including grants, job descriptions and salaries for the last six years, with a tight deadline of April 18th.
David Simmons is an engineering professor and faculty senate president at the University of South Florida.
He said the information they’re asking for can easily be found online, and puts additional stress on universities.
“It takes money from the university. It takes time away from faculty and staff that could be doing innovation or supporting students. And I think all of our faculty and staff probably are feeling that burden,” Simmons told WMNF.
He said it puts a burden on universities, and the info requested is easily accessible to the public.
“Anyone who wants to know what faculty have published can go find out out easily on a place like Google, Google Scholar, because we want folks to know it.” Simmons said.
Simmons adds that faculty at USF are proud of the work they do.
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