1. Vol. 40, No. 16 Section 01 Tallahassee, Florida April 17-23, 2014
www.capitaloutlook.com
50 cents
Students Address Concerns Over
FAMU-FSU Engineering School Split
By Aldranon
English II
Outlook Staff
Writer
More than one
hundred concerned
students, staff and
faculty members
assembled at the
FAMU-FSU Col-
lege of Engineer-
ing, for a town hall
meeting, recently to
address new infor-
mation and allevi-
ate ambiguity about
the proposed sepa-
ration of the school.
Students were giv-
en an opportunity
prior to the meeting
to brainstorm ques-
tions pertaining to
the school’s split.
Guests included
FAMU Student
Government As-
sociation President
Anthony Siders and
FAMU President
Elmira Mangum.
Mangum assured
students that a de-
cision had not been
finalized regard-
ing the fate of the
school.
“This process
is something that
is ongoing,” said
Mangum. “My ad-
vice to you all is to
continue to focus on
your studies and do
not let this matter
disgruntle you.”
Jermaine Dickey,
a junior mechanical
engineer student,
was not aware of
the proposed split
of the school until
he saw a news seg-
ment on television.
“I didn’t know
anything about it
until I saw on the
news that Florida
State is pursuing a
ranking among the
Top 25 schools in
the nation,” said
Dickey.
Dickey also said
that he does not see
a need to split the
two programs.
“FAMU is one
of the top HBCU’s
in the country and
Florida State is a
really great school
and one of the best
in the country as
well,” said Dick-
ey. “I feel if any-
thing, we should
be uniting instead
of dividing the two
schools.”
Simon Y. Foo, a
professor and de-
partment chair of
electrical engineer-
ing, expressed his
dissatisfaction with
the notion to break
up the school.
“I think it is re-
ally sad and I hope
it doesn’t come to
fruition,” said Foo
about the separa-
tion.
Four days into
her start as presi-
dent of FAMU,
Mangum spoke
with FSU’s Interim
President Garnett
Stokes briefly about
the proposal to split
the engineering
school. When stu-
dents asked about
FAMU’s College
of Engineering
Sciences, Technol-
ogy and Agriculture
(CESTA) program
and its survival if
the proposal is ac-
cepted, Mangum
was uncertain about
its fate.
“We clearly
haven’t had any col-
laboration about the
issue,” said Mang-
um. “That is part of
the due process; the
only scenario that
we are prepared to
talk about is what
the impact would be
and what is needed
to maintain two
separate colleges of
engineering if the
schools split.”
Magnum is pre-
paring to talk with
Stokes again in
the coming weeks
about the proposal
to separate the two
schools. Mangum
said that she is op-
timistic about the
future of both insti-
tutions.
“I believe neither
Garnett nor I favor
or oppose outright
on the split,” said
Mangum. “My pri-
mary focus is that
we have a qual-
ity sustainable en-
gineering program
if the two schools
should separate.”
Anthony Siders
posed a notion to
challenge the state
of Florida on the
merits and legiti-
macy of the actions
proposed by the
bill to split the two
schools if the legis-
lature doesn’t agree
to adequate fund-
ing for duplicate
programs. Mangum
expressed her sen-
timents about the
plan to seek legal
resolution.
“Although it is a
possibility, my hope
is that we don’t have
to go through legal
action to do what
is right in terms of
funding, opportuni-
ty and access,” said
Mangum.
Mangum chal-
lenged students
to vote and talk to
state representa-
tives on the issue.
Mangum also en-
couraged faculty to
speak on the value
of their relation-
ships in support of
the school to stay
united.
“We need the
faculty to speak
on these particular
topics in terms of
the value of their
relationships and
the value of the pro-
gram as it currently
exists,” Mangum
said.
When students
asked if the com-
munity should be
concerned with
anything that may
be hidden or not
mentioned about
the proposal, Mang-
um said that the bill
itself is the primary
FAMU President
Elmira Mangum
see STUDENTS, page 2

2. www.capitaloutlook.com Capital Outlook April 17-23, 2014 2
focus.
“The biggest con-
cern anyone should
be worried about
right now is that the
amendment exists,”
said Mangum.
The plan to di-
vide the FAMU/
FSU College of
Engineering is in
the Senate’s budget
proposal for the up-
coming fiscal year.
The House’s budget
proposal does not
include the mea-
sure. However, if
the House decides
to add the measure
to their budget, the
College of Engi-
neering could be
separated.
State Sen. John
Thrasher, R-St.
Augustine, added
the measure to the
Senate’s budget
proposal earlier this
month, surprising
FAMU officials.
Since then, Mang-
um and her top ad-
ministrators have
come up with a dol-
lar amount needed
for FAMU’s Col-
lege of Engineering
to be independent.
She told state of-
ficials that it would
cost more than $100
million to split the
school’s engineer-
ing program. Most
of that money, how-
ever, will be used
to build a new en-
gineering school
on FAMU’s cam-
pus. Also, Mangum
said the state would
have to spend about
$15 million a year
to fund FAMU’s en-
gineering program.
FAMU officials
say they are still
opposed to split-
ting the program. In
addition to FAMU
officials, federal of-
ficials may have a
say-so in the split.
Mangum has told
Florida Gov. Rick
Scott that the state
could risk federal
intervention over
the separation.
STUDENTS CONTI-