Takeaways from Tallahassee — Making moves at FSU

Florida State University President Richard McCullough, who is coming up on his first anniversary after being selected to follow former FSU President John Thrasher, continues to build out his leadership team.

McCullough’s latest hire is Marla Vickers as FSU’s next vice president for university advancement and president of the FSU Foundation. That makes Vickers a top fundraiser for the university, a key role as the university continues its push to climb up in national rankings.

Vickers, who starts Oct. 1, is an FSU graduate who is currently an associate vice president of advancement in the Division of Advancement & Alumni Engagement at Emory University in Atlanta. She brings more than 20 years of experience in higher education including working on five different multi-billion fundraising campaigns.

“I am so pleased to welcome Marla Vickers back home to Florida State University,” McCullough said. “She is a proven leader with a track record of success as a fundraiser and manager. Her energy, enthusiasm and experience will be a tremendous asset in facilitating more collaboration and alignment among all of FSU’s direct support organizations and helping the university achieve its ambitious fundraising goals.”

Vickers’ job will include fundraising as well as alumni relations and she will “work closely” with the Seminole Boosters, the fundraising organization for FSU athletics, while preparing for FSU’s next campaign. In 2018, FSU completed an eight-year fundraising effort called “Raise the Torch” that raised in excess of $1 billion.

According to FSU, the FSU Foundation ended fiscal year 2022 with $95 million in gifts and pledges, one of the top years in university history.

In her new role, Vickers will lead Florida State’s fundraising, alumni relations, advancement services and real estate giving and will work closely with the Seminole Boosters while laying the groundwork for FSU’s next campaign.

“As an alumna, it is an incredible honor to have the opportunity to join President McCullough and the entire FSU team in this capacity at such an important moment in the school’s history,” said Vickers, who has degrees from Georgia, a master’s degree from FSU and an MBA from George Washington University. She is currently working on a doctorate at Vanderbilt University.

Tom Jennings, the former vice president for university advancement, stepped down in July 2020.

Andy Jhanji, former executive vice president of the FSU Foundation, served as interim vice president until April 2022. Michael Hartline, dean of the College of Business, has served in the position since April and will continue in the role until Vickers arrives at FSU

McCullough’s other key hires since becoming president include bringing on a new provost and athletic director last December.

Several key positions at FSU are holdovers from the previous administrations including Amy Hecht, vice president of student affairs, Kyle Clark, vice president for finance and administration, general counsel Carolyn Egan, chief legislative affairs officer Clay Ingram and Dennis Schittker, assistant vice president for university communications.

___

Coming up, the usual assortment of news, intel and observations from the week that was in Florida’s capital city by Peter Schorsch, Drew Wilson, Renzo Downey, Aimee Sachs, Christine Jordan Sexton and the staff of Florida Politics.

But first …

Take 5

The “Takeaway 5” — the Top 5 stories from the week that was:

FPL-Capitolist funding ties revealed — The Miami Herald unveiled that Florida Power and Light secretly propped up The Capitolist, bankrolling the conservative alt-news site, siccing it on opponents and using the platform to promote its message. The report is the latest scandal to embroil FPL, the state’s largest power utility company. A group of private communications experts consulting for FPL pre-screened articles, according to the Herald. It isn’t unusual for publications to have corporate sponsors, but outside observers were concerned to learn of FPL’s editorial influence.

Gov. DeSantis’ latest proposal targets ESG — After targeting Critical Race Theory, Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking the fight against “woke” corporations to environmental, social and governance criteria. The Governor’s proposal, announced months ahead of the 2023 Session but as the 2022 Midterms heat up, would prohibit the State Board of Administration (SBA) pension fund managers from using political criteria when investing state money. It would prohibit Wall Street banks, credit card companies and money transmitters like PayPal from discriminating against customers for their religious, political or social beliefs.

Regulators to use Citizens as backstop — With more than a dozen property insurance companies facing ratings downgrades, Florida regulators have moved to shore up the struggling companies with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. The Office of Insurance Regulation is creating a “temporary reinsurance arrangement” where Citizens would pay the outstanding claims of companies that are downgraded and later go insolvent. The move was triggered by Demotech, which had threatened to downgrade 17 companies. Demotech put the downgrading on hold after Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier blasted the decision and requested the company for additional information.

Parental rights law faces federal lawsuit — A federal lawsuit filed in Orlando is seeking to stop the implementation of House Bill 1557, the “Parental Rights in Education” measure that critics dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law. The suit was filed by families of public-school children in Orange County and Indian River County, an Orange County high school student who is openly gay, and a coalition of LBGTQ+ community centers. The legislation stigmatizes LGBTQ families and invites school officials, teachers and classmates to view them as inferior, the suit declares.

Miami TikTok toddler dance reignites drag show fight — DeSantis is following up on his vow to prevent drag shows marketed for children. Following a clip showing a toddler in a tiara dancing with a scantily clad drag queen, DeSantis said the the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is investigating the establishment, R House Wynwood, and could ultimately pull the restaurant’s liquor license. DeSantis argues such encounters are part of a disturbing trend that is sexualizing children. However, the restaurant’s representative calls the situation “a misunderstanding.”

The post Takeaways from Tallahassee — Making moves at FSU appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..