Pasco-Hernando State College President Jesse Pisors resigned ahead of a special board of trustees meeting about enrollment data set for Friday morning.
It has only been a little over a year since Pisors formally assumed the role, as the former vice president of Texas A&M University-San Antonio and the University of Houston-Victoria took office in January 2024.
The meeting was called by board chair Marilyn Pearson-Adams.
According to a letter she wrote to her fellow board members, Pearson-Adams said a report from Gov. Ron DeSantis' Department of Government Efficiency found that the school was second to last in the State College System for student retention, with -0.06% growth.
It was data, she said, that the board had been requesting from Pisors for the past year.
“Something was not quite right as it had been quite some time since we had received reports with our own internal data,” Pearson-Adams wrote. “I found this very alarming for our institution, especially with our campuses situated in two of the fastest-growing counties in the state.”
There are only two other schools among the state's 28 public colleges that do not have a positive retention rate.
The report says that over 10,000 students did not stay at the college since the 2023 fall term, which resulted in up to $10 million of revenue loss.
“With everything shifting, from us going from college-wide to now individual campuses, with a new president, a new van system, six vacant high leadership roles, and two hurricanes… this year for student life has been very intense,” student speaker Emmalise Feliciano said at the meeting.
“I can trust in our team and everyone here that the students are going to come back. That our retention is going to come up," Feliciano added.
Andrea Brvenik, the college's Vice President of Government Relations and General Counsel, will serve as acting president.
“My suggestion would be...until our next meeting for Andrea to fill that role until our very next meeting,” trustee John Allocco Jr. said.
Despite the audience cutting him off with a loud chorus of “no’s,” trustees unanimously approved his appointment.
“We have upcoming graduation ceremonies that need to be addressed,” Allocco said. “We just have daily business that he's very capable of managing until we get to that point where we have that discussion.”
An emergency meeting to discuss a possible interim president and determine the best course of action will take place on Tuesday, May 6, at 6 p.m. at the school's West Campus in New Port Richey.
