Faculty and community supporters of Pasco-Hernando State College said their trust in the upper administration has eroded amid a string of resignations and terminations over the past month.
The turnover began with president Jesse Pisors' abrupt resignation on May 1 after board of trustees Chair Marilyn Pearson-Adams accused him of withholding data that showed the college lagging in enrollment and retention.
A day later, Chiquita Henderson, the assistant vice president and dean of student affairs, submitted her resignation letter, according to records obtained by WUSF.
To serve as interim president, the board elected Eric Hall, secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and an ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Hall was a finalist in PHSC’s presidential search in 2023, when Pisors was hired.
Hall will start Monday, and the board will vote at a future meeting whether to make his appointment permanent.
Until then, Andrea Brvenik, the college's vice president of government relations and general counsel, will serve as acting president.
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In the weeks following, community members and school faculty and staff spoke out against the circumstances surrounding Pisors' resignation.
Jessica White, associate dean of retention and student life, described a culture of fear at a May 6 board meeting.
"I speak not only for myself, but for many dedicated employees across our campuses who feel they cannot speak for themselves," she said, "... that the institution they have poured their hearts, their time and extra hours into is not just being damaged, but dismantled."
A week later, White was terminated.
Last week, the college also terminated the contract of Daniel Powell, vice president of academic affairs, who had reported directly to Pisors.
WUSF reached out to those who resigned or were terminated, but they declined to speak on the record.
The college also declined to answer WUSF's questions about the terminations and circumstances around Pisors' resignation.
Pisors shared the following statement with WUSF:
"I came to Pasco-Hernando State College almost a year and a half ago with the same deep passion for student success, community engagement and improving internal culture with which I approached the work of servant-leadership every day until my resignation. I love PHSC and the many great faculty, staff and students who make the college special.
"In the past several weeks, I have received an overwhelming amount of support from hundreds of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members, for which my wife and I are grateful beyond words. It saddens me to leave PHSC, where I truly believe we were doing good work — the right work — to move PHSC and our community forward. I wish the college the absolute best in the months and years to come."
A representative from the faculty union, who asked for anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said, “Many faculty and staff are afraid of the upper administration of the college," and that "there is a toxic climate of silence, bullying and implied retaliation that is stifling freedom of speech on campus.”
The union rep said many people at the college believe that the enrollment and retention data was “politicized and weaponized to make room for DeSantis’ preferred candidate.”
Over the past few years, presidential picks at Florida public universities like New College, the University of Florida and the University of West Florida, have caused a stir over their ties to the governor, who has waged an ideological battle against higher education.
Critics of the presidential search process call it too secretive. Meanwhile, the governor appoints most of the higher education officials that pick the president in the university system.
For state colleges, trustees are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate during the regular legislative session.
Records obtained from PHSC show that, on the same day of Pisors’ resignation, the governor appointed two trustees to the board, Ralph "Gene" Bell and Kirk Wilson.
The board is responsible for appointing, evaluating and dismissing the president.
In Pisors' only evaluation during his 16-month tenure, he earned an overall rating of 4.66 out of 5.
An email shows that Brvenik informed Pisors that the two appointees would be introduced at a May 2 special meeting, where the enrollment and retention report was supposed to be discussed.
Pearson-Adams, the board chair and also a DeSantis appointee, said she reached out to Brvenik about compiling the report after trustees had made “continued requests over the past 12 months” for information on enrollment and retention.
The report included publicly available state data that showed PHSC with a retention rate of minus-0.6%, putting it in second-to-last place in the 28 college system.
Polk State College, whose president is also being accused of withholding enrollment figures, came in last with minus-13.6%. The Lakeland Ledger reported though that the data used (based on student credit hours) is different from head-count enrollment. Based on head count, enrollment at Polk State actually increased from the year prior.
WUSF has requested updated head-count enrollment data from PHSC.
Critics say the report is flawed
Most of the report, Pearson-Adams said, came from internal PHSC data.
But college faculty and the school's foundation members say they want more information on the source.
At the May 2 meeting, several speakers questioned how the report was compiled. A group of assistant deans of student affairs and enrollment management distributed to the board its own analysis, showing a higher retention rate.
“The data in this report doesn’t align with the data that was pulled from Insights on PHSC End of Semester Reports,” the analysis stated. “The report states that 37% of students were not retained, but the Insights report states that 25% were not retained.”
The group also pointed out several factors that may have skewed enrollment and retention this year: the school had recently switched to a new student database system that was experiencing issues; continuing delays with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); and hurricane hardships for students and staff.
“While this report raises important points regarding retention and enrollment, we need to ensure that the data is accurate before proceeding,” the assistant deans’ analysis said.
Maria Witherell, a former PHSC math professor and assistant dean of arts and sciences who retired in January, was one of several who spoke at a May 6 meeting.
Witherell said the report lacks detail and is hard to understand.
“Many experienced people have tried to make sense of the information in that report, specifically retention rates, and as of yet, no one has been able to explain or verify that data,” she told the board. “We still don’t even know who authored the report.”
Witherell pointed out a part of the report that states that out of the 7,845 students from the spring semester, 6,488 students have not registered for fall yet.
“Registration is still underway and our students are notorious for registering at the last minute,” she said.
Another page on “application trends” features a line graphic that is hard to understand with a legend that seems to contradict itself.
READ THE REPORT: PHSC president resigns after trustees say he was withholding enrollment data
Further, Witherell pointed out how the report failed to clarify if the number of students "not retained" may have simply graduated or were part of a dual enrollment program.
“No data is good data, unless there's qualitative data to go along with it,” she said. “Tell me what I'm looking at. If I don't know what I'm looking at, I can't make a conclusion.”
During a May 12 PHSC Foundation meeting, it was announced that the college will be conducting an audit of its enrollment and retention numbers.
Foundation Chair Barbara-Jo Bell said the turmoil has already cost the school a "sizable" potential donor.
"It almost feels like a black eye, and the bruise is gonna be there for a while," said Bell, "and until the bruise goes away, we're going to still get the questions, 'What happened?' "
