Over the course of his nine-year presidency at the University of Florida, J. Bernard Machen has played the role of Sisyphus.
Time after time, Dr. Machen thought he was moving Florida toward the elusive goal of “top 10" status among public universities. But again and again, his budget was slashed and hope of progress dwindled. In June, Dr. Machen announced plans to retire, effectively leaving his successor with a very steep hill left to climb.
All of that changed on Tuesday, when Dr. Machen, who is 68, agreed to indefinitely postpone his retirement. The university called off a national search that was days from conclusion because it seemed Dr. Machen was prepared to give that rock one last push.
Key to Dr. Machen’s decision was an assurance from Gov. Rick Scott, who has signed on to the notion that the University of Florida should be among the nation’s “top 10" public institutions. That vague pledge might not mean much in every state, but it is seen as a real breakthrough for a governor who has been openly skeptical about faculty productivity and university spending.
“He is recognizing that we are part of the solution,” Dr. Machen said in an e-mail on Wednesday.
Since Dr. Machen took office, in 2004, Florida has fluctuated from as high as No. 13 to as low as No. 17 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Dr. Machen’s decision to stay on invited speculation that strong candidates to succeed him had failed to emerge. Search-committee members said that was not the case, but the actual quality of the pool is difficult to assess.
The names of 70 nominees for the position were publicly released, but the most notable applicants were not expected to formally apply until Thursday, when the search committee was scheduled to recommend a slate of finalists. The timing was designed to protect sitting presidents, who are often reluctant to pursue jobs in states like Florida, where state laws require applicants’ names to be public.
While he never formally applied, W. Randolph Woodson, chancellor of North Carolina State University, was widely believed to be a front-runner for the Florida job.
Mr. Woodson did not respond to an e-mail inquiry, and Charles A. Flink, chairman of the North Carolina State University Board of Visitors, did not reply to a telephone message at his office.
The University of Florida hired Greenwood/Asher & Associates, a search firm, to assist with the search. The firm would have earned $95,000 for a completed search, but university officials said on Wednesday that they were not sure what the total cost would be since the search was suspended. The firm’s contract also covered up to $9,500 in expenses.
Unlikely Alliance
Before Tuesday, Governor Scott would have seemed an unlikely person to persuade Dr. Machen, a dental surgeon, to stick around. The governor has sometimes been seen as antagonistic toward universities. In 2011 he created an online public database of all university employees’ salaries, and he has questioned whether taxpayers should foot the bill for liberal-arts majors like anthropology, which he says do not lead to jobs.
Governor Scott has also expressed a fondness for a controversial proposal in Texas that would measure faculty productivity in a manner that critics say devalues research.
Scott Nygren, immediate past chair of the University of Florida Faculty Senate and a member of the presidential-search committee, said he was cautiously optimistic that the governor’s thinking on higher education had evolved.
“If the governor is now saying he wants to support the kinds of initiatives President Machen has been supporting in the last year, this could be a very dramatic development,” said Mr. Nygren, a professor of film and media studies.
Last spring Governor Scott vetoed a bill that would have given the University of Florida the authority to raise tuition beyond an annual cap of 15 percent. Dr. Machen has argued for years that Florida is competitively hamstrung by tuition rates below those of its peers, but the governor has not softened his position on increases.
Dr. Machen said Governor Scott had committed “to use state resources” to help the university meet its goals, but the president did not respond directly to questions about whether dollar amounts had been discussed.
“If you look closely at what he is trying to do,” Dr. Machen said of the governor, “there is not much we aren’t doing. I have made the cuts, become more efficient, contributed to economic development, and not complained!”
Throughout Dr. Machen’s tenure, Florida’s sometimes-fluid university-governance structure has been the subject of political battles and lawsuits. Under the current system, great authority is delegated from the statewide Board of Governors to individual university boards. But Governor Scott, it appears, sees some appeal in placing more power at the system level.
“I am a believer in the governance structure with strong local boards,” Dr. Machen wrote. “It has been enormously helpful to me and works. That said, there is a role for statewide coordination, and the governor is moving that way. It can work if higher education is a state priority and the resources and accountability are in place.”
Governor Scott’s office did not respond on Wednesday to questions about his views on the state universities’ governance structure.
Dr. Machen has not said how long he now plans to remain president, but faculty members expect he will stay in place for several years. Joe Glover, the university’s provost and a candidate for the presidency, said Dr. Machen may provide continuity at a pivotal moment for the university.
“I can understand the governor’s interest in wanting to make sure that you have someone who is absolutely capable,” Mr. Glover said, “and Machen is a proven quantity.”
Correction (1/10/2013, 9:27 a.m.): This article originally misstated Dr. Machen’s age. He is 68, not 69. The article has been updated to reflect this correction.
