'That's on me': Florida A&M interim president discusses resignation order, next steps
Although Florida A&M University's senior leadership team is in limbo after interim President Timothy Beard's directive for the group to resign effective Tuesday, the order might not mean the end of the road for all the members.
As Beard assesses the team, some will be staying while others will be dismissed.
"It's part of the overall process of evaluating the leadership team," Beard told the Tallahassee Democrat in an interview Tuesday after his one-on-one meetings with the approximately 20 team members.
"One way that we do that is to request for the submission of resignations, but that does not mean I'm going to accept all the resignations in terms of the team members leaving the institution."
However, by the end of the day, Beard accepted the resignations of Communications Director Keith Miles, Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics and Athletics Director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes , Director of Governmental Relations Danielle McBeth and Vice President of Legal Affairs Denise Wallace. By evening, they were no longer listed on the president's leadership team on the website.
Previous coverage: 'New leadership is essential': FAMU interim president Beard asks for resignations
On Monday, Beard sent a request for resignations to leadership team members to notify them of his directive.
"The process is highly used in corporate America and in higher education to assess leadership teams," Beard said. "It shouldn't be taken out of context, but sometimes, it is."
His plans for a change in leadership comes a week into his tenure as interim president and a few days ahead of both the fall semester and the football season for FAMU Rattlers.
The directive also comes as the fallout continues from the donation debacle that rocked the university. Last week, an investigative report determined that a Texas hemp farmer's "fraudulent" $237 million gift to FAMU deceived administrators. The Board of Trustees , calling for accountability, voted to take steps of improving its gift acceptance policies.
Beard says the process of assessing other members of the senior leadership team in terms of their contributions and their "fit" to remain on the team is ongoing. He did not specify how long it will take to complete the assessment.
"Although we're in between semesters, we meet twice a month to implement our 'Boldly Striking' Strategic Plan ," Beard said, referring to the senior leadership team. "That's really the next step — to go forward with our strategic plan."
He says he did not speak with the Florida Board of Governors about his resignation requests. But he did consult with the FAMU Board of Trustees and former President Larry Robinson , who stepped down and officially ended his presidential tenure Aug. 4, about the staff shakeup.
"It's my job to decide who should continue to be on the team to move forward, so we consulted to find out where we are and where we need to go in terms of implementing our strategic plan," Beard said.
"They may speak broadly in terms of our strengths and weaknesses as a university, but when it comes to the senior leadership team and individual employees, that's on me as the president."
Like Beard's expeditious decision making, Robinson enforced similar directives during his time as an interim president at FAMU years ago.
A few days into Robinson's tenure as FAMU's interim president in 2016, he terminated three top aides to his predecessor Elmira Mangum — Provost Marcella David, chief of staff Jimmy Miller and Elise Durham, assistant vice president for communications — along with three other individuals who served as assistants to the president.
From the archives: Robinson begins housecleaning at FAMU
Other FAMU news: 'Lack of common sense': FAMU trustees discuss report on 'fraudulent' donation
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_ .
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU interim President Beard discusses leadership resignation order
