He said he didn’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but on Tuesday, UNF’s John White dropped a stink bomb in the middle of a UNF Board of Trustees meeting. The trustees met to decide if President David Szymanski should receive his $75,000 bonus for meeting goals set up in his employment contract.

White, the recently elected president of UNF’s Faculty Association, and Student Government President Ally Schneider expressed serious concerns both the faculty and students have with Szymanski.

The BOT meeting started off routinely enough with Szymanski discussing all of the goals he had achieved. Among the highlights was the increase in the State University System’s metrics goals, a significant increase in enrollment among African American students, reducing UNF’s tuition costs and improvement in UNF’s graduation rates. He also noted the success in getting the legislature to approve $6 million for the university’s new MedNexus program. President Szymanski took pride in discussing his relationship with staff and students– including showing photos of him and his wife meeting with staff throughout campus and holding zoom chats with students. After concluding his remarks, Szymanski left the meeting and that’s when things really got interesting. 

Overall it looked like BOT President Kevin Hyde would get a quick vote of approval on the $75,000 bonus as most board members expressed very positive feedback on the President’s performance to date. But not so fast. Just as it looked to be wrapping, White uttered eight memorable words, “I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade.” 

White told the board that there is a major problem they are not paying attention to and that there is a “crisis of confidence with the President that we are not addressing.”  White went on to say that Szymanski’s relationship with the faculty is “strained” and it’s “widespread.”

“The faculty do not feel it’s true that he meets with them,” White said. 

When asked for more specifics, White said, “It’s a number of things. Faculty was far more trusting of John Delaney even though we went a decade without raises… It’s telling we got raises and the faculty is very upset.” White acknowledged that Szymanski did reach the goals set in his contract and White said he personally wanted Szymanski to succeed. But White said that Szymanski has alienated the faculty, “He doesn’t answer his own emails… He won’t respond. I sent an email saying, ‘I want to work with you’ no response.”  

White said former UNF President John Delaney had an open door policy, but you had to go through a bunch of people before you could get access to Szymanski. 

BOT board member, Jill Davis expressed dismay at what she was hearing and asked Student Government President, Ally Schneider for her thoughts on the President’s relationship with students. Schneider, who earlier in the meeting expressed positive views pivoted saying, “I need to be honest how students feel about him… I think it’s worth noting that the people in the UNF community are a little less sold that he’s a great fit for UNF.”  

Schneider called Szymanski’s decision to get rid of tailgating parties a “really, really bad move.”  She finished by saying she would advise her successor to look hard at how the President improves his relationships with the faculty. Schneider told the board that she’s in a tough spot, “If I defend the President, I’m a sellout.  If I don’t, I’m jeopardizing my relationship with the administration.”

BOT President Hyde, and the other board members appeared to take all the information seriously. So much so, that Hyde said he’s going to revise the comments he made on Szymanski’s formal evaluation and that he’ll have in-depth discussion with Szymanski on these issues. 

As the board once again prepared to vote on giving Szymanski’s bonus, White chimed in one more time wondering if they needed to give the entire bonus amount.  In the end, the board did just that… all voting “yes” to Szymanski’s $75,000 bonus.

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