Pasco-Hernando State College president Jesse Pisors resigned Thursday after less than 18 months in the post. His resignation came the day before the school’s board of trustees had planned a special meeting, in which he may have faced termination.
In a letter to her fellow board members last week, Chairperson Marilyn Pearson-Adams wrote that the Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, found that PHSC was second to last in student retention among the state’s 28 public colleges.
“I found this very alarming for our institution, especially with our campuses situated in two of the fastest growing counties in the state,” Pearson-Adams wrote.
In the letter, she directed criticism toward Pisors for not disclosing the declining enrollment “especially considering our continued requests over the past 12 months regarding this type of information and data.”
According to analysis provided to the school by the state DOGE team, nearly 60% of students enrolled last fall did not return in this spring, almost double the state average. The low retention resulted in a revenue loss of up to $10 million, according to the analysis.
The DOGE report also indicates that more than 10% of students were denied a diploma for failing to meet graduation requirements in the past three semesters.
In a February executive order on efficiency, DeSantis said he expected state colleges and universities to help “identify and eliminate unnecessary spending, programs, courses, staff, and any other inefficiencies.”
“In terms of the bureaucracies and administrative, are we a well-oiled machine or is there room for improvement?” DeSantis said at a March meeting of state university leaders.
Last month, the governor’s office asked all colleges and universities to hand over a detailed list of grants and research conducted by faculty over the past six years.
Andrea Brvenik, the college’s general counsel and vice president of government relations, will act as interim president until a permanent replacement is chosen.
Ian Hodgson is an education reporter for the Tampa Bay Times, working in partnership with Open Campus.