Details here. Murat Aydede, David Copp, and Marina Oshana have recently jumped ship (Aydede to British Columbia, Copp & Oshana to UC Davis), but surely other talented faculty at UF are going to follow suit. Three philosophy departments in Florida that have been on an upward trajectory--Florida State, Miami, and South Florida--are, I imagine, talking with colleagues in Gainesville!
There are certainly too many philosophy PhD programs in the U.S., but there are at least forty programs nationally with less capable faculties than Florida's that might have been given the axe, were these decisions made on the comparative merits of programs nationwide. Obviously decisions are not made on such a basis, and perhaps philosophy at Florida really was underperforming other Liberal Arts programs there, though I'm skeptical given the caliber of the philosophy faculty and other indicators of program excellence across the university.
UPDATE: The Chronicle of Higher Ed notes that these are statewide cuts to higher education, so FSU and USF, as public schools, may also be affected (though each has evinced strong commitment to philosophy in recent years). The Chronicle reports that the University of Florida president "said that the university’s goal of becoming one of the top 10 research institutions in the nation may be delayed by its budget woes and that he fears qualified faculty members may leave for greener pastures after going two years without a pay raise." "Delayed" for this lifetime I'd imagine. As a commenter at the Chronicle remarks:
The decision to eliminate the PhD in Philosophy is an indication that UF, the alleged “flagship” institution of higher education in the state, has little claim to respect within the academy. Excellence in Philosophy is central to the mission of higher education. The UF administration is shortsighted and intellectually impoverished.
Meanwhile, a Florida newspaper reports (I kid you not, scroll down) that one outcome of the recent Florida legislative session is that "bestiality is still legal" in the state. (Thanks to the Florida Student Philosophy Blog for some of the links.)
ANOTHER: Meanwhile, the undergraduate philosophy major at UF has been growing!
ONE MORE: Roger Ariew, Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of South Florida, writes:
It is true that the Florida State budget calls for a 6% cut in funding for Universities. This comes on top of a 5.4% return in appropriations this year. Now 11.4% is a lot of money, but State appropriations are a small portion of a University budget, perhaps one third to one fourth of it. The net result is thus a reduction of 3-4% of a University's budget.
The State also allowed for a 6% tuition increase and a differential tuition increase for some universities (UF, FSU, and USF) for up to 15%. Such tuition increases should go a long way to balance the cuts in State appropriations.
Florida decided to freeze hiring and to layoff some faculty and staff. USF has frozen hiring, but allowed some exemptions to the freeze for "strategic" reasons; among the exemptions was a senior hire for Philosophy. Administrative decisions such as these reveal the different priorities of the respective university administrations.
I don't have all the figures, but Florida's canceling its Ph.D. in Philosophy will not result in great savings; it is a short-sighted and stupid move. Certainly it will result in a black mark for the "flagship" University in Florida. Top 10 status seems remote indeed.
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