The Florida Board of Governors (BOG) met Friday to approve Interim President Stacy Volnick’s employment agreement, allowing her to remain in the position from January through December 2025 or until Florida Atlantic University hires a new president.
Volnick has served as the temporary president of FAU since January 2023, following the departure of former president John Kelly in 2022. During her tenure, an FAU presidential search in 2023 failed to find a permanent president, leading to another active search that began in June.
On Sept. 30, FAU’s Board of Trustees (BOT) met to approve the agreement. The agreement stated that the BOT unanimously rated Volnick’s performance thus far as “Exceptional,” the highest rating possible.
Piero Bussani, the chair of FAU’s BOT, endorsed the approval of Volnick’s contract during the BOG meeting. He said she contributed to the university’s success as interim president.
“There is no question in my mind that Florida Atlantic is in a position of strength due to her singular focus on serving our institution through this time of transition and keeping the best interest of our students always top of mind,” Bussani said.
Mike Sanderson, a public member, asked the BOG to evaluate strategically before voting based on “one-sided” evaluations from the chair and president.
“I ask you to actually enforce standards on presidential evaluation as your regulations require,” said Sanderson, adding that no one will write poorly in a self-evaluation about their performance.
However, the board still unanimously voted “yes” to confirm Volnick’s agreement.
BOG Chair Brian Lamb recognized that members showed a lot of “enthusiasm” during the vote and congratulated Volnick.
Gov. Alan Levine did the same, thanking Volnick for her willingness to extend her term while the search process continues.
“I know it’s been quite an interesting process for her and she’s sacrificed a little bit here to continue to serve as president while we go through it,” said Levine.
Michael Cook is the News Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].
