Florida Governor Ron DeSantis moved to fill key higher education leadership slots on Friday, naming 16 individuals to the district boards of trustees for five major state colleges across Florida. The sweep of personnel decisions includes several new appointments along with multiple current trustees tapped to keep their positions.
All of the selections must clear final confirmation votes in the Florida Senate before taking office permanently.
The appointments spread across Daytona State College, Santa Fe College, St. Johns River State College, Chipola College, and the College of the Florida Keys. The choices draw heavily from the local business, legal, and educational sectors surrounding each respective school.
At Daytona State College, DeSantis picked local builder Robert Coleman, a vice president at Coleman Goodemote Construction Company and a regular in area civic groups, as a new trustee. He also reappointed three existing board members: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University CFO Randy Howard, Halifax Staffing Chief Legal Officer Kelly Kwiatek, and retired commercial banker Garry Lubi.
Up at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, C. Austen Roberts, the president of The Roberts Companies and co-owner of Swift Creek Realty, secured the lone brand-new appointment to the board. Three current trustees won reappointment to their seats: Fletcher Construction President George “Blake” Fletcher, Community State Bank CEO Jeffrey Oody, and retired Alachua County Jail Director Robert Woody.
The largest group of changes landed at St. Johns River State College, where the Governor named two fresh faces and kept three veterans. Alexandria Hill, a partner at the firm Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Dibenow, and Kevin Payne, a senior manager at Imagine 360, are the new additions. Keeping their seats on the board are attorney Richard Komando, Navy veteran and business owner Willard “Jud” Sapp Jr., and Clay County Assistant County Manager Tammy “Chereese” Stewart.
Chipola College saw two picks, split between insurance agent Jeffrey Snell, who joins the board as a new member, and auto sales vice president Travis “Dell” Corbin, who secured a reappointment.
Down in the southernmost part of the state, Andrew Dulcey won the single appointment available for the College of the Florida Keys. Dulcey works locally as a private practice attorney in Key West.
State records show that a significant majority of the selected trustees hold prior civic ties to their college regions, ranging from positions on local chamber boards to county education foundations. No timeline has been announced yet for when the Florida Senate will take up the confirmation process for the 16 nominees.
READ: Florida Man Gets Jail Time After Using Stolen Excavator In Failed Bank Heist Next To Police Station
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