Sen. Fasano: Goodman must go in wake of audit showing mismanagement and bullying

Posted Apr 26, 2012 by Lindsay Peterson

Updated Apr 27, 2012 at 02:58 PM

Last year, state Sens. Mike Fasano and Paula Dockery called for a financial audit of USF Polytechnic, amid accusations of mismanagement and nepotism involving then-Chancellor Marshall Goodman.

Fasano called for Goodman to be fired when Goodman essentially refused to do an independent audit. (There were questions about whether USF President Judy Genshaft could investigate because USF
Poly was, by statute, financially independent from USF in Tampa.)

Now, after USF decided to act on specific ethics complaints in February and found evidence of financial mismanagement under Goodman, Fasano says Goodman must go.

Goodman was dismissed from his position in December, but he stayed on the USF payroll, making more than $270,000 a year.

“It is time for the University of South Florida to make a clean break from former chancellor Goodman,” Fasano wrote in a statement.

“The fact that he is lurking in the shadows, all while the legislature and the governor have approved the creation of Florida Polytechnic, is troubling. Goodman, who is earning $200,000 while on leave, and doing nothing to earn that money, continues to be a drag on the school.

“Unless the Board of Governors makes a clean sweep and permanently cuts ties with this individual, the reputation of the University of South Florida will suffer, and Florida Polytechnic will forever have a pall cast over it.”

Goodman was dismissed in December. The USF Poly faculty had voted that they had “no confidence” in Goodman’s leadership; he’d been pushing to break Poly away from the main USF campus.

That break is happening now after the Legislature went along with state Sen. JD Alexander’s insistent proposal to shut down USF Poly and create a new, independent university in Lakeland.

“The investigative report that has come back has detailed the misuse of dollars that may go beyond the university,” Fasano said.

“It is quite possible that law enforcement may have to become involved to further investigate the mismanagement of these public dollars.  It is my concern that if he is involved with the new school in any way the trouble that befell USF Polytech may be replicated at the new school.”