In Spring 2023, the Florida legislature passed SB 846. This legislation, as interpreted by the Board of Governors of the Florida State University System (BoG) and some units of UF, has  seriously hindered hiring of graduate assistants, researchers, and scholars from “countries of concern,” including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria.

The BoG regulation (see 5(b)(1,2)) calls for — at the minimum —  several weeks’ delay for BoT and BoG screening that will undoubtedly result in the loss of exceptional students, researchers, and scholars to other universities. 

For years, UF has benefitted from the talents of many graduate assistants, researchers, and scholars originating from these countries.To make things worse, the BoG guidance document apparently requires disclosures by individual researchers freely and openly collaborating with international colleagues on papers and data that will be available to all in the global public domain. Such disclosure overreach infringes on academic freedom. 

UFF-UF is concerned that this regulation may have already caused serious damage. To prevent  further devastating impact on graduate programs and research activities across the UF campus,  we have urged the UF administration to ensure that UF’s implementation of the BOG regulation be timely and clear and not hinder important research agendas via onerous hiring restrictions  or  disclosure or reporting requirements.

In addition, we remind you to sign this petition, calling on the UF president and provost to continue hiring top talent regardless of national origin.

Lastly, take a look at media coverage on this topic in Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times.