Gov. Charlie Crist today gave approval to his “dear friend” Frank Brogan taking over the state university system. “He’s a real state treasure, there’s no question about it.”

“It’s great to be home,” Brogan said at a press event at the governor’s office today.

Brogan, the former head of FAU, said he hopes to “get everyone on the same page” and help the universities work together to boost their collective reputation. He mentioned U.S. News & World Report when asked which national rankings he paid attention, but noted that “even that one is put under scrutiny on a regular basis as having some inputs that people disagree with.”

“I’ve always been a glass half-full guy,” Brogan said. “Some people wish i would drown in it, but I think most people are like me. They recognize with crisis comes opportunity.”

Asked who is actually in charge of the university system (it’s overseen by the Board of Governors, but largely funded by the legislature) Brogan said, “It is a multi-headed hydra of governance.”

“It really is creating, I think, the best result within the governance structure we have and that’s going to be a big part of my job for the years to come,” he said.

You can listen to the approximately 15 minute gaggle here. (Or right click and ‘save link as’ to download.)

Tags: Frank Brogan, U.S. News & World Report, university system

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 5:04 pm and is filed under audio, Charlie Crist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.