The list of potential candidates for Florida Atlantic University’s next president is growing.

A consulting firm, brought on board for the presidential search, released the names of 17 new candidates today who have officially stepped into the public arena. They include candidates from universities such as Texas, Rutgers, North Carolina State and Central Florida.

The first group of 12 candidates, which was made public a month ago, didn’t include any names from within the FAU community or anyone who works in Florida. It included two international candidates and a high-ranking employee for the FBI.

Story here.

Florida will buy 403 acres in St. Lucie County to protect the Indian River Lagoon and infuse the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution with research money under a $24-million deal approved Wednesday by Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet.

The deal secures another piece of the 26,380-acre Indian River Lagoon Blueway project that is a priority for the state’s premier land conservation program, Florida Forever. The state has purchased more than 4,000 acres for the project.

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From The Post’s Kimberly Miller:

In the year since declaring a hiring freeze in January 2008, Florida Atlantic University has hired nearly 500 employees, spending $175,000 for a basketball coach, $90,000 for the basketball coach’s son, $110,000 for an associate general counsel and $220,000 for a biomedical science professor.

The hires were made amid tens of millions of dollars in budget cuts, predicted layoffs and a worsening salary dispute with the school’s professors. FAU faculty members have not had across-the-board raises since 2006, leaving some to question the new hires, especially after FAU’s rejection April 10 of a state-recommended 2.5 percent raise that would have cost $1.9 million this year.

Personnel data obtained by The Palm Beach Post show that salaries for the new hires total $13 million. Of the 495 new employees, 74 were professors and 123 were adjunct or graduate student instructors, meaning 298 were not responsible for regular classroom teaching.

“You say we have freezes, but we’re really hiring, and now we’re being asked to make these budget reductions while we’re hiring,” said Tim Lenz, president-elect of FAU’s faculty senate. “It makes no sense to have hard freezes because some programs need to have positions filled, but the numbers raise some concern.”

More here.