Amid a flurry of moves that has seen several Florida university Presidents get replaced in the past year one leader is staying in place.

The Chair of the Florida State University’s Board of Trustees says he’s looking forward to extending President Richard McCullough’s contract.

With his initial 2021 contract expiring Aug. 31, 2026, Chair Peter Collins told the Phoenix that McCullough, 66, is the “perfect person” for the job.

“He’s doing a great job, there’s no plans on changing that,” Collins said late last month.

Collins said he plans to take McCullough’s contract extension to the Board of Governors (BOG) to approve next year.

“I don’t anticipate any problem with that,” Collins said.

BOG regulations limit university Presidents to one-year contract extensions once their original terms expire.

FSU ranked No. 21 among public universities nationwide by U.S. News & World Report in 2025, keeping close to the top 20, when in 2021 it landed at No. 19.

FSU was the third-highest scoring public institution in the 2025 performance-based funding metrics.

Eight of the 12 state universities have concluded or have started a presidential search since June 2024. That figure includes the University of North Florida, which is anticipated to start a presidential search if the BOG votes, to make current UNF President Moez Limayem head of the University of South Florida. Incoming BOG Chair Alan Levine said he intends to support Limayem.

Collins, who was unanimously elected chair of the FSU Board of Trustees in August for a two-year term, said he doesn’t anticipate FSU becoming the ninth university with a new President.

“There’s going to be no change in leadership prior to the end of his next year. We would extend him now as a board if we could,” Collins said.

Recently-departed Presidents

Some of those recently-departed State University System (SUS) Presidents, Kenneth Jessell at Florida International University, Ben Sasse at University of Florida, and Martha Saunders at University of West Florida, left their posts before their contracts expired and following outside pressures.

All the while Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been instrumental in reengineering leadership at universities, has been hovering in the background.

DeSantis’ Office guided Sasse to Gainesville, POLITICO reported, before he left in a shroud of spending controversy. The Governor reached out to place Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez at FIU, a Trustee said.

DeSantis in the Spring told UWF to “buckle up” and promised changes were on the way. Those comments and DeSantis’ overhaul of the UWF Board of Trustees caused a stir among UWF stakeholders who expressed fear about gubernatorial interference.

Saunders left after DeSantis’ comments. After that, Manny Diaz, DeSantis’ top education official, eventually took the reins of UWF as an interim President and now is interested in the permanent job.

Other recent presidential searches, shrouded in secrecy, have stirred up some alumni at Florida A&M University, UWF, New College of Florida and FIU, who’ve cried about politically-connected people being named President.

FAMU stakeholders protested Marva Johnson being named its next President. She is a political appointee of former Gov. Rick Scott and DeSantis. New College of Florida was the first university made-over with DeSantis’ brush, when former House Speaker Richard Corcoran was put at the helm in 2023.

But Collins says he has no worries there will be any external interference with the future of FSU’s leadership.

“I have no concern on that at all for Florida State or President McCullough. He’s done a fantastic job, everybody in state government, I think, recognizes that. Certainly the BOG recognizes that. It’s a big job, right?” Collins said. “And he’s the perfect person for it right now. So I don’t anticipate any outside factors or outside influences affecting certainly our decision over the next year and certainly our decision to take him to the BOG for his one-year extension.”

McCullough, through a university spokesperson, declined to discuss his future at FSU.

The deets

McCullough in August was awarded a pay raise, now putting his salary at $1.25 million. He also was given a positive performance review that included a $567,000 one-time bonus. His initial 2021 contract provided him a $700,000 base salary.

The President laid out his goals for the year at the Oct. 31 FSU Board of Trustees meeting, which included a focus on national rankings, research and entrepreneurial excellence, as well as athletics and community engagement.

McCullough isn’t the only university President whose contract is set to expire in 2026. Florida Gulf Coast University’s President Aysegul Timur’s contract expires June 30, 2026. That university has been among the lowest scoring SUS institutions in performance based metrics in recent years.