Cuban researchers will not be able to work for Florida International University (FIU), which has decided to immediately pause the hiring of citizens from six countries considered “concerning” by the government of that state, according to an email obtained by the WLRN station. Cuba is joined by Venezuela, China, Russia, Syria, Iran and North Korea on the list.
According to counted That medium, last Tuesday the 19th, Andrés Gil, vice president of Research at the university and dean of its Graduate School, wrote to the deans, department heads, directors of graduate programs and people involved in human resources that, due to the new laws announced in the state, it is necessary to “immediately pause any job offers or recruitment attempts” involving individuals from “countries of concern.”
“Any offers that have been made and any active recruitment must be stopped until we have a good control over the process”
“Any offer that has been made and any active recruitment must be stopped until we have good control over the process, so that it can be adequately communicated to the candidates and is specifically indicated in our letters,” the text states.
One of the affected departments, according to the local press, could be Cuban Research Institute (CRI) of FIU, which works closely with Cuban – and Venezuelan – opponents for events, scholarships, programs, courses and all types of collaborations in which there may be vacancies if the situation is prolonged. “Unpaid research fellows” are also affected by the rule, a situation in which many Cubans find themselves. There are also many Chinese researchers hired during their graduate studies who are affected by this rule.
Governor Ron DeSantis has approved several regulations that affect higher education during 2023. Among them, this has the objective of “combat those who try to infiltrate the American university system from countries of concern”, although there may be “exemptions” that must be examined on a case-by-case basis to continue with the hiring.
Gil, who fears that the measures will decapitalize the university, specifies in his email that the university is not the “final approval body” of the candidates, something that falls to the state Board of Governors, whose members are appointed by DeSantis and other FIU officials appointed by him. “The process for each candidate will take several months and we cannot guarantee any employment or position for individuals from countries of interest,” he adds.
“Graduate program directors and deans will be instructed on what to communicate regarding this process to newly admitted and/or potential graduate students interested in obtaining a graduate assistantship. Human Resources and Academic Affairs will communicate to deans and HR staff the impact for those employees who were currently in an onboarding process,” he says.
The media from the Sunshine State have not been able to obtain further clarification since they had access to the email from FIU, which has been more restrained than the University of Florida (UF), in Gainesville, about the consequences of this measure.
More than 300 professors at the University of Florida (UF) have protested against a rule that, in their opinion, prevents them from recruiting the best students solely because of their nationality, according to counted Magazine Science.
The teachers made a public letter in which they assure that this law “could negatively influence the long-term development, reputation and leadership of UF”
The faculty issued a public letter stating that this law “could negatively impact the long-term development, reputation and leadership of UF.”
“Restricting or even preventing the recruitment of graduate assistants, postdocs and visiting professors from these countries would have a devastating impact on our graduate programs and research activities; in addition, it could negatively influence long-term development, reputation and leadership of UF,” they explain.
Although the United States Department of State already investigated foreigners before granting them study or research visas, Florida state regulation requires a presumably more thorough process.
The law was approved this summer along with other regulations that restrict the purchase of housing by foreigners from the same countries in areas close to critical infrastructure, such as airports, ports or power plants.
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