Petition to Restore the Integrity and Mission of Jacksonville University

We, the undersigned members of the Jacksonville University community—alumni, current students, faculty, staff, and supporters—are heartbroken and outraged by the recent actions taken by JU President Tim Cost and the Board of Trustees.

For nearly a century, Jacksonville University has stood as a vibrant institution rooted in the liberal arts, with a proud history supporting  the fine arts and nurtured by bold, compassionate leaders like Dr. Frances Bartlett Kinne. Dr. Kinne—JU’s first female president and a national champion for the arts and education—dedicated her life to shaping JU into a university defined by academic excellence, innovation, and human connection. Her legacy was one of integrity, empathy, and fierce advocacy for students and faculty alike. JU's rise to prominence came through its focus on the liberal arts and the fine arts. Yet, after President Cost’s arrival, the focus shifts to health care, business, and STEM. While these are excellent programs and have contributed strongly to JU's overall mission and reputation, they have begun to overshadow JU's core identity through a series of decisions made under Cost's leadership and have altered JU's unique position in Jacksonville. The liberal arts have been and are being eroded from the core of what Jacksonville University was founded as and has become known for.

On April 15, 2025, President Tim Cost and the administration of Jacksonville University announced the sudden discontinuation of multiple academic programs and the termination of forty faculty members. These actions were undertaken without the declaration of financial exigency and in direct contravention of the University’s Faculty Bylaws, Faculty Handbook, and the foundational principles of shared governance. The decisions were made unilaterally, absent transparency, without faculty consultation or review, and with a marked disregard for the individuals and academic programs that constitute the core of the University’s mission and identity.

The faculty were not afforded the opportunity to review the Task Force's recommendations and, as a result, have no means of verifying whether the decisions made align with those recommendations. Consequently, these decisions cannot be characterized as reflecting "faculty input," as the faculty body—consistent with its governance responsibilities—neither reviewed nor approved the recommendations, having never been granted access to them.

Financial Malfeasance and Mismanagement

Jacksonville University’s financial crisis is not sudden—it has been years in the making under the failed leadership of President Tim Cost. Recent local media reports on Action News Jax and News4J have confirmed this to be true. In May 2021, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) issued a formal advisory letter identifying JU’s revised bylaws as "totalitarian in character" and incompatible with shared governance and tenure protections. The administration ignored this warning, choosing opacity over reform.

Further, JU’s financial health has deteriorated steadily over the past eight years due to long-term debt obligations, persistent liquidity pressures, modest operating deficits, and an overdependence on tuition revenue. While certain years showed short-term gains, the long-term trend reveals growing instability, culminating in:

• FY2024 debt covenant breach on at least one major loan, with others possibly not shared by or from the JU Administration
• A formal “going concern” warning issued by independent auditors
  Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) warning for noncompliance with Standard 13.3, signaling non-adherence to minimum standards of financial responsibility and risking the University’s accreditation as a reputable degree granting institution 
• Liquidity Risk: JU’s available cash reserves dropped nearly $5 million over two years, falling to just over $10 million in 2024—an amount insufficient to sustain normal operations or respond to unforeseen shocks. This level of risk is dangerous, short-sighted, and antithetical to the values of education, opportunity, and transparency.
• Debt Pressure: JU carries over $143 million in long-term debt, with a significant portion dedicated solely to interest payments. Discretionary investment in academic programs and student services has been sacrificed, while one-time gifts and borrowing have become stopgap solutions—clear signs of financial mismanagement.
• FY2024 Deficit: The University ran a $7.2 million operating deficit, with cash reserves projected to dip below $8 million. This points to a looming liquidity crisis and a rapid decline in net assets due to continued structural deficits and restricted revenue streams.
  Without swift, transparent, faculty-led reforms, JU could face accreditation loss in the coming years, along with existential operational collapse.
• Annual audits from FY2016 to FY2024 revealed repeated early warning signs, declining liquidity, and unfavorable financial ratios. Yet President Tim Cost and the Cost-appointed Board of Trustees failed to act. The recent termination of JU’s CFO, coupled with the scapegoating of that individual, signals a concentration of executive power without accountability.
• Tim Cost has taken no responsibility for the financial collapse that has unfolded under his leadership.

In addition, President Cost continues to draw a salary exceeding many of his counterparts from similar sized and/or more prestigious Universities. For example, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, President Christopher F. Roellke of Stetson University earns $532,411, President Roberta J. Cordano of Gallaudet University earns $674,371, President Thayne M. McCulloh of Gonzaga University earns $785,638. According to IRS Form 990 filings, Meanwhile, Tim Cost earns a salary of $752,887 in 2022, and the University has never been in a more vulnerable and exposed financial position. JU enrolls less than 5,000 students total, and accepting a bloated salary as he does shows disregard for the reality of JU's financial situation. Introducing himself to groups and the world as a “proud alumni of Jacksonville University” Tim Cost should seek to serve the University community, not enrich himself from it. 

Finally, Tim Cost hired the former JU CFO based largely on his experience in higher ed finances, yet Jacksonville University is now bordering on bankruptcy and/or insolvency. The Board and Tim Cost have failed in the responsibility to keep account of the University’s finances, failed to inform the University community of their errors and a growing financial crisis, failed in their charge and responsibility of being stewards of the future of Jacksonville University, and have failed the entire University community (alumni, faculty, staff, students, and the larger Jacksonville community) in their responsibility to honestly and transparently represent the University. However, seeking to cut and eliminate the cultural heritage and heartbeat of JU rather than reflecting in the mirror and accepting accountability as to why and how we got here is the biggest collective failure by Tim Cost and the JU Board of Trustees.

Impact on Students and Alumni

The decisions made by President Tim Cost and the Board of Trustees have not only harmed faculty and academic programs—they has directly damaged the lives, learning, and well-being of current students and dishonored the legacy of JU alumni across generations.

All world language programs were eliminated as part of the April 2025 cuts. In a globally interconnected world and economy, the removal of these programs strips students of vital tools for success and sends a regressive message.

Alumni chapters have been left unsupported and under-resourced. Communication has broken down, and giving rates have remained stagnant for nearly two decades. Instead of meaningful engagement, the administration has prioritized self-congratulatory campus branding—complete with Tim Cost’s name on an ever growing list of campus buildings and programs—over genuine community-building and meaningful alumni engagement and alumni support of students. He and the Board of Trustees have simply not valued alumni beyond treating them as a piggy bank for their pet projects. Alumni should be the backbone of a University, yet Cost’s name on signs all over campus are seemingly more important than impactful alumni communication and involvement.

The academic core of the university has been gutted:

• JU now has only one full time Political Science professor for 66 majors, and now have only one full time History professor for 31 majors.
• Adjunct faculty across all disciplines were eliminated, some of which held more than 30 years of teaching experience at JU
• No astronomy professor, one of the most popular courses for former and current students to take given the Observatory atop the Howard Administration Building
• Cuts to colleges include:
  • In the Brooks Rehabilitation College of Healthcare Sciences:
    • Respiratory Care BS Completion major
    • CSD Minor
    • Play Therapy Certificate
    In the Davis College of Business: 
    • Engineering Management major
    • FinTech major
    • Healthcare Administration major
    • MBA Tracks in FinTech, Health Informatics, Healthcare Management and Portfolio
    Management
    • Business Foundations Certificate
    • Business Law Certificate
    • Executive Thought Leadership Certificate
    • FinTech Certificate
    In the current College of Arts & Sciences:
    • Education for Instruction Tracks in Community and ESOL
    • Data Science major and minor
    • Social Sciences major
    • Marine Science Oceanography Track
    In the current Stein College:
    • Art History Concentration in Visual Arts
    • Glass Concentration in Visual Arts
    • Music major (Jazz & Commercial Music, Music Education, Music Technology, Music Therapy,
    Music Performance, Musical Theatre, and Music Composition)
    • Philosophy major
    • Theatre major and minor
    • World Languages major and minor
    • MFA in Visual Arts

Cuts span every college except the law school---of which we have not seen any financial information such as costs, revenue, deficits, and impact on the JU financial situation.

Programs approved during Cost’s presidency have been rapid, yet faculty would not have approved and alumni would not have supported so many programs if the JU Administration had more transparent financial information. They were approved without full data and analysis, and were pushed through very often without consultation with the Deans and unit administrators of the affected area.

The process was thwarted and demonstrated a willful discontent for shared governance, financial reality, and transparence and honesty.
Land purchases proposed and approved by Tim Cost, the Board of Trustees, and the former CFO were questionable, at very least, in terms of financial sense. 

This is not a reinvention of, a “future focused” approach or a “reimagining” of JU. It is a dismantling of its identity, the liberal arts core, and erasing the Fine Arts that have largely defined the University's history.

 
Immediate Action is REQUIRED!

We must act—decisively and compassionately—to protect Jacksonville University’s future.

We demand:

• A full, independent audit of Jacksonville University’s finances and leadership decisions.
• Reinstatement or fair compensation of laid-off faculty and restoration of affected academic programs.
• Greater representation of alumni, faculty, and students in university governance and major decision-making processes.
• A formal and open Board of Trustees recommitment to JU’s mission as a liberal arts institution, guided by the values of inclusion, academic freedom, and the legacy of Dr. Frances Bartlett Kinne.
• The resignation of President Tim Cost and the appointment of an interim president with a mandate to lead an honest, transparent, and collaborative review of university finances and governance.
  • We also call for a full investigation into the role of the Board of Trustees, including who was aware of the financial mismanagement and decisions that brought JU to this crisis.
  • Tim Cost can no longer lead this university. His resignation is necessary to restore integrity, rebuild trust, and protect Jacksonville University from becoming a profit-first institution at the expense of its soul. The cultural heartbeat of the University is gasping for air, and we must protect the identity, soul, and feeling of pride that comes from that.

Be it resolved:

Jacksonville University is not a corporation. It is a community of thinkers, teachers, artists, scientists, caregivers, and dreamers. It is a place where ideas thrive and where students become their best selves. We refuse to let short-sighted, secretive, and egotistical leadership destroy the university we know and love.

Save Jacksonville University. Honor Its Legacy. Defend Her Soul. Protect Its Future. Go Dolphins!