State university board drafts campus safety rule, tightens admissions for undocumented students

A rule with statewide reach

The Florida Board of Governors, which sets policy for the state’s 12 public universities, met Wednesday and Thursday at Florida Gulf Coast University and took up a proposed regulation, numbered 3.0015 and titled “Campus Safety and Security,” meant to bring university policy in line with House Bill 757. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 757 in May. It extends the Chris Hixon, Coach Aaron Feis and Coach Scott Beigel Guardian Program, created in 2018 under the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, from K-12 schools to public colleges and universities.

For Levy County families, the relevant fact is simple: this is not a Cedar Key or Chiefland school district matter. It governs the state university system, the campuses students from this coast attend after they leave local high schools, most commonly the University of Florida in nearby Gainesville, along with the University of North Florida, the University of South Florida and the other nine institutions under Board of Governors authority.

What the draft regulation does

According to Emily Sikes, the State University System’s vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, who briefed the Campus Safety and Student Success Committee on Wednesday, the draft regulation requires universities to conduct annual risk assessments and stand up threat management teams under what she referred to as the ARMOR Act, with a compliance deadline of January 2027. The proposal also directs universities to adopt a public safety reporting application or mobile suspicious-activity tool, provide annual mental health training for staff, and make support resources available to students.

Participation in the Guardian Program itself remains optional for each university, as it already is for K-12 schools. Sikes told the committee that, as of Wednesday, no university had yet completed the training process to field armed guardians, though some campuses were in early conversations with local sheriffs’ offices, which the law directs guardians to train with. Board member Douglas Broxson noted a distinction the committee will have to work through: K-12 campuses are closed environments, while university campuses are open, and he said he expects the Legislature to let each university shape its own program rather than impose one model statewide.

Admissions rule for undocumented students

Separately, the board approved an amendment to an existing admissions regulation that bars students who are in the country illegally from initial enrollment at Florida’s public universities, effective with the 2027-28 academic year. The board acted despite public opposition raised during the process, though the source material reviewed for this story does not specify the volume or nature of that opposition, nor whether a further public comment period remains open before the rule takes final effect.

What this means for this coast

Neither the safety regulation nor the admissions amendment is final. The safety rule was presented for committee discussion this week, not adopted, and Sikes said staff has been coordinating with the Florida Department of Education and individual universities since a June briefing to refine the draft. Levy County residents whose children are current or prospective university students, particularly at UF, the region’s nearest and most common destination, should expect further board action before any threat-management or reporting requirements take effect ahead of the January 2027 deadline, and before the enrollment restriction applies starting with students seeking initial admission for the 2027-28 academic year. Florida & Cedar Key News will track the regulation’s final language and any additional Board of Governors public comment period as it develops.