"$40,000 bill for JAX official to study in Canada"

Saturday, December 25, 2004

$40,000 bill for Jacksonville official to study in Canada
The Associated Press


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The city's Jacksonville Airport Authority is paying
$40,000 to send its chief administrative officer to Canada to earn a
master's degree that costs just $8,350 at the University of North Florida.

Maribel Hernandez's tuition for the program at Concordia University in
Montreal is $28,000. But the cost goes up to $40,000 with housing, food and
airfare added.

The Concordia masters in business administration program focuses on aviation
management, one of the few in the world to do so, while the
Jacksonville-based program doesn't offer that option.

For that reason, along with the international flavor of the Concordia
program, it's worth the extra cost, said Hernandez, who began the two-year
program in April.

"Our vision is to be the best in the world," said Hernandez, who earns an
annual salary of $131,093. "You don't become the best by staying in your
backyard. You've got to get out of your backyard and really look at the best
practices out there."

The $40,000 is the most spent on a single employee's education by either the
city of Jacksonville or three of its four independent authorities during the
past two years, a Florida Times-Union review of tuition reimbursement
documents has shown.

While the Airport Authority contends the Concordia degree is progressive
management, some Jacksonville City Council members see it as an
extravagance.

"I don't see the return on investment being that significant," said
Councilman Reggie Fullwood, chair of the council's finance committee.


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