By Paul Fain

Florida's public universities will be forced to fight future budget battles without their main man in Tallahassee, T.K. Wetherell, who said last week that he intended to step down as Florida State University's president as early as this fall.

A veteran state lawmaker, Mr. Wetherell has brought a politician's flair to the university president's office. As Florida's economy collapsed in recent years, he has been a highly visible advocate for higher education in the State Capitol building, which sits about six blocks from his campus.

"T.K. is a big presence," said John A. Delaney, president of the University of North Florida and interim leader of the state system. "Clearly, he helped the university system because he had such a loud voice."

Mr. Wetherell's resignation comes as Florida State and the rest of the state's 11 public universities grapple with a severe financial crisis. Last week the university's Board of Trustees approved a plan to trim almost $57-million over three years, which will result in program cuts and layoffs for as many as 200 faculty and staff members.

As bad as Florida State's money woes may be, observers say they would be worse without Mr. Wetherell at the helm. And because his first priority was his university, that sometimes meant elbowing out other universities.

"He would fight for every nickel on the table," Mr. Delaney said. "T.K. is not a system guy."

There will be other new faces arriving in Tallahassee. The statewide Board of Governors is looking for someone to permanently replace Mr. Delaney as system leader, and Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican, has announced that he is running for U.S. Senate in 2010.

The challenge for the new university leaders will be to work with the Legislature and Mr. Crist's successor to make ends meet when federal stimulus funds dry up after next year. The answers probably won't come easily, as the pillars of Florida's economy —real estate, tourism, and agriculture —are in deep trouble.

But not all the news is bad. The state's most recent budget cuts were much smaller than had been threatened. And university presidents say lawmakers now realize that higher education will be key to the state's economic recovery. New leadership could actually help keep up the momentum.

"We've turned the corner, but we're not out of the woods," said Mark B. Rosenberg, the system's former chancellor, who is Florida International University's incoming president. "A fresh look can be very healthy for each of the universities, and for our system."

Mr. Wetherell became Florida State's president in 2003. Once a speedy football player there, he still shares the Seminole record for longest kickoff return. He earned three degrees at the university, including a doctorate in education administration. During his tenure, he has been served well by his quick wit, with candid quotes that outweighed the occasional gaffe. As Mr. Wetherell explained after apologizing for one recent verbal misstep, "I got wound up."

He is now 63 and has been treated for prostate cancer in recent years. While he said he was healthy, Mr. Wetherell acknowledged last week that the job had taken a toll.

"The past couple of years have been difficult personally as well professionally," he said in a written statement. "Preparing for the budget crisis, trying to deal with Florida's constantly changing higher-education system, and various health challenges have been extremely stressful."

Mr. Wetherell made raising tuition a top priority, and success came this spring, when Florida's lawmakers backed down from their long opposition to increases. Florida State and other public universities can now raise tuition by up to 15 percent per year, until they reach the national average of $6,585.

Mr. Delaney calls the tuition ruling a "watershed bill." The shift came, he said, when the governor was persuaded that the state's universities could not charge enough to support a quality higher-education system. He says Mr. Wetherell deserves a good share of the credit.

Florida State's president has his critics. A recent poll of 600 faculty members found low morale and anger about the proposed program cuts and layoffs. About 70 percent of those polled criticized the administration for its level of consultation and communication with the faculty about the cuts.

That criticism is unlikely to subside as the university moves forward with the proposed layoffs. And Mr. Wetherell will take his share of the heat, no matter when he officially steps down. (He says that he will serve until his replacement is found, but that the search process could be completed this fall.)

For his part, Mr. Wetherell said now was the right time to hand over the reins. The challenge for Florida State will be finding a replacement who can tackle Tallahassee's tricky politics.