This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Salt Lake Community College President Cynthia Bioteau will be leaving Utah for Florida.

Bioteau was chosen as the new president of Florida State College at Jacksonville Tuesday, according to First Coast News in Jacksonville.

She is expected to start her new job in January, the television station reported. Bioteau told staff in an email that she has already made a recommendation for interim president for SLCC from the school's executive cabinet.

Bioteau, 60, came to SLCC eight years ago, where she has overseen an expansion of the school's services for veterans, record enrollment increases coupled with cuts in public funding and controversy over the closure of the school's cosmetology program.

Her Florida predecessor, Steve Wallace, was forced out last year amid an investigation into allegations that he took unauthorized leave, illegally accepted trips, and failed to control his employees' spending, according to the Florida Times-Union.

"There has been some moral damage done, certainly, and of course getting us way behind on faculty salaries has been damaging," faculty union president Karen Morian told First Coast News Tuesday.

SLCC spokesman Joy Tlou said Bioteau will bring skills that could help repair some of that damage.

"She is pragmatic and makes good and tough decisions when they need to be made," she said. "She is passionate about higher education and the mission of the institution and its place in the community, and she is compassionate for all of the people she works for and with."

Bioteau's new salary hasn't been determined; the current interim president makes $175,000 annually, according to First Coast News, though the Times-Union reported Wallace's salary was more than $300,000. Bioteau is paid about $201,000 at SLCC.

Prior to becoming the seventh president of the state's largest community college, Bioteau served as vice president for instruction and chief academic officer for Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Bioteau also considered going to Florida in 2008, when she was named as one of four finalists for the top job at Manatee Community College in Bradenton, Fla., near Tampa.

Though she said the prospect of a job near where she and her husband planned to retire was attractive, she later withdrew her name. Bioteau informed her SLCC employees about her Florida State College job application in August.

"I believe SLCC is more solid and important to this state and country as never before," Bioteau wrote to employees in the email, "and know the greatness is from the collective wisdom and efforts."

Twitter: @lwhitehurst