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John Tobia, a tenured Political Science professor earning $100,000 a year at Valencia College as well as a Brevard County Commissioner, has resigned from his academic position at Valencia College effective October 16, 2024, following an extensive investigation by Valencia into grave allegations that he exploited his taxpayer-funded County staff to handle his essential job responsibilities as a tenured faculty member. The investigation, initiated in July 2024 after a complaint by former Tobia staff member, Christopher William Davis, revealed that since 2011, Tobia has been delegating those essential teaching responsibilities to staff employed in his County Commission office, raising serious ethical and legal concerns.

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Davisclaims that Tobia instructed his Brevard County District 3 Commission legislative staff to complete duties related to his responsibilities as a tenured professor, including direct student contact, grading student assignments, managing course materials.

The investigation found evidence dating back to well over a decade, revealing that non-college staff, including Tobia’s legislative aides employed and paid by Brevard County, were performing significant portions of his work at Valencia. According to documents retrieved during the review, staff members were not only given access to Tobia’s personal Valencia College login credentials but were tasked with assisting him with Valencia work product for his courses, including – but not limited to – creating exam questions, syllabi updates, course contact list, practice quizzes, exam notes, online course creation and updates, capturing and reporting out student grades, entering student grades, and responding to student emails— without notifying the students they were not communicating directly with their professor.

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Tobia admitted that he allowed staff members to assist with his academic responsibilities but asserted their involvement was limited to “minor” tasks. However, the “breadth” of evidence gathered during the investigation “wholly contradicts” Tobia’s assertions and Tobia “only admitted to additional involvement when confronted with documents and records.” Metadata from documents submitted through Valencia’s online systems showed that “the majority” of documents were authored or modified by individuals outside the college, including legislative aides who should have had no access to Valencia’s internal systems.

Tobia acknowledges that for over a decade, he has “maintained College related records, including student correspondence, on servers and email accounts not owned or managed by Valencia College and has not considered the potential records preservation requires of the information housed on external platforms,” such as Brevard County servers.  Valencia found that, “despite having held multiple government roles subject to Florida’s Sunshine laws, Tobia’s conduct demonstrates apathy toward public records and retention requirements.”  

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One of the most serious findings from the investigation was that Tobia had failed to properly safeguard confidential student information. Spreadsheets containing student grades and other personally identifiable information were found to have been created or edited by non-college staff. The investigation also revealed Tobia kept his Valencia College login credentials in an openly accessible location in his County office and did not report the potential compromise of his account even after claiming that a former employee (Davis) had stolen his password list.

Despite the availability of internal support from Valencia College, Tobia chose to rely on his legislative aides for technological assistance related to his teaching responsibilities, citing personal convenience and his own lack of technological proficiency. The investigation found that Tobia had never sought formal training to improve his understanding of Valencia’s systems, despite accepting online teaching assignments and struggling with the necessary technology for nearly a decade.

Valencia College placed Tobia on administrative leave with pay in August 2024, shortly after the allegations came to light. The college reassigned his fall semester courses to avoid disruption to students while the investigation was ongoing. In response to the findings, which substantiated the allegations against him, Tobia ultimately tendered his resignation.

This scandal is the latest in a series of controversies for Tobia, who had served in the Florida House of Representatives and as a Brevard County Commissioner while simultaneously holding a full-time teaching position at Valencia College. Though the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) also investigated related issues of misuse of public resources by Tobia’s County office, no criminal charges were filed by State Attorney Phil Archer. However, the internal review by Valencia College was focused on his conduct as a professor, which resulted in serious breaches of professional responsibilities.

Tobia’s forced departure from Valencia College marks the end of his nearly two-decade-long academic career. The investigation has raised broader questions about the obligations of public officials who hold dual roles in academia and government, as well as the potential misuse of public resources for personal gain. Former Brevard County Commissioner and attorney Bryan Lober faced a criminal investigation as well for misuse of public resources which, according to the same State Attorney, would have resulted in felony charges and arrest of Lober had the statute of limitations not run out while the investigation was still ongoing. Lober still faces other consequences as an attorney which could include possible disbarment for his illegal actions.

With his resignation, Tobia has formally severed ties with Valencia College, leaving behind a legacy tainted by misconduct and ethical lapses. The college has yet to announce any further actions or changes to policies in response to the findings, but this incident serves as a reminder of the importance of accountability in public service and higher education.

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