Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday the reappointment of James “Bill” Heavener to the University of Florida Board of Trustees, subject to approval by the Florida Senate. 

Heavener’s five-year term expired on Tuesday, according to the UF Board of Trustees website.  

In addition to being CEO of The Heavener Company, Heavener is also co-chairman and CEO of Full Sail University (FS) in Winter Park and co-chairman of the Los Angeles Film School (LAFS), Los Angeles Recording School and Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. 

Heavener is among several defendants named in an ongoing federal whistleblower lawsuit involving FS and LAFS. David Phillips and Ben Chaib (plaintiffs), LAFS’s former vice president of career development and vice president of admissions, respectively, filed the complaint against Heavener and the other two defendants – Diana Derycz-Kessler, former president and CEO of LAFS, and her husband, Paul Kessler – in 2024.  

“LAFS and FS violated federally required gainful employment requirements, violated accrediting standards given by for-profit education-favorable accrediting agencies and self-financed thousands of temporary employment opportunities for their graduates through schemes with nonprofits …,” according to the complaint. 

The complaint further stated that FS and LAFS “paid off vendors to give the false impression to incoming students and federal regulators that their graduates were gainfully employed within the fields they were educated in to continue receiving millions of dollars in federal financial aid.” 

Both FS and LAFS have denied the accusations in the lawsuit, with FS saying in a statement published by WFTV Channel 9 that the “two executives [Phillips and Chaib] who filed the lawsuit never worked for or were employed by Full Sail.” 

“The employees [Phillips and Chaib] only worked for the Los Angeles Film School,” FS said in the statement.  

Additionally, The Gainesville Sun reported in December 2025 that Heavener and the Kesslers have filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, with a hearing scheduled for later this month.  

Heavener has served on the UF Board of Trustees since his appointment in 2013. In addition to his responsibilities as a trustee, Heavener also serves as a member of the Tim Tebow Foundation Board of Directors, the University of Florida Alumni Association Board of Directors and the University of Florida Foundation Board of Directors. 

Heavener earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from UF and is considered a longtime donor to the university. Those contributions are recognized across campus, with his name associated with several major facilities like the James W. “Bill” Heavener Football Training Center. 

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.