Faculty turnover at New College 'not a loss for Florida,' DeSantis says

[Zorro]

If departing professors were teaching “Marxist studies,” the governor said, “I’m totally good with that.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday shrugged off recent reports about high faculty turnover at New College of Florida, as the governor and other conservative leaders have sought to remake the small liberal-arts school in Sarasota.

During a speech at an American Legislative Exchange Council meeting in Orlando, DeSantis addressed higher education changes such as efforts to rid state colleges and universities of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. DeSantis said “we’ve seen a flood of applications coming in” amid the changes.

He pointed to New College, which has been filling positions that account for nearly a third of the school’s faculty. DeSantis appointed a slate of conservative members to the school’s Board of Trustees early this year.

“The media will say, ‘Oh, some of these professors are leaving, like New College. Like, isn’t that bad? Is that a brain drain?’ Well, you know, if you’re a professor in like, you know, Marxist studies, that’s not a loss for Florida if you’re going on, and trust me, I’m totally good with that,” said DeSantis, who has made education issues a pillar of his 2024 presidential campaign.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2023/07/27/faculty-turnover-new-college-not-loss-florida-desantis-says/

The damage DeSantis is doing to Florida will affect the state for years, if not decades.

[Mad_Machine76]

1. Hope he enjoys the fallout

from upcoming brain drain.

[LastDemocratInSC]

4. He wants to make New College into a Hillsdale College clone.

The loss of quality faculty members just opens the doors up for hard right wing replacements.

[Mad_Machine76]

6. Of course

[dalton99a]

2. The damage will outlast his reign

[SYFROYH]

3. There are so many PhDs looking for jobs that they won't have any problems filling positions

And some, maybe 10-20% depending on the field, are conservative and have no problem with the DeSantis agenda.

Oddly, they report 30+ faculty leaving for various reasons, but they only posted 10 visiting instructor positions.

[crazylikafox]

5. A visiting instructor is not a tenured professor

I wonder if he’s trying to fill these positions with underpaid temps

[SYFROYH]

7. You're correct. Typically Visiting instructors are untenured and paid less, but they are often PhDs

If these opening happened late in the academic year, it's normal to use a quicker, less stringent screening process associated with VIs to fill positions quickly. At my university, VIs typically earn about 60% of what new tenure-track Assistant Professor fetches.

What's interesting is that 30+ faculty left and only 10 VIs are being hired. Either the New College will be increasing class sizes by a lot or enrollment is way down.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

8. The problem is the high cost of living

It will be hard for any incoming newly minted Ph.D.s to afford the cost of housing. Of course, they could be paid an exorbitant amount of money or be provided housing. So good luck in filling those positions.