Chaos at New College of Florida

[Nevilledog]

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/academics/2023/08/16/chaos-reigns-new-college-florida-fall-semester-nears

When a committee of the New College of Florida Board of Trustees met in July, a whopping 36 faculty members had already left since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis initiated a conservative restructuring of the institution in January. That number has subsequently grown to more than 40, Amy Reid, the sole faculty member on the board, told Inside Higher Ed.

Now, as students prepare for the fall semester, the impact of the faculty exodus is becoming apparent: many classes won’t be offered at New College this term.

The course catalogue was already sparse when students first began looking at classes last spring. Dani Delaney, the mother of one former New College student who is transferring to Hampshire College in Massachusetts—which guaranteed admission to all New College students in good standing—said her son could only find two classes that counted toward his “area of concentration” (which is what New College calls majors). When he contacted the institution about the lack of relevant courses, she said, he was told the course catalogue was “in flux” and to “choose something else.”

“These are young adults who are not looking to fill up a semester with high school electives. It’s not like, ‘Oh, chorus is closed, let me just go take that art class,’” she said. “There are classes [students] need to take to continue to propel [their] studies forward … that was just an absolute stunning thing to have a college tell us, just pick something else. No.”

This fall will mark the first new academic year since DeSantis began his overhaul of the liberal arts college, the smallest public institution in Florida, by appointing six new conservative trustees. Many students were nervous about returning to NCF under the new leadership, which in short order fired former president Patricia Okker, axed the diversity, equity and inclusion office and denied five faculty members tenure. But as the fall semester inches closer, it is becoming increasingly apparent just how much dysfunction New College’s students will have to contend with this year.

*snip*

[Sanity Claws]

1. Shouldn't this affect its accreditation too?

[OldBaldy1701E]

14. In a sane world, yes. (n/t)

[lindysalsagal]

16. I wonder how employers will evaluate all Florida degrees

Not being able to distinguish which colleges he's fouled-up.

[OldBaldy1701E]

17. I would expect a blanket denial.

They don't have to risk their lives and livelihood over someone who cannot show that they were properly educated to do whatever it is that they are being hired to do. As you well know, in the real world, someone gets hired to do something and they fail at it, then they get someone from the same school and they fail at it, how long before they just never look at those graduates ever again? Then, they share this problem with other potentially hiring companies and then you get a basic 'black ball' effect on them. Will the institutions return the money they finagled because their degrees are not worth the ink used to print them? HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[SledDriver]

24. No one will hire anyone with a FL degree

[SWBTATTReg]

27. And, I suspect too, that no one is going to hire instructors from FL either, if they hang around FL

for too awful long...

Thus, as you said so well, the quality of education is going to suck big time, and this will hurt FL in the short and long term. Who in their right mind would want to work in any educational fields in FL as a result?

[Lonestarblue]

2. More students are likely to transfer to another school when they can't take enough courses

to fulfill graduation requirements because NCF has too few professors left to teach them. I wonder how long it will be before the school has to close for lack of students/funding and professors. Republicans are doing a good job with their efforts to destroy public education.

[LakeArenal]

3. Desatan finds out...

[andym]

4. DeSantis probably considers this a positive development: eliminating liberal students from FL

and replacing them with conservatives is something he can brag about during GOP debates. As for actual education, it's a tragedy.

[RKP5637]

5. Yeah, I think that is quite true the way DeSantis thinks. n/t

[Salviati]

7. Whether he transforms it or destroys it...

... it will likely count as a success in his book.

[CaptainTruth]

23. 100% yes. It's like liberals leaving Florida, it's what he wants.

That's one reason I'm staying, I'll be damned if I give that fascist what he wants. I'm staying & fighting him & his enablers.

[thatcrowwoman]

31. More power to you, CaptainTruth! It's a righteous fight.

Stay safe.
And thank you.
May Truth and Justice prevail in our lifetime.
🕊thatcrowwoman

[CaptainTruth]

32. Thank you! I get angry when I see posts here that imply everyone in Florida is the same.

We're NOT all the same. I have many good friends here who oppose DeFascist & the FL GOP & we're doing everything we can to oppose their policies & get them out of office.

I'm convinced that Truth & Justice will eventually prevail. Maybe not in my lifetime, but I'll certainly die fighting for it.

[yonder]

25. Per plan, yep.

[allegorical oracle]

34. Definitely. DeSatan figures that once the college is emptied of the current students,

it will fill with Hillsdale righties.

From Wikipedia:

The DeSantis chief of staff, James Uthmeier, said that "It is our hope that New College of Florida will become Florida’s classical college, more along the lines of a Hillsdale of the South."

[Hortensis]

6. Poor students. New College aimed to become outstanding

for liberal arts studies. DeSantis claimed to want to turn it into a "Hillsdale of the South," inculcating narrow, illiberal ideology. But I wouldn't bet a penny that, like fascist Scott Walker, he sees the role of public colleges as to churn out classes with business and tech degrees "to meet the needs of industry," with no troublesome ideas.

If one of those was my kid, he'd already be gone.

[ALBliberal]

9. Nevermind the well rounded stellar education he himself

Had or was at least offered. I think he’s a lawyer? Pre-law I believe traditionally was a well rounded curriculum (history writing social sciences economics possibly)

I really don’t like the thought of pigeon holing these kids into degrees.

Big loss on many levels.

[sir pball]

13. He had excellent schooling. BA Yale, magna cum laude; JD Harvard Law, cum laude.

"Stellar" doesn't even describe that education, nor his achievements therein (he wasn't a nepo baby, IIRC his father installed cable boxes). It's a real good thing he doesn't have TFG's hypnotic charisma because all else aside he's one intelligent motherfucker.

[ALBliberal]

15. Didn't know he came from blue collar family

You’re right. Down right scary what he could have achieved with charisma. And I suppose there will be another smarter charismatic monster ready to take the reins probably sooner than later.

[Hortensis]

30. Shiver to that reality! I so agree with the value of a well rounded

education. If either our kids had been interested in pursuing a liberal arts BA, we'd have supported that (as much as we could!). As it was, I was just so glad that we lucked out with two with intellectual curiosity and interest in learning -- that neither saw college as a place to train for employment and graduate with a middle class credential.

[ALBliberal]

39. My kids took their time getting through college

A teacher A social worker A computer sales rep. No one will be raking in the bucks but I feel the importance of learning was achieved. And to be clear I think that can also be achieved with reading and taking advantage of other learning opportunities. I agree the most important aspect was fostering intellectual curiosity.

[Hortensis]

45. And they're living enriched lives, including continued

learning, because of it. Fortunates.

[allegorical oracle]

35. A right-wing authoritarian mindset evidently cancels an Ivy League education and

rots charisma. The drumpfster graduated from an Ivy, too.

[sir pball]

37. TFG has a mere BS, nothing special. The Wharton MBA is the good one.

In Wharton's official words, "Donald J. Trump earned a B.S. in real estate, which was awarded on May 20, 1968”. Not to mention one of his instructors called him "the dumbest sonofabitch I ever met" - TFG was an unqualified nepo baby for sure. Yeah, Wharton is good, but an undergraduate degree with no honors isn't much to brag about.

That's quite a long shot from provably graduating at the top of one of the finest law programs in the nation.

[ALBliberal]

41. Seems he never got the MBA? And if he did he cheated

His way to it.

[sir pball]

42. TFag? Per Wharton he only has a BS Real Estate

At least, per my linked article, that's all Wharton will officially say. Even if he did get it, we all know it's the same way Bush got his.

[usonian]

8. The GQP time machine would like to revert to the "good old days" (translation: slavery)

Wikipedia:

The early motto of Harvard was Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae, meaning "Truth for Christ and the Church". In the early classes, half the graduates became ministers (though by the 1760s the proportion was down to 15%) and ten of Harvard's first twelve presidents were ministers. Systematic theological instruction was inaugurated in 1721 and by 1827 Harvard became a nucleus of theological teaching in New England

Deranged.

[intheflow]

21. Um, Harvard was the unofficial Unitarian theological school.

While the Unitarians still considered themselves Christian, the were all almost all abolitionists of some sort by 1827, including Unitarian Henry Ware, who was the President of Harvard at the time.

[Hekate]

29. THANK YOU. While we are stomping on the sins of the past because of the corruption of the present...

…. we should at least get it right. Our ancestors were not all in agreement, just as we are not.

The current crop of christofascists want to return to an imaginary past — let us not help them in their fantasies by agreeing with them.

The Unitarians, though small in number, were an important group of thinkers in the early days of the US, late 18th thru the 19th centuries.

[Initech]

10. It's all part of Rupert Murdoch's master plan to destroy education in the US.

He and Ron DeSantis can go get royally fucked. And they can go shove their anti-woke policies straight up their asses.

[Chainfire]

11. Exactly. The plan is working perfectly.

[SYFROYH]

12. It is chaos: Enrollment is shooting up, but with fewer faculty

36 faculty left and they only hired 10 temporary instructors. When I talked to someone at New College they said they are raising class sizes.

[deurbano]

19. I have to assume any student opting for New College at this point is not the

"best and brightest." (Or being sent there by parents of that description.)

[SYFROYH]

20. true.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/07/27/new-college-of-florida-enrollment-up/70477277007/

Admissions data from New College of Florida shows that new leadership installed as part of Gov. Ron DeSantis's conservative makeover of the institution has succeeded in drawing a record number of incoming students this fall, a boom largely driven by student-athlete recruitment.

The increased enrollment also came with a decrease in overall grade point average and test scores, markers that historically had helped the school earn a national reputation as a top public liberal arts college.

Overall, average ACT and SAT scores for the incoming fall class at New College are lower than last year. The overall GPA is also lower, according to data obtained by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, part of the USA TODAY Network, and confirmed by the college.

Here is some data on the middle 50% of accepted students.

New College of Florida Admissions
New College of Florida admissions is selective with an acceptance rate of 74% and an early acceptance rate of 87.4%. Half the applicants admitted to New College of Florida have an SAT score between 1120 and 1340 or an ACT score of 23 and 29. However, one quarter of admitted applicants achieved scores above these ranges and one quarter scored below these ranges. The application deadline at New College of Florida is July 1.

Admissions officials at New College of Florida consider a student's GPA a very important academic factor. An applicant's high school class rank, when available, is considered important and letters of recommendation are considered by admissions officials at New College of Florida. To see additional academic factors along with other school data, learn more about College Compass.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/new-college-of-florida-153704/applying#:~:text=Half%20the%20applicants%20admitted%20to,quarter%20scored%20below%20these%20ranges.

[KentuckyWoman]

18. If someone is paying for a $120000 degree

and the college cannot or will not fulfill what was purchased, full refund all the way back to the beginning. Period.

Lawsuits if necessary. That's how it works for every other industry. You can't take someone's money and not deliver on the promise. Education is no different.

[onetexan]

38. Students & professors are suing the state per AP article here

https://apnews.com/article/florida-new-college-desantis-lawsuit-71df93aab84b7d09ca17fec46ceb6a4c

[TheRickles]

22. If 40 faculty resigned, how many are left? What % of the faculty did this represent?

[obamanut2012]

36. As per a good friend at FAU: 37% of Faculty as of last week

But, more are resigning this semester.

[TheRickles]

44. Thanks. Hard to imagine how they'll survive this exodus of teachers and students.

Last edited Thu Aug 17, 2023, 07:53 AM - Edit history (1)

[LetMyPeopleVote]

26. Who is surprised by this?

DeathSantis screwed up this very well ranked school for poltical purposes

[spooky3]

28. Ms. Delaney needs to direct her ire at DeSantis. It's not

New College’s fault.

[nuxvomica]

33. US News currently ranks New College as #5 among public schools

That's on New College's website. Unfortunately, that is last year's ranking and students are being fooled into thinking they are getting a good deal by going there. I wonder what next year's ranking will be and whether they will post a lower ranking if they get one. I'd think that with their catalogue decimated they may not hold into #5.

[lostnfound]

40. A remarkable school, what a loss nt

[jmowreader]

43. I suspect driving off all the students is part of his plan

What ye need to understand is that New College of Florida resides in some very nice buildings along Sarasota Bay that are within walking distance of the airport. I believe he has bids for these buildings to turn them into expensive condos, but that can't happen until he gets rid of that little hippie college that's taking up his friends' new homes. So...since he can't legislate the college out of existence, he will just drive everyone out and when the school fails, the land snatch begins.