New College of Florida board approves bigger contract with Richard Corcoran

New College's board of trustees voted to approve Richard Corcoran's new presidential contract at a virtual meeting Friday morning.

In an 8-2 vote with only Trustees Amy Reid and Grace Keenan in dissent, the board approved the contract following almost an hour of discussion led by those opposed to the contract. Corcoran's contract runs through February of 2028 and pays $699,999 annually, according to the posted contract. With benefits, Corcoran could make upwards of $1.2 million, if he hits performance metrics such as surpassing 1,200 students enrolled by his fifth year.

The contract makes Corcoran among the highest-paid university presidents in Florida's state university system, despite New College of Florida being the state's smallest public college. Ben Sasse, the president at the University of Florida, makes about $1.3 million after benefits, according to the Gainesville Sun. UF has about 87 times more students enrolled than New College of Florida.

The board appointed Corcoran as the interim president of New College in January following the termination of Patricia Okker, the school's previous leader, who earned a salary of around $300,000. An ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Florida Speaker of the House and Education Commissioner, Corcoran has spearheaded initiatives to reshape New College into a more "classical" liberal college akin to Hillsdale College in Michigan.

Reid, who represents faculty on the board, raised concerns about the performance metrics connected to Corcoran's contract. She called them "vague," and said she wanted to see the board add language about maintaining a high caliber of students.

"We need I think, to have something in there that focuses on the caliber of the students because we saw this year not only a 24-point drop in our ratings, but a significant drop in terms of the GPAs and test scores of the admitted students," Reid said. "I hope that that's not going to be the case going forward."

The school's academic standing fell following a surge of new students, led largely by the new athletics department, causing a record incoming class at New College. However, amid the changes to the school, New College's retention rate of first-year students plummeted and dropout rates spiked, according to metrics shared by the college's provost Oct. 12.

Reid also made a motion for the board to remove a line in the contract that would give Corcoran a faculty position at the end of his time as president, citing Corcoran's lack of teaching experience.

Corcoran said he would be fine if the board decided to remove the faculty appointment from his contract, but the board voted to keep the line in the contract.

Following the approval of the contract, Board member Ron Christaldi thanked the board members on Zoom for the work they did reviewing the contract and discussing the details. The board appointed Christaldi as the point of contact in the contract negotiations with Corcoran.

"I know that not everybody agrees on every issue here, but I appreciate the professionalism and discussion and I hope that we can all come together and support the institution in a unified way as we go forward here," Christaldi said.

Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New College of Florida board approves new contract with Richard Corcoran