New College of Florida sees 'ridiculously high' faculty departures ahead of fall semester
More than one-third of New College of Florida's faculty have left for part or all of the upcoming academic year, the college's provost said at a Monday Board of Trustees committee meeting this week.
As New College faces a record group of incoming freshmen, the school's provost, Brad Thiessen, told the Board of Trustees at a meeting Monday that 36 of the more than 90 faculty are slated to retire, resign, take unpaid leave or undertake outside research assignments ahead of the upcoming fall semester. The faculty losses come amid a shake-up in leadership at New College in January spearheaded by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to transform the Sarasota campus into a more conservative college emphasizing classical studies.
Fall classes are set to begin Aug. 28.
The exodus also comes following a Board of Trustees decision in April to deny tenure to five professors on track to receive it. Following the tenure denial, Steven Shipman, the faculty union president, warned of potential departures, questioning why faculty would stay at New College given that the board showed it was "hostile" to the instructors.
Thiessen called the amount of faculty leaving the college "ridiculously high" and said that previous years typically have seen between zero and five faculty members leave, often through retirement. The college has, however, worked to fill vacancies for the upcoming year.
Fifteen visiting faculty across 13 departments have signed offer letters to teach at New College next year, with five of the visiting faculty returning from last year. Six potential new faculty are negotiating offers, and eight "presidential scholars in residence" were gauging interest or negotiating offers. The college was still actively searching for two chemistry professors, two computer science professors, one English professor and one environmental science professor.
Strain on returning faculty
Amy Reid, the faculty representative on the Board of Trustees, said she appreciated Thiessen's presentation to the board. However, even with the college's efforts to alleviate the loss of faculty, the college would still be operating at a deficit of 15 faculty members, she said.
Even if New College filled every vacancy, first-year faculty and visiting professors generally do not handle advising duties.
"With a record incoming class, a burden of advising is going to fall especially hard on the shoulders of those of us who are returning full-time faculty," Reid said.
Thiessen's presentation to the board broke down the faculty losses by area of concentration, with the Biology and Political Science departments the most affected by primary instructors leaving with six and four faculty leaving, respectively.
Faculty at New College often cross over departments, offering expertise in several fields. In terms of secondary faculty departures, the most affected departments were the Environmental Science and Gender Studies departments, which each saw eight departures.
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 loses a third of faculty amid DeSantis shakeup
