New College of Florida board approves new strategic plan, core curriculum with AI elements
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New College of Florida's board of trustees approved a new strategic plan and core curriculum framework, continuing an overhaul spearheaded by Gov. Ron DeSantis to turn the school into a classical liberal arts school.
The revised strategic plan outlines steps New College intends to take to increase enrollment to more than 1,800 and increase faculty from 107 to 257 by 2034. The college's plan also describes the vision to have 30 different sports teams with almost 650 student-athletes by 2034. As of 2024, New College has about 140 student-athletes out of about 750 students.
The newly-approved framework for New College's core curriculum, which includes courses built around "logos" and "techne", would be implemented by Fall 2025. The proposal included AI-generated art of Benjamin Franklin flying a drone, Marie Curie holding bitcoin, Isaac Newton using a Macbook, and a Greek philosopher wearing a virtual reality headset.
In the strategic plan, New College lays out six "action plans" to achieve its enrollment and faculty goals. The actions plans include:
Attract students with broad intellectual curiosity
Encourage “civil discourse”
Develop core liberal arts curriculum
Establish high-participation sports and cultural programs
Create vibrant student life, top-tier housing and infrastructure
Recruit faculty with high interest in ensuring that students learn
New College President Richard Corcoran discussed his strategic plan prior to the board vote, pointing to a comparison in the plan to other liberal arts schools. In October, a previous version of Corcoran's business plan was criticized by experts at the University of Florida, calling it "not financially viable."
The plan has since been revised, Corcoran said, adding more details on enrollment and the comparison to other liberal arts schools to establish the value of a public liberal arts college in Florida.
"Hopefully the state legislature will be more inclined to recognize the value of having a prestigious, small liberal arts college in its arsenal of higher educational facilities," Corcoran said.
Faculty representative Amy Reid pointed out that many of the colleges Corcoran compared New College to in his report have a gender studies program.
"I hope that this board will keep that in mind, if we are going to be comparing ourselves to the best colleges in the south," Reid said.
Student representative Olivia Mikkelsen asked the board to table the vote on the plan for another meeting, since the plan was only made available less than 24 hours before the meeting. Her motion ultimately failed, with only Reid and Mikkelsen voting in favor of tabling the vote.
"I was given less than 24 hours to review this document and I don't think that I can fulfill my fiduciary responsibility and do right by the college by voting on this," she said.
The strategic plan also includes an item on the proposed Freedom Institute at New College, which the school's board approved a $2 million ask of the legislature. The institute, focused on free speech, would: offer courses open to the public, hold live events such as debates and symposiums, and welcome visiting scholars to New College.
Reid raised questions about the Freedom Institute and the salaries of those the college would hire under it, saying it was "a bit much."
New College's strategic plan has been a point of contention between the college's leadership and those who oppose the new direction of the school. Opponents of the college's leadership contend that Corcoran has not adhered to the previously approved campus master plan, and add that the strategic plan runs in violation of statutes of the master plan.
In May, the college began removing trees from the Uplands Preserve on the northwest, bayfront side of campus to make way for athletic fields and the upcoming Freedom Institute building. The current campus master plan policy 8.2.2. states, "the Uplands Bayfront Preserve shall be restricted to passive recreational/open space uses only," according to documents obtained by the Herald-Tribune.
Core Curriculum
The board approved a new framework for New College's core curriculum, which the college was required to approve by September.
The changes to the curriculum revolve around "logos" — which translates roughly from Greek to "word" or "thought" — and "techne", which translates to "craft" or "skill". New College students would take 20 credit hours under each topic in courses ranging from "Odysseys: Intro to Humanities" to "Enduring Human Questions".
The "Intro to Techne" course includes units on artificial intelligence, while "Enduring Human Questions" course includes student discussions on philosophy, religion, science, psychology, economics, and the arts.
Trustee Reid said there were changes made to the core curriculum proposal after it had already been approved by the faculty, which she raised to Corcoran as a concern.
Corcoran said there were only additions made to the core curriculum, specifically the Enduring Human Questions course.
Reid said that, despite it only being an addition, the changes still shouldn't have been made.
"That is a significant change," she said. "I do not think that there is any justification for unilateral shifts once the faculty has given her approval to a curriculum."
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 OKs new strategic plan, core curriculum
