New College Trustees and Florida Board of Governors come to campus

On Saturday, Sept. 8, the Board of Trustees received an update from President Don O’Shea on the college’s 2019-20 legislative budget request, which includes $1.64 million for the third and final year of the growth funds and $26 million for the planning and construction of the first phase of the campus multi-purpose facility. These requests stem from the goals of the college’s growth plan to increase student enrollment to 1,200 students and to raise the four-year graduation rate above 80 percent.
The Board also reviewed the latest draft of Cultivating Curiosity, Unleashing Potential: The Strategic Plan for New College (2018-2028), and will vote on the final version at its next meeting in October. This plan dovetails with the Board’s approval of the 2018-19 institutional priorities of increasing student recruitment and retention, building a new multi-purpose facility, enhancing students’ post-graduation success, and preparing for reaccreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
The Florida State University System Board of Governors will meet on campus in the Sudakoff Conference Center Sept. 12-13. All faculty, staff and students are asked to refrain from parking in the Sudakoff lot beginning 8 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10.
President O’Shea will present the governors with New College’s 2019-20 legislative budget request. During the meeting, the BOG will recognize the new partnership between New College’s Data Science program and LexisNexis. Nicole Navarro ’18, a graduate of the Data Science program who is now a software engineer at LexisNexis, and Data Science Program Director Pat McDonald will give a presentation on the program at the meeting.