new president Richard Corcoran He said long-term plans for desirable capital improvements are largely misunderstood.
He said the five-year business plan requested by the state was incorrectly seen as a request for large amounts of additional funding from the state. At the November board meeting, Mr. Corcoran presented a formal report. business plan This includes $400 million in initial capital expenditures for the campus, a figure first reported. Higher Ed Dive It is also frequently repeated in blogs and media reports.
But Corcoran said the university has been asked for a list of the funding needed and the numbers have been misinterpreted. In a two-page information sheet released by New College, Corcoran said the sum is not additional funding the state Legislature expects to provide within five years, and that much of the money is outside of the state's public education capital expenditures. (Peko) funds.
“First, the $400 million includes $173 million in non-PECO funds that will be received from other indirect sources (non-state funds) and a total PECO funding request of $227 million (state funds). “Contains,” he wrote.
“Capital investments are typically analyzed based on the 50-year lifespan of the building. Other state universities have been asked to complete five-year business plans that meet all future requirements within five years. In that case, the required capital would likely be in the billions of dollars.”
But he also declined to frequently calculate investments based on enrollment in a single year. Like other universities, physical improvements to New College's campus continue over the life of the structure. He points out that the government typically calculates the useful life of new buildings to be 50 years.
He called the calculation of $571,000 per student invested in schools intellectually dishonest.
“This is just plain stupid. That means all $400 million will only benefit about 600 students who will be on campus in spring 2023,” he wrote.
“NCF’s five-year business plan outlines investments on campus that will benefit growing numbers of students for decades to come. Simply put, this calculation is a sinister interpretation of NCF’s demands. For example, the more than 1,200 beds that NCF wants to build are for the long-term functioning of the campus and cannot be treated as an investment attached to one year of enrollment.”
The university plans to increase enrollment by at least 100 students each year over the next five years, which will also impact these calculations.
Corcoran said in the short term, the state's demands aren't all that lofty.
“NCF is immediately focused on securing an additional $25 million in recurring base funding and $10 million in PECO funding,” he said.
“This request is a long-term commitment that does not require NCF to come back to Congress every year for operational funding. As an alternative, NCF is requesting $30 million in contingency funds and $10 million in PECO funds to address the campus' more immediate needs as outlined in the business plan. We need to request this amount annually to meet our needs.”
Since then, universities have come under increased scrutiny. Governor Ron DeSantis takes office Many of the new trustees promised to transform small honors colleges into conservative models of higher education. The new board of directors will immediately dismiss the former chairman; hired Corcoran, a former education commissioner under DeSantis, became president.
Corcoran defended the move, classifying it as necessary for the university's future and noting that as recently as 2020, Congress considered merging the school with another major university.
“The business plan recognizes the reform and revitalization needed to preserve NCF's historic liberal arts mission after decades of decline,” Corcoran wrote. “This sets out an ambitious path to reinvigorate NCF and establish it as a model of national excellence.”
He also said the school intends to follow through on all negotiations and significantly expand the school's size.
“NCF uses this business plan to underline our broader ambitions over the next five years, which we know will enable this university to become a world-class classical liberal arts institution by providing the resources and commitment to do so.” “We see this as an opportunity to do so,” he wrote.
“This plan includes a goal to increase enrollment from a historical average of about 600 to more than 1,600 students, improve the New College Foundation's fundraising performance, and support expanded athletics and student advancement. It also includes inspirational tactics to achieve these goals, such as offering new degree programs for experience and infrastructure.”
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