Get ready for UF to lose many top professors

You can read on rate my professor and reddit about students who have taken classes that were not what they expected.
I have simply stated that I agree that there is a need for transparency in education. If you think that is unfortunate so be it.

Might I remind members of the forum rules: ā€œOur forum is expected to be a friendly and welcoming place, and one in which members can post without their motives, intelligence, or other personal characteristics being questioned by others."

and

ā€œCollege Confidential forums exist to discuss college admission and other topics of interest. It is not a place for contentious debate. If you find yourself repeating talking points, it might be time to step away and do something elseā€¦ If a thread starts to get heated, it might be closed or heavily moderated.ā€

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/guidelines

I do find it interesting that people are so concerned about how Florida is handling tenure in its higher education institutions. Florida residents elected DeSantis by a large margin in November. If they were concerned about his policies they could have voted otherwise. Overall universities skew heavily left and thereā€™s been very little public pushback for decades as much of whatā€™s taught and how universities run reflects the leftā€™s policies and preferences. It appears Florida has decided theyā€™re not interested in supporting all of those teachings and policies. There are 49 other state universities and thousands of private schools for students to choose from if Floridaā€™s curriculum isnā€™t what they want. Students who arenā€™t interested in all the liberal ideologies and policies are still subjected to much of it on campuses because classrooms arenā€™t the only places itā€™s disseminated.

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Having lived in FL for 6 years of my life - well before current days - tell me any time in history when people in FL have voted for schools. A large percentage of voters donā€™t have kids school or college aged and they donā€™t want to fund anything. Itā€™s been that way since at least the '80s (when I was first there).

Itā€™s also the older generation that is pretty set that the history they learned (probably in school) is ā€œcorrectā€ because itā€™s what they were taught - no other facts are worth considering.

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Not sure what you mean by voting for schools?.
And although Florida does have an older population it isnā€™t the only state with a large over 65 contingent (Maine is almost tied and West VA, Delaware, Vermont, Montana and Pennsylvania are right behind). I think is around 20% or so which still leaves quite a few non-senior voters.

Not only students, but ā€œtop professorsā€, the main point of this thread. If they really are ā€œtopā€ they will have opportunities elsewhere.

States "serve as a ā€œlaboratoryā€ of democracy per Justice Louis Brandeis:

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A friend who is well-respected in her field and teaches at a large public university in Florida just posted how alarmed she is over the stated intentions of the new board members for New College of Florida appointed by DeSantis and that she is not sure what public universities will look like in 5-10 years there. She ended by advising people to tell their students to seek education elsewhere in the country. Her field does not have a ton of tenure-track openings each year so leaving immediately is not an option, but I imagine she will move on in a few years once the right opportunity presents itself.

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Canā€™t address the politics of the new board members, but if I was a FL taxpayer, Iā€™d definitely support an overhaul of New College. At 650 undergrads, it is barely larger than many public high schools. Few majors. A tiny school, which would be great for a private liberal arts college, but not efficient for a public.

High admit rate. Low yeild.

66% grad rate after 6 years? 26% transfer out rate?

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That 66% grad rate is above the national average, which is 62.2%. https://nscresearchcenter.org/completing-college/

But I agree running New College separately seems like an expensive way to operate. There was a proposal a couple of years ago to merge New College (and FL Poly) into FSA, but it didnā€™t get much support.

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yeah, but this is supposed to be a small Honors college in the state system. 75% acceptance rate into a so-called Honors college? 66% grad rate in SIX years from ā€˜honorsā€™ students?

IMO, the current faculty should support new leaders who, if successful, will grow the school ā€“ and result in additional faculty positions. Otherwise, with numbers like those in the article, the school is not sustainable and taxpayers should demand action.

ā€œThe state cost-per-degree at UF is $21,598, compared to $197,681 at New College and $180,958 at Polytechnicā€¦ā€

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New College is definitely a college for a certain type of student. I know/knew a few students who went there and left. Since then Iā€™ve always been wary about it.

But I have no idea what direction the new folks want to take it, so canā€™t comment there TBH.

I assume what DeSantis insists on only applies to public schools and wonā€™t affect private LACā€™s like Eckerd or Rollins? If Iā€™m wrong, let me know. Not that many students from my high school head to FL, but since my boy went there, Eckerd has attracted a few others.

For something schools want/need, esp if it costs money.

Looks like FIRE, which right leaning people often like to look to for support on various topics relating to colleges and schools, opposes DeSantisā€™ attempts to ban ā€œwokeā€ and ā€œCRTā€ in schools: Florida lawmakers are about to cross an unconstitutional line. They must amend HB7.

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iā€™m an adult; took some random classes over covid lockdowns. My spouse heard every word of the class i took as we were both home; taught by 3 different professors - a research methods class, fall of 2020. We seriously could not believe one of the teachers; the class was not described in any way how it turned out. I work for that U now; love my job. But that class . . . iā€™d say that one profs deliberately changed the syllabus for her section. (not in florida)

Curious to know if youā€™re forever scarred by the experience or reported it to anyone higher up to let them knowā€¦ even the Department head or someone.

ETA: Quite honestly, there are great, average, good, bad, and horrid in every profession - no exceptions Iā€™ve seen. I doubt thatā€™s going to change, but if we donā€™t want the bad and horrid, someone has to say something. If not higher up, there are always reviews.

ETA2: Iā€™m REALLY curious what change happened in a Research Methods class! Please share something, if not super specific. That seems like a tough one to change. (And Iā€™m NOT dissing you at all with any of this, but I am super curious!)

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hahahah. no not scarred. i was a little over dramatic there i suppose. but my heart started racing when i ran into this prof on campus in person right before break. And it certainly gave us food to fodder.

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We were typing at the same time - would love to hear more (see my ETAsā€¦).

Glad it was nothing super awful (scarring).

More clarification about the reason why some states, including Florida, are rushing (or have already rushed) to remove protections for tenure.

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Tenure has been declining for years.

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I donā€™t disagree. But itā€™s also a fact that Texas politicians (and politicians in other states) have repeatedly and emphatically stated they are targeting tenure specifically as a way to stop professors who are active in these topics. There are quotes from some politicians in the article.

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