New College misses out on bonus funding from state

SARASOTA -- The State University System Board of Governors places a premium on having nationally ranked institutions, but New College of Florida -- the only college in the university system right now that is ranked and recognized nationally -- has missed out on performance-based bonus money for the past three years.

"I think there is a disconnect there," said Steve Miles, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

The performance-funding model for colleges and universities in the state system, which includes Florida State University, University of Central Florida and University of South Florida, offers additional incentive money for universities that score high enough based on 10 different metrics. The program began three years ago, and New College has never scored high enough to earn bonus money.

The strategic plan for the State University System includes having more universities ranked and recognized nationally, but that goal isn't reflected in the performance funding, which means New College misses out. Miles said New College officials can't let that distract them from their core mission.

"What would be an even worse disconnect would be if we were to alter our policies and approach just for the sake of performance funding and watch ourselves lose our identity and sacrifice our mission. That would end up hurting us national

ly," Miles said.

The rankings came out Thursday during a board of governors meeting. Miles, New College President Donal O'Shea and few other team members attended the meeting.

As of May 2014, the State University System Board of Governors measures annual state universities and colleges for performance funding on 10 different metrics. In two of those metrics -- which look at the average cost of undergraduate degree to the institution and the status of graduates one year after graduation -- New College scored a zero.

The average cost of undergraduate degree to the institution is a metric that may change in the near future, Miles said, as many universities have questioned the measure. New College has argued that metric -- which is a measure of efficiency -- should really be flipped to look at a university's affordability. From that standpoint, Miles said, New College would do very well. More than 60 percent of New College students graduate with no debt, Miles said.

A committee has been set up to look at the measure and propose changes, Miles said.

The metric that looks at the status of graduates one year after graduation has also changed in the past three years, Miles said. The metric looks at the percentage of students who are employed full time one year after graduation. The full-time employment status is measured by the salary the student makes, not whether the student is working 40 hours a week. For some New College students that distinction makes a difference.

The metric also captures students who decide to pursue higher levels of education after receiving a bachelor's degree, which it didn't do initially, Miles said. The measure also now includes full-time employees outside Florida but still doesn't capture every state. States, including New York, California and Massachusetts, aren't included, which hurts New College.

"The biggest issue we have with it is that it's only looking at 12 months after graduation," he said. "We just like to think long term."

The money New College is missing out on is funding that really has to be looked at as "bonus money," Miles said, although he figured New College probably missed out on about $1.5 million.

New College also made great gains with financials through the Legislature this year, with $4.2 million set aside for the expansion of New College's natural science wing and $500,000 for the Center for Engagement and Opportunity. The New College Foundation, a fundraising arm, has also had a good year, he said.

"Many different sources of funding and we pursue all of those and, performance funding aside, we had a very good year," Miles said.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 11:00 PM with the headline "New College misses out on bonus funding from state ."