On Wednesday, New College of Florida takes over University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee and will begin moving faculty into the USF office buildings less than a mile away.
Despite widespread opposition from alumni, students, faculty and the local business community, the transfer was pushed through by lawmakers in special session budget talks in May and escaped a wider debate in the Legislature.
Some USF faculty will remain to continue teaching students who registered at the campus in recent years.
Here are some frequently asked questions about the transfer.
Will New College own the campus?
Technically, the state owns the land and assets. But a handful of legislators inserted language during a budget conference during the special session to assign those assets from USF to New College as of July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the budget into law on Monday.
In exchange for the 32-acre campus, dorms, office space and classrooms, NCF must pay about $167,000 per month to USF to cover dorm debt beginning Wednesday. The total amount of debt including fees is about $53 million, and NCF must be take responsibility for all that by December or the deal is nullified.
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What is included?
New College gets all the property, buildings, dormitories, fixtures, classrooms and standard furnishings, leases, contracts and liabilities. The latter includes the $53 million in dorm debt from Atala Hall and the day-to-day maintenance, operating and renovation costs of the campus.
What is not included?
Students, employees and programs are not included. Nor is funding that USF received from the Legislature, computers and equipment signed out to USF personnel, intellectual and intangible property, records, insignia, the bull mascot statue and the Florida Center for Partnership in the Arts.
How big is New College with the addition?
Before the addition, New College had 110 acres, split into the west campus by the bayfront and the 30-acre east campus on land leased from the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. The USF transfer adds 32 acres to the north for a total of 142 acres.
What happens to the USF students?
About 1,000 students will complete their degrees at the campus, according to university leaders on Monday. Earlier this year, a USF spokeswoman said more than 1,600 students were enrolled at USF Sarasota-Manatee. Courses included criminology, education, hospitality, marketing and more.
A “teach-out” allows current USF students to keep studying at the Sarasota-Manatee location until they graduate.
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Some are studying to become nurses and fill a shortage locally, including 58 students in an accelerated bachelor's program. That cohort will “remain intact through the program completion at the end of the spring 2027 semester,” USF president Moez Limayem said during the final meeting of the Sarasota-Manatee campus board on Monday.
Limayem added that “beyond the teach-out, nursing students on the Tampa and St. Pete campuses will continue to receive clinical training at five partner sites in the Sarasota-Manatee area, so the pipeline of nurses will continue.”
What about staff and faculty that worked for USF?
“No one, let me repeat, no one will lose their jobs because of this transfer,” Limayem said Monday.
He said there are 137 faculty at USF Sarasota-Manatee, and they are being reassigned to the Tampa or St. Petersburg campuses. All 120 staff members received a survey about their preferences and were asked to meet with Human Resources to discuss options for similar jobs. Limayem said “exit incentives,” or buyouts, which are “100% optional,” are also available.
The campus board and faculty council will cease to operate. Some professors packed up their offices and moved out. Others plan to stay for the teach-out. Some classrooms and office space will still be used by USF after New College moves in. An operations task force and a teach-out task force are in place to help smooth the transition.
What will change for USF?
From USF’s perspective, the name will change from USF Sarasota-Manatee to “the USF instructional site in Sarasota-Manatee,” according to USF documents.
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USF lawyer Gerard Solis said this month that “branding” has come up often in talks about the transfer. “New College would be interested in changing the look and feel of the campus,” Solis said. But any rebranding cannot apply to facilities being used for the teach-out, and New College cannot permanently alter buildings or facilities.
Larger signs for the campus will not be permanently changed until “after New College assumes the debt for the residence hall, which New College is legally required to do by Dec. 31, 2026,” according to USF.
What about WSMR and WUSF’s Sarasota studio?
WUSF 89.7 FM and Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9 FM radio operations have vacated a three-room studio at USF Sarasota-Manatee. WUSF's Sarasota news operation has relocated to its Lime Avenue location. It already has state-of-the-art production equipment, and Sarasota-based hosts Cathy Carter and Kerry Sheridan now host live and interview guests there for the afternoon news show, “All Things Considered.”
Classical WSMR frequently hosted live music performances on the Sarasota campus. “Going forward, we may soon host more of those events at other locations where we already perform, such as the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the Church of the Redeemer and elsewhere,” said station manager Leslie Laney. “We are also excited to explore options for new ‘pop-up’ performances around town to connect more with the community.”
What are New College’s plan for the campus?
Stay tuned for more on that. Reached for comment Monday, a New College spokesman said details will be released “in the coming weeks.”
