The Academic Program

The Academic Calendar

The academic year at New College consists of two fourteen -week semesters and a four-week January Interterm devoted to independent study. Each semester is divided into two seven -week modules, with a one -week recess between them and a one -week exam/evaluation period at the end of the term. Faculty offer both semester-long and seven -week -long courses, with professors choosing the format best suited to the subject matter.

Click here for the current academic calendar.

Holidays

The College does not schedule classes on official state holidays that fall during the fall or spring semesters or during ISP period. These days include Martin Luther King Jr. Day (3rd Monday in January), Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and the day after Thanksgiving.

The College recognizes that in exceptional circumstances it may be appropriate for a faculty member to hold classes on an official holiday in order to fulfill the education purpose of the course. However, examinations or other testing should not be given in a class scheduled on a holiday.

Baccalaureate Examination/Reading Days

Five days during the spring semester are reserved for faculty and students to engage in baccalaureate exams and reading: the first three days of the twelfth week of classes for baccalaureate exams, and the last two days of the fourteenth week of classes for readings.  On these days classes will not be held.  These days are not to be considered holidays, but opportunities to attend baccalaureate exams, which are public events, and days to complete class projects and prepare for final exams.

General Education Requirements at New College

At New College there are no specific “core course” requirements.  Rather, students use their contracts, fashioned in collaboration with the contract sponsor, to develop goals and educational activities that have personal value, while at the same time fulfilling the College’s expectations for breadth and depth, critical thinking, communication skills, and working with others as responsible and self-disciplined participants in the community.  Within each disciplinary concentration, the specific mix of courses, tutorials, fieldwork, study abroad, and other academic activities may vary from student to student.

To demonstrate breadth, students must complete at least eight courses designated as “Liberal Arts Curriculum” courses, including one from each of the three academic divisions. In addition, a student must demonstrate basic computer proficiency and basic competence in mathematics.

New College also values the acquisition of a depth of knowledge in an Area of Concentration (AOC) that supports the development of a senior thesis project by each student. The Area of Concentration at New College may take one of several forms. It may be divisional (Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences); disciplinary (e.g. art history, physics, sociology); joint -disciplinary (e.g. biology/psychology, music/anthropology), or a special program or topic of the student’s design (e.g. biochemistry, Latin American studies). Each division's and discipline’s requirements for the AOC address content, critical thinking and communication skills. The “Thesis Prospectus” describes plans for the senior thesis, and outlines the courses, tutorials, and other educational activities that the student and thesis sponsor have agreed will provide the requisite quantitative and communication skills as well as depth of knowledge in the chosen area. The senior thesis project and oral baccalaureate  exam serve as the evidence as to whether or not a student has acquired proficiency  in writing and oral communication, as well as critical thinking, and whether the student may be capable of making an original contribution  to his or her area of interest and expertise.


New College Academic Divisions

The academic disciplines at New College are grouped into three Divisions; interdisciplinary areas draw upon the faculty from the various disciplines (across Divisions) as appropriate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Office of the Provost
New College of Florida
5800 Bay Shore Road
Sarasota, Florida  34243

Phone: (941) 487-4200
Fax: (941) 487-4201
provost@ncf.edu