New State Budget Funds Major Projects at New College.
Florida’s new budget funds two major initiatives at New College of Florida: construction of the Heiser Natural Sciences Complex expansion, and programming at the Center for Engagement and Opportunity, or CEO, the College’s career services program.
The budget sets aside $3 million for the first phase of the Heiser expansion, a 22,000-square-foot addition that will increase classroom, office and laboratory space by about 50 percent. It also includes $500,000 to support the CEO, which has dramatically increased the number of internships offered to New College students.
“We’re pleased that the legislature and governor chose to support these two projects,” said John Martin, vice president of finance and administration at New College. “They are closely aligned with the state’s goals of producing more graduates who are trained in science and mathematics, and well prepared to meet workforce needs now and in the future.
The Heiser expansion, expected to begin in April 2016, will add teaching labs for bioinformatics, molecular biology, earth science, bioorganic chemistry, and biology and environmental studies. Nearly one-third of New College graduates are in science and mathematics, and every semester, more than half of the College’s students take at least one science course. New College expects science enrollments to grow 20 percent this decade.
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