On March 16, New College welcomed the new Vice President for Finance and Administration Christian Kinsley, who replaced John Martin. Martin had occupied the position since 2001, when New College gained independence from the University of South Florida. Kinsley was chosen out of four candidates for the position, which works to ensure that the college’s resources are efficiently deployed. Kinsley is also the administrator that the campus police report to.
Following students’ calls for the Office of Human Resources (HR) to more widely publicize open sessions in which students could meet candidates for the position in person, HR shared information about these sessions with students, rather than solely faculty and staff emails, as had been the case before. They encouraged students to complete evaluation forms for each candidate after attending the session. However, according to HR, only one or two students attended the sessions and no students submitted evaluation forms.
When asked how he would ensure a transparent relationship between police, the administration and students, Kinsley emphasized that the key word is “relationship.”
“My plan coming in was to get to know student leaders, campus administrators and as many officers as I can, as a starting point to beginning to build trust,” Kinsley said. “You build trust by listening first, then having dialogue, then acting.”
While the current situation with COVID-19 has changed his immediate tactics, Kinsley assured that he is “still planning to make improving the relationship between campus police and the campus community a high priority” and encouraged students to send an email or call him to discuss goals for both parties.
Most recently, Kinsley has managed the process of refunding housing and meal plan money in the wake of students’ evacuation from campus. In an April 1 email, Kinsley stated that his office will calculate a prorated amount of housing credits for the remaining eight weeks of the semester, while meal plan refunds will be the dollar balance remaining on students’ meal cards.