Areas of Focus

Undergraduate Education

The enduring commitment of UNF to high quality undergraduate education recently has been reaffirmed by the university's pledge to provide individualized instruction in response to the unique needs and ambitions of all its students. As one means of achieving this end, the university has begun to implement a broad array of "transformational learning opportunities." These curricular and extra-curricular opportunities include activities like study abroad, service learning, collaborative research projects with faculty, and leadership experiences. Academic Affairs is also engaged in an ongoing process of curricular and program review in order to assure that all academic programs, including general education and the disciplinary majors and minors, are as effective, substantive, and coherent as they can be. The university currently offers a full range of programs of study at the undergraduate level to accommodate the intellectual and professional interests of its students. A newly appointed assistant vice president for undergraduate studies is charged with responsibility for assuring that, even as the university continues to grow, undergraduate education at UNF will continue to maintain its uniquely distinctive qualities.

Graduate Education

UNF always has offered graduate education, and graduate education will become an even more prominent component of UNF's academic programs in the years ahead. The university already offers a rich array of master's programs in the colleges of Arts and Sciences; Computing, Engineering, and Construction; Education and Human Services; the Brooks College of Health; and the Coggin College of Business. In the near future more master's programs will be added in each college; in addition, the university recently added two additional doctoral programs in Nursing Practice and Physical Therapy. All new programs will be developed with a keen sense of the educational and professional needs of the greater Jacksonville area so that citizens of the region will be able to look to UNF to meet their educational and professional aspirations and so that the region can count upon UNF to supply it with a talented, articulate, and progressive workforce. The university's recent transformation of its division of "graduate studies" to the "graduate school" attests to the heightened role of graduate education at UNF.

Scholarship

The University of North Florida is a university which strongly values and vigorously supports scholarship. It does so for two reasons: faculty who are engaged scholars and committed teachers, a combination which at UNF is the norm, are best able to provide informed, stimulating pedagogy; and because UNF faculty are well qualified to make important contributions to pure and applied knowledge. To these ends Academic Affairs has been providing increasing resources to facilitate faculty research. These include summer grants, release time for research, support for sponsored research overseen by a newly hired assistant vice president for research, faculty colloquia, support for distinguished visiting speakers, and funds for faculty travel. In addition to providing an enriching learning environment for students, the scholarly activity of its faculty is also a significant means through which UNF fulfills its role as "North Florida's University."

Community Engagement

UNF is a public university. Academic Affairs is committed to fulfilling the responsibilities that derive from the public nature of the university by serving the citizens of the region and state in ways that capitalize upon the mutual needs and resources of the community and the university to the mutual benefit of both. Faculty and students contribute in myriad ways to the advancement of health care, education, the economy, the environment, and every other physical and social aspect of the First Coast. Some of this activity takes the form of “service-learning,” directed study in which students engage directly in “real world” issues and affirm their impulse toward civic duty. Faculty utilize their disciplinary expertise to produce “applied scholarship” that directly addresses a broad array of regional concerns. A broad range of research centers and institutes are directly linked to community partners. In these and other ways Academic Affairs actively promotes the relevance of its efforts to the citizens it is proud to serve.

Accountability

Inherent in all our goals, Academic Affairs is committed to accountability. Our responsibility to our students requires that we constantly measure the extent to which they are achieving the educational goals that have been set for them. As stewards of public and private support we also have a responsibility to use resources not just effectively but also efficiently. Towards the fulfillment of these responsibilities Academic Affairs is engaging in a variety of assessment activities: it is implementing procedures for monitoring student learning; it regularly evaluates program quality and faculty and staff effectiveness; and it is currently reviewing its essential administrative processes to assure that they are productive and meaningful.

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