Academic Affairs Mission Statement and Strategic Plan

The mission of Academic Affairs is to facilitate the critical pursuit of knowledge in an environment of civility and tolerance by providing excellent educational opportunities for all UNF students through a focused use of resources in scholarly programs that have relevance to the broad range of constituencies served by the university and that are subject to rigorous and ongoing scrutiny and improvement.

Four encompassing and mutually informative goals derive from this mission statement, included below.

Goals and Annual Priorities 2007-08

Goal 1: Advance the recruitment of academically ready and culturally diverse students and set occasions for their success.

  • Action 1.1: Implement universal tracking system pilot and create academic program maps to increase student completion rates.
  • Action 1.2: Recruit FTIC strategically in order to increase both the student profile and diversity while maintaining stable lower-level enrollment; continue to accommodate AA transfers; and continue robust recruitment of graduate students.

Goal 2: Advance the scope and quality of academic programs in a manner consistent with the mission and resources of the university.

  • Action 2.1: Monitor and modulate as appropriate new and existing undergraduate and graduate programs in conjunction with the program review and strategic planning processes.
  • Action 2.2: Expand efforts to increase student political participation and civic engagement via the ADP.
  • Action 2.3: Develop our Quality Enhancement Plan as part of the SACS accreditation process.
  • Action 2.4: Reorganize the office of Institutional Effectiveness and hire a Director of Assessment and Testing in order to improve the assessment activities within academic programs.
  • Action 2.5: Advance assessment of learning outcomes in general education, academic majors, and all graduate programs.
  • Action 2.6: Implement improvements in the budget process (including summer funding) to maximize the effective utilization of AA resources, particularly in light of impending budget reductions.
  • Action 2.7: Promote Academic Leadership Development
  • Action 2.8: Implement Provost's special task force to refine university mission.

Goal 3: Advance the strengths and scholarly engagement of the faculty.

  • Action 3.1: Develop recruitment and retention strategies for increasing diversity among faculty.
  • Action 3.2: Hire new OFE Director and expand the linkage between faculty development activities and larger institutional priorities
  • Action 3.3: Increase funding of external research
  • Action 3.4: Develop opportunities for faculty to lead and participate in seminars/colloquies
  • Action 3.5: Highlight faculty scholarship and research activity.

Goal 4: Advance community outreach and partnerships.

  • Action 4.1: Establish an office for community-based learning to advance and oversee initiatives designed to increase civic awareness and engagement of students.
  • Action 4.2: Inventory the service needs of the Jacksonville community and develop initiatives to address those needs.

View Academic Affairs 2006-07 Annual Report
View the University of North Florida's entire Strategic Planning document.

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