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June 2003

Delaney prepares to assume UNF presidency

John Delaney

Jacksonville's popular mayor, John Delaney, is beginning the transition from City Hall to the President's Office.

Delaney, who ends his second four-year term as mayor June 30, will assume the UNF presidency this summer. During that time, he will be involved in discussing transition issues with Interim President David Kline, who will be assisting the new president this summer.

The Jacksonville mayor was selected by the UNF Board of Trustees during a special meeting last month. He was selected over the other finalist, Dr. Gary S. Krahenbuhl, senior vice president and deputy provost at Arizona State University in Tempe.

During the board meeting, trustees voiced praise for both candidates. Although the board's vote was split 11-2, all expressed confidence in Delaney and his ability to lead UNF as its new president.

The frank discussion of the qualifications of each candidate resulted in praise for Delaney and his leadership in such things as the Better Jacksonville Plan, as well as his solid connections with community and state leaders.

Similarly, Krahenbuhl was praised for his knowledge of higher education, passion for students and vision for the University. Many of the trustees indicated it was one of the hardest decisions they had been asked to make and was between two highly qualified but different candidates.

For his part, Delaney said he was both "delighted and honored" to be selected.

"UNF is truly one of our city's greatest assets. I look forward to the exciting challenge and to working together with the staff, faculty, the community, and our Legislature and governor to bring UNF to an even greater level," he said.

During his interviews at UNF, Delaney stressed the need to focus on several "flagship" areas in which UNF can excel. He specifically mentioned programs in teacher and nursing education, as well as technology and engineering. By focusing on select areas, Delaney said UNF can recruit highly qualified faculty and develop programs with national reputations for excellence despite tight state budgets.
Without such focus, Delaney said UNF will be not be able to achieve the level of excellence it aspires to.

"If we want to be all things to all people, frankly, we're going to be average,"
he said.

As a former mayor, Delaney is expected to emphasize expansion of UNF's already close ties with the Jacksonville community. On a number of occasions during the interview process, he emphasized the importance of building on community connections.

"Too many universities tend to get isolated from the communities they serve," he noted. The feedback from the community is important in determining the areas in which UNF will focus its resources, he said.

Delaney also discussed the important role of research in the focus areas that the University selects. However, he noted that UNF will not be and does not aspire to be a major research institution, such as Florida or Florida State. "The research must fit into our areas of strength," he said.

Although the trend in recent years has been to reduce state assistance while increasing tuition, Delaney said he hopes that is not the route the state pursues in the future.

"I am not personally convinced that raising tuition is the best course for state schools," he said. He said he doubted the Legislature would ever give individual boards of trustees complete authority to raise tuition rates, at least at undergraduate levels.

A graduate of the University of Florida, Delaney started his career at the State Attorney's Office shortly after getting his law degree in 1981. He was chief assistant state attorney from 1986 to 1991 before being named general counsel for the city of Jacksonville in 1991. He was chief of staff under Jacksonville Mayor Ed Austin from 1992 to 1994 and was elected to his first term as mayor in 1995. He was re-elected without opposition to his second term in spring 1999.

Delaney becomes the fifth permanent president at UNF since it opened its doors in 1972. He succeeds Interim President Kline, who took over the reins of the University when Dr. Anne Hopkins resigned last summer for health reasons.

Other permanent presidents at UNF have included founding president Dr. Thomas Carpenter (1969-1980); Dr. Curtis McCray (1982-1988) and Dr. Adam Herbert (1989-1998).