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The Graduate School's Mission

In concert with the University’s academic colleges, the Graduate School supports and promotes graduate education at the University of North Florida by developing, maintaining, and enhancing strong graduate programs and an excellent graduate faculty. Our programs cultivate students' advanced knowledge and skills in their chosen fields, encourage their proficiency with research and other forms of scholarship, and are relevant to our students and to the communities we serve.

Goal 1

Cultivate a learning environment that supports intellectual curiosity, academic achievement, and personal growth.
Action 1.1

Promote the development of new graduate programs that are appropriate to UNF’s mission, students, faculty, and the region; ensure the relevance of our programs to our students.

Anticipated Outcome
- New promising graduate degree programs.
Action 1.2
Foster the maintenance of graduate programs that are appropriately sophisticated, rigorous, and current in both academic content and pedagogical/andragogical presentation.

Anticipated Outcomes
- Enhanced program review and assessment.
- Improved curricula in all programs.
- Accreditation of all programs that have discipline-specific accreditation bodies.
Action 1.3

Cultivate students' advanced knowledge and skills in their chosen fields.

Anticipated Outcomes
- Stronger student educational and scholarly experiences and products in all programs.
- Better Graduate School policies and processes related to the quality of student work, in particular theses and dissertations.
- Editorial support for theses and dissertations; support for statistical analysis.
Action 1.4

Foster instructional excellence in our graduate faculty.

Anticipated Outcomes
- New initiatives in the Office of Faculty Excellence focused on graduate level andragogy.
- New initiatives that financially support graduate faculty teaching enhancement.
Action 1.5

Promote the relevance of the Graduate School to graduate students.

Anticipated Outcomes
- Better communication between the Graduate School and graduate students.
- Ombudsman services for graduate students.
- Enhanced career placement services for graduate students.
- New initiatives to assist graduate students seeking admission to still more advanced educational opportunities.

Goal 2

Recruit and support a diverse community of students, faculty, and staff who will contribute to and benefit from the university's mission.
Action 2.1

Recruit graduate students of high promise, with the evidenced potential to accomplish goals appropriate to graduate study and to succeed in their chosen degree programs.

Anticipated Outcomes
- Refined and streamlined Graduate School admissions policies, processes, and practices.
- Added scholarships, fellowships, and assistantships; development initiatives; better use of available funding for recruiting and retaining students.
- Strengthened recruitment partnerships with colleges and other campus agencies.
- New markets identified.
- Stronger online, print, and radio marketing.
- Stronger marketing through Grad Expos and similar events.
- Better retention and progress toward graduation.
- Greater awareness and visibility of UNF’s graduate educational opportunities.
Action 2.2

Ensure that the graduate student body profile is diverse (with “diversity” broadly interpreted).

Anticipated Outcomes
- Greater recruitment efforts and strategic funding to enhance diversity.
- Strengthened diversity-recruitment partnerships.

Goal 3

Support and recognize research and creative endeavor as essential university functions.
Action 3.1

Foster scholarly excellence in our graduate students.

Anticipated Outcomes
- Enhanced funding initiatives to support graduate student scholarly activity, particularly self-initiated activity, including support for participation in professional conferences and other research-focused activities.
- Enhanced funding initiatives to support graduate student scholarly events, such as campus presentations, lectures, symposia, colloquia, and conferences.
- An annual doctoral research symposium.
- Research mentor programs.
- An online graduate student scholarly journal.
Action 3.2
Foster scholarly excellence in our graduate faculty.

Anticipated Outcomes
- Enhanced Graduate School policies and processes concerning graduate faculty status appointment and review.
- New initiatives that financially support the scholarly activity of graduate faculty.

Goal 4

Affirm the university's public responsibility through civic engagement and community-based learning and research.
Action 4.1

Ensure the relevance of our programs to the communities we serve.

Anticipated Outcomes
- New programs are developed with a focus on regional needs.
- Greater communication between the UNF Graduate School and employers (marketplace and academic), civic leaders, regional stake-holders, and other community members.
- A UNF Graduate School annual community report.
- A community advisory board.

Give Now!

By donating to the UNF Graduate School, you can support our graduate student Ospreys! Pursuing a graduate education can be financially challenging for students. Your gift, regardless of size, holds the potential to be the deciding factor between an "I can" and an "I can't" for one of our Ospreys. Your support is not just a donation; it's an investment in the future of our students and our community.