February 27, 2020
The University
of North Florida has recently been named a member of the United Nations
Academic Impact (UNAI), an initiative that aligns institutions of higher
education with the principles of the United Nations. UNF is one of only two
schools in the State University System and one of only eight colleges/universities
in Florida that are UNAI members.
UNF joins
1,400 institutions in 139 countries who comprise UNAI membership and are
working together with the United Nations to promote global priorities, including
the promotion and protection of human rights, access to education,
sustainability and conflict resolution.
“Joining
UNAI is a significant achievement for UNF as the United Nations is recognizing
the many initiatives that the University has undertaken to address issues of
global importance,” said Dr. Josh Gellers, UNF associate professor in Political
Science and Public Administration. “UNF is pioneering the way in providing
educational resources for many modern challenges that are facing humanity.”
UNAI
aligns institutions of higher education with the United Nations in supporting
and contributing, through research and education, to UN’s Academic Impact
Principles. UNF’s activities were recognized in the key principles of education
for all, global citizenship, intercultural dialogue and sustainability.
Education
for All
UNF’s
College of Education and Human Services recently received a $1.6 million
Teacher Quality Partnership grant from the U.S. Department of Education to
support innovative teacher preparation models to prepare new teachers to serve
students in high-need schools. In collaboration with Duval County Public
Schools, goals of this grant include increasing the number of teachers
certified to teach high need subjects/grades and increasing retention of highly
effective teachers in high-need schools/subjects to ultimately provide K-12
students who are underrepresented in the STEM fields with access to teachers
who are well-prepared with 21st century skills.
Global Citizenship
UNF’s
Brooks College of Health advances global citizenship through its Strategic
Global Initiatives Committee, a public health partnership with Paracelsus
Medical University Salzburg that allows their graduate students to enroll in UNF’s
Global Health Certificate as part of their program, and a study abroad program
focused on experiential learning in global citizenship and international
humanitarian law with site visits (i.e. World Food Programme,
World Health Organization, International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Museum, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights),
interactive lectures (i.e. Lyon Universite II, American University of Paris),
and an international crisis management exercise on disaster management in the
developing world.
Intercultural
Dialogue
UNF’s
Hicks Honors College provides for intercultural dialogue as the 200 incoming
freshmen each year who take the Honors Colloquium class engage in diversity
activities and reflection, as well as service hours, to support the local
refugee community. In addition, 20 of these students deepen their experience
through a writing class co-taught with a class of international students to
engage in intensive dialogue building on those earlier experiences. Another 20
students take a different writing class that asks them to rethink their
“diversity activities” from multiple perspectives over the course of the
semester.
Sustainability
UNF’s
Environmental Center has many activities that promote sustainability. These
include sponsoring the Jacksonville Environmental Symposium, an annual event with
numerous organizations discussing best practices in sustainability; offering
Seed Grants or externally funded grants designed to provide financial support
for faculty working on environmental and sustainability issues; and organizing
and funding the Environmental Center Leadership Program (ECLP), a
co-curricular, merit-based scholarship program that cultivates a pipeline of
environmental leaders in the region. The ECLP allows project leaders to create
and implement a community project that addresses an environmental and/or social
injustice issue such as eliminating food waste and food deserts as well as educating
school children about the impacts of microplastics and other plastic pollution.
UNAI
disseminates information on UN initiatives and activities, providing ideas on
how these activities can be applied at the local level on college campuses and
in classrooms, and bounding the educational institutions with the United
Nations in a shared culture of intellectual social responsibility. Additional
information at
www.academicimpact.un.org
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