UF President Kent Fuchs is requesting about $68 million in funding from Florida’s legislature.
The funding will go toward hiring distinguished faculty and renovating buildings. Fuchs is asking for funding for UF Preeminence and Norman Hall renovations, said Jane Adams, the vice president of university relations.
The goal of UF Preeminence is to make UF a top university and hire new faculty. Fuchs requested $10 million for Preeminence and $8 million to begin renovating Norman Hall, which houses UF’s College of Education, she said.
Fuchs also requested $20.5 million for the Engineering Innovation Nexus Building and $18 million to help maintain UF’s utilities, infrastructure and capital renewal.
Adams said Fuchs asked for Norman Hall funding because the building needs to be updated.
Allison Leonard, a UF education sophomore, said she thinks the building needs to be renovated.
“You can tell it’s lost a lot of what it originally had,” she said.
She said funding given to UF should go toward the university being more highly ranked in the nation.
“Having that feel of a top-10 university would make UF graduates stand out more than they already do,” Leonard said.
Adams said Fuchs has lobbied in Tallahassee since Fall to get funding for UF. The university won’t know if it’s received funding until Florida’s legislature adjourns about March 11. She said if UF isn’t given funding, Fuchs will continue to ask for more next year.
“We make the request and we go back and ask again. We really look to the state to make an investment in the University of Florida,” she said.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @k_newberg
