UF’s goals have been made a priority for a new university task force.
The force’s creation was announced Thursday after members met for their first meeting Wednesday afternoon. There are 16 members plus the UF executive chief of staff, Winfred Phillips, who will serve as the chairman.
It consists of professors and deans as well as current Student Body President Cory Yeffet and incoming Student Body President Joselin Padron-Rasines.
The task force will gather information through meetings and forums to set the university’s goals and priorities for the next five to 10 years. Members are expected to present a final report to the UF Board of Trustees that will be available to the campus community.
“The new president wants a vision for where he sees the university headed,” said Harry Klee, a professor in the Horticultural Sciences Department and member of the task force. “And, of course, it’s tied to this preeminence initiative that’s been ongoing.”
The task force was UF President Kent Fuchs’ idea, Klee said.
The committee will address all aspects of the university, he said, from student life and education to faculty achievements and the athletic association.
Members were chosen from various colleges and will not represent their colleges individually.
Rather, they will open discussions about how to help UF, said Robert Gilbert, a professor in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and another member of the committee.
“(The task force will look at) how can we maintain and grow our excellence over time, both in terms of faculty and also the students that we recruit and the alumni that graduate,” Gilbert said.
The next meeting will be around early May, Klee said. He said he believes Fuchs would like to see a report in the Fall.
Yeffet said he will stay involved in the task force although he is graduating.
During the first meeting, both Fuchs and Phillips identified students as the core of the university and one of the committee’s key focuses, Yeffet said.
“It was very cool to hear and very exciting to hear that their expectation for involving students in the process is very high,” he said, “and that they’re hoping students will be involved in the process every step of the way.”
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 4/17/2015]
