Thanks for clicking the link in the Senate’s newsletter!
Our goal in adding yet another monthly missive to your inbox is to give some regular insight
into the administration and direction of UCF. Think of it as adding a virtual skylight to the
third floor of Millican Hall, allowing faculty to see what the President, Provost, and senior
leaders are doing, how money flows in the university, and what our financial situation is.
We’ll also report on the Board of Trustees, Board of Governors, and Florida legislature.
Why should we care about that? First, because big management and financial changes are
afoot. We have a new budget model, Workday and the Service Enhancement Transformation,
a new BOT focus on reducing the student-to-faculty ratio, and legislative/BOG orders on how
we manage COVID and our finances, among many other shifts. Faculty need to know what’s
going on for our own decisions and to give input to the administration, both directly and
through the Senate and its many committees.
Second, UCF is now engaged in strategic planning, and we faculty are being asked to give
input on the direction of the university. In the past, faculty input has not been sought to the
same degree as by this administration. It’s an opportunity to set our future path, but we can’t
do that in ignorance of what’s going on now, our financial condition, and state priorities. See
Vice Chair Stephen King’s article in this issue.
Each month’s newsletter will have quick summaries of the Senate, Steering, and BOT
meetings since the last newsletter, giving video links so you can watch the President and
Provost’s reports and any presentations or discussions of high interest. We’ll have short
articles and/or links to longer articles hosted on our website, facultysenate.ucf.edu. We may
also share links to relevant information hosted elsewhere.
We’ll experiment with the length and format, looking to balance content with brevity. We
hope you will learn a lot in a short time, diving in where you’re interested, but not getting
bogged down where you’re not. Please send your feedback to fsenate@ucf.edu, and enjoy
your reading and viewing!
Happy holidays!
–jh–
Prof. Joseph Harrington
Chair, UCF Faculty Senate
Member, UCF Board of Trustees