I'm so glad to see you all here and I know that there are some that are watching on the live stream and, Sherry, you're right it is great to be back. I'm really glad that you got to hear from our student and our staff Senate President and our faculty Senate President because when you think about the elements that make up a university that's kind of it, we have: faculty and we have students and we have support. And it's the interaction of all of that that makes the magic happen so I really appreciate your remarks and all that you do for the University.

Today I'm going to talk with you a little bit about just reflecting on the last year. We have a lot to celebrate and I feel like I just can't let this opportunity go by without highlighting a few of the really great things that we've done and then we'll talk a little bit about what we're going to be working on. But before we begin, please turn to the person on your right and repeat after me, Òyou are doing an awesome job. Thank you!ÓÊ

Now, turn to the person on your left and say ÒI couldn't do it without you.Ó

The good ship Argo has come a long way since the last time we met, and its fearless crew has once again brought home treasure in the form of national, state, and regional recognitions; and IÕm gonna list a few of them:

* US News & World Report ranked us as a Top 10 regional public university in the South
* We were listed on national Honor Roll on the 2022 survey of Great Colleges to Work For Ðone of only 10 in the large university category nationally and the only university in Florida receiving the designation.
* We won another Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award for 2022.
* We were Top Ten Military Friendly School designation in the large public category Ð number 4 in the country Ð the highest spot on the list in school history
* For the third year in a row, we led the SUS on Metric 1 Ð percentage of graduates employed or continuing education after graduation.  This is a true quality metric.  Employers want our graduates. And that is a credit and testimony to everyone in this room.

We achieved a few internal bests as well with record enrollment (3rd year in a row) and a double-digit increase in graduation rate.

We enjoyed several fundraising records including record alumni participation.

Campus housing is full!  

WeÕre averaging about 300 students per campus event than ever before.

Argo athletics won an additional 6 conference championships bringing us to a total of 112.

ANDÉjust when you think this day canÕt get any sweeterÉ Argo babies

We have a bumper crop of Argo babies this year! And we are so pleased and we are also pleased that parents have come back to work. If youÕll look the little guy in the second row hugging the bunny is EzekielÊJames Carlton. He is the son of football coach Rudy Carlton. Now, Ezekiel was so anxious to get on the playing field- he was delivered in the car by his dad Rudy in the emergency room parking lot. So welcome all of our Argo Babies. I could do this all day. 

 We were Coming out of Covid and still feeling the effects of Hurricane Sally, every division did its part to keep us on a positive trajectory.
In Advancement, The small but mighty fundraising team in University Advancement secured a record breaking 89 major gifts, also the greatest number of individual donors in history.

The Division of Academic Engagement & Student Affairs hit the ProvostÕs War Room full speed ahead and strongly contributed to a projected record retention score this year.

In addition to preparing top quality graduates and conducting top quality research, the folks in Academic Affairs carried out a lot of innovative enterprises.
* From the College of Arts, Social Science and Humanities: we will be opening a long-awaited Maker Space and that will be opening on November the twelfth. A lot of creative activity has gone on to get that makerÕs space up, and a lot of creative activity will happen in it.
* College of Business:  Established Center for Leadership & secured a 2.5 million gift to launch the initiative
* College of Education & Professional Services:  formed a School of Education toward meeting a critical need in our community and state.
* The Usha Kundu, MD College of Health won state funding Linking Industry to Nursing Education through an innovative partnership with Baptist Healthcare
* Hal Marcus College of Science & EngineeringÕs STEM scholars program saw a remarkable APR of 96%.  Many of those students reside in the collegeÕs Living and Learning Community in PresidentÕs Hall.
* The Center for Cybersecurity continues to serve as the Southeast Regional Hub for National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity as designated by the NSA Ð one of only five such hubs across the United States.
* And our team in Government Relations reported the highest legislative appropriation in anybodyÕs memory.

And nobody worked harder than the folks in Finance & Administration, Human Resources, and the Office of General Counsel.  In addition to their regular work, they processed thousands of procurement requests, contracts, and personnel action forms to responsibly allocate the $42 million we received in HEERF funding to help us and our students through the pandemic, as well as figuring out how to handle the legislatively required waivers such as those involved with the Buy One/Get One initiative, and all transactions required for raises and bonuses.  These things donÕt just happen.  Somebody has to push the paper.Ê

For example: 2021-22 saw a 95% increase in transactions processed in Human Resources.
* Background Screening increased 78%
* Employment Processes increased 85%
* Processing personnel action forms increased 85% that group processed 15, 285 personnel action forms.

So, Betsy Bowers, Jamie Sprague, and Susan Woolf, if you and your people are here, stand up and take a bow! Thank you!

None of this was easy.  Everybody worked hard, and as always, more than a few heroes emerged.

Lauren Loeffler, are you hear Lauren? stepped up to lead a monumental self-study in the Division of Academic Engagement and Student Affairs that will help set the course for the division for years to come.  YouÕre a life saver Lauren.

Sandra Thompson, Justin Andrews John Inman and Jeff Austin deserve a medal for their above and beyond response, communication, and coordination during the great internet outage of August 25.  YouÕre a life saver Sandra, Justin, John, and Jeff.

Anamarie Mixson & Patti Spaniola coordinated about a bazillion events including a Board of Governors visit and the annual Heart Walk on campus resulting in exceeding our goal -- more than doubling the amount raised last year.  YouÕre  life savers.

UWF police SergeantÊMark Pearson and Acting Corporal Michael Flournoy saved a life when a person began to choke at one of our restaurants.  You two are litterally life savers.

Dave ScottÕs tremendous team in intercollegiate athletics figured out how to construct a serviceable football stadium in six short months.  Go Argos!


If last year was a year of planning Ð this year is going to be a year of doing.
We have a new 10-year strategic plan. We began the process with a review of the previous strategic plan, and invited participation from campus constituents, alumni and the community.  We received impressive response and utilized information gathered from 13 open meetings, and a survey conducted by Trustee Sherry SchneiderÕs graduate class.  Five draft reports were posted along the way for review and input.  We had considerable feedback, and that has led to considerable buy-in for the plan.  

The new plan features a slightly reworded mission statement which places additional focus on our students and their future success.  We are mindful that our students come from diverse backgrounds.

The steering committee invited me to articulate a vision statement for the plan.  After 6 years as president here, I envision UWF as a fully engaged university, recognized for the strength of our graduates, responsiveness to the needs of the state, and an unrelenting competitive spirit.

This slide gives you a visual of how the plan fits together.  We have identified seven strategic directions Ð illustrated here.  You can see the core responsibilities of the university represented by overlapping circles in the center of the image.   These central functions rest on a solid foundation of successful employees, operational excellence, and reliable infrastructure.

All of these activities operate in service to our community and the economic development of the region and state, within an overarching culture of inclusion and civility.

 Each strategic direction is followed by a series of goals and measurable indicators of success.  We will use these indicators to measure our progress and identify areas in need of attention.  


Our new master plan provides good guidance for the development of our campus. 

For the next five years, we are phasing in demolitions, renovations, remodeling, and planning for five new construction projects.  In addition, weÕre improving open spaces and circulation.

You will note this master plan has more clearly defined conservation efforts.  University of West FloridaÕs Pensacola campus is a 1600-acre wildlife sanctuary.  Our undeveloped areas are predominantly second-growth longleaf pine and mixed hardwood forest. Our campus is home to at least 1 documented endangered species.  We have over 40 miles of trails which the community consistently ranks as a favorite feature of our campus.ÊA wide array of opportunities generates from that. 
UWF is committed to the protection of our campus resources and ecosystems as we further develop the campus.  To ensure this effort, I have invited, Chasidy Hobbs to spearhead our efforts and she has agreed to do so.  ÊChasidy is a UWF alum and an Instructor in the Earth & Environmental Sciences Department. She is also the co-director of the UWF Community Garden and the founding director for the Argos' Edible Campus. Thus far over 700 of the goal of 1000 fruiting trees and bushes have been planted across campus, very close to our 1000 goal!ÊChasidyÊalso serves on the HMCSE Academic Standard Committee, the UWF Tree Advisory Committee, is an OUR project reviewer and the Membership Chair and a member of the faculty union bargaining team.ÊChasidyÊalso left a legacy as a student, leading the effort to bring the Student Green Fee to UWF.ÊSo thank you chasity for what youÕre about to do. 

A vigorous search for our next provost is ongoing under the leadership of Vice President Greg Tomso, and I have no doubt it will be a success Ð but we are going to miss this fella. Thank you, George.


 ItÕs just always a good idea to talk about the budget at the State of the University Address. Every good thing we do is dependent on resources.  I thought it might be helpful to just give you a quick reminder of how we get our funding and this is known as Jeffrey's pie chart in our office. So, you can see the biggest blue section comes from State Appropriations and tuition. The next smaller section comes from research and then as we move down to auxiliaries and even smaller and smaller, so you can certainly see the importance of good relationships with our legislature and the importance of enrollment and retention of our students. So, I just like always remind you all that it does not grow on trees, although Chasity may be able to.

So, in summary, the state of the University is sound.
We are delivering learner-focused university-level education.
We are enabling our students to meet their career and life goals.
Our research and community partnerships are advancing the body of knowledge and enhancing the prosperity of the region and state.
UWF is staying true to its mission.


As we advance to a brand-new academic year, I have a homework assignment for you:
* Get to know our legislative delegation and thank them for their support.  TheyÕve done a lot for us this year.
* Study the master plan and strategic plan and be ready to suggest adjustments as we revisit them each year.
* Take a stroll around your campus Ð whether it is the one IÕm on at present, the Pensacola Historic District, or the UWFÕs Emerald Coast campus, and just enjoy the goodness of the moment.  Reflect on lessons learned over the past year or so and enjoy a blast of peace.
* Give and receive appreciation.  I wish you could see the list when I get ready to do this speech because y'all know it won't, it's not a long speech, ever, I asked the vice presidents to send me a list of brash points. And I get pages and pages, single spaced of all the good things that every division has done and everybody has done on this campus. And they're too many for me tonight but you know who they are and I hope you'll take the time to thank someone. You know who needs a word of encouragement, and take some time to do that as well.

In closing, I want to say in all earnestness that if I were going into battle and I got to pick my Army, I would pick UWF. In a hard fight UWF fights harder.Ê Our people know the meaning of work and we know that nothing worth having is easy.

ItÕs an honor to be your president!

Go Argos!