The COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges for UCF’s faculty and staff this spring in quickly converting all courses to online instruction to enable students to continue to receive a high-value education.
UCF Trustee Ken Bradley, chair of the UCF Board of Trustees Educational Programs Committee, proposed a proclamation his committee strongly endorsed to applaud faculty and staff for extraordinary efforts to keep UCF moving forward during the most difficult of professional and personal circumstances.
“Our Board of Trustees Educational Programs Committee realizes the Herculean efforts our faculty and staff have undertaken to continue providing quality education in light of the pandemic,” Bradley said. “Our Board members simply want to say âthank you’ with this proclamation. We understand this has been a very challenging time. But we greatly appreciate the UCF team who have kept education and learning as our #1 priority. Thank you.”
Here’s the proclamation approved unanimously on June 17 by Bradley and committee colleagues and trustees Joe Harrington, Caryl McAlpin and Sabrina La Rosa.
A Proclamation Honoring UCF’s Faculty and Staff for Their Valiant Response to the Extraordinary Challenges from COVID-19
WHEREAS, the University of Central Florida is a vibrant and diverse community of more than 83,000 students, faculty and staff; a leading talent producer nationally among public universities; a vital force for lifting lives and livelihoods in Central Florida; and a game changer in making the world a better place through teaching, research, and service;
WHEREAS, great universities and communities are built upon great faculties and the staff that support their essential efforts to advance student success, innovation, and the cultivation and dissemination of new knowledge for global impact;
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented professional and personal challenges for UCF faculty and staff in the middle of spring semester 2020 and required an immediate shift of all courses to online instruction amid severe stressors, including personal health and safety, family care, food and household supplies, and much more;
WHEREAS, UCF is a national leader in online learning and the Division of Digital Learning performed magnificently in short order to transition faculty and students to an all-remote learning environment of outstanding quality;
WHEREAS, UCF further distinguished itself as a pacesetter in higher education for creative, innovative and successful approaches to online learning in navigating well the most extraordinary and difficult of pandemic times; and
WHEREAS, the remarkable efforts of UCF’s faculty and staff assured that teaching, learning, and service at the state’s largest university by enrollment would charge on at the highest levels possible for the benefit of the deserving students, communities, and employers we serve;
THEREFORE, the UCF Board of Trustees’ Educational Programs Committee hereby proudly applauds and commends the university’s faculty and staff for their dedication, professionalism, resiliency, and creativity in continuing to move our university forward to an even greater future of impact for Central Florida, the Sunshine State, and the world. You have our deepest appreciation. Thank you.
