I am writing to express my gratitude to our faculty and staff for seeing us through two historically difficult and stressful years – and to preview the future, about which I am truly optimistic.
Our public health experts indicate we are entering the endemic phase of COVID-19 and, at least for now, brighter times are here. The virus will always be present, much like the flu, but we can limit its spread through vaccines and by taking personal precautions such as staying home if you are sick.
With this new phase, we have been standing down some of COVID protocols across our campuses. We will continue to monitor trends, and I ask you to stay vigilant and considerate of others.
I feel like nearly all of my messages during the past two years explained how the university was reacting to problems. But important work for our future also is moving forward.
UCF is one of higher education’s greatest success stories, becoming, in a very few decades, a national research university that educates a highly diverse student body and contributes so much to the economic and social development of what is now the nation’s 23rd-largest metropolitan area. We have educated and changed the trajectory of the lives of many students and their families.
What does the future hold? A renewed focus on excellence, guided and strengthened by the following initiatives that will help prepare us for a new era:
New Strategic Plan – President Cartwright describes UCF as the University for the Future. The plan, currently in draft form, focuses on achieving excellence and outlines a path for UCF to become a preeminent institution within the State University System and a top-50 public university in five years. It also shapes a vision for even greater achievement by 2033, when UCF will celebrate the 70th anniversary of our founding. A key element of the plan is identifying a realistic approach to obtaining the significant resources needed to achieve our goals. You will be hearing more from the president and me about this ambitious-but-achievable plan.
Knight Vision – Reaching our potential as a university requires transforming outdated business practices, and the Knight Vision project aims to do just that. On July 1, two key components go live: replacing PeopleSoft with Workday, a modern enterprise resource management system, and a partial staff reorganization that we are calling the Service Enhancement Transformation (SET). We are making these major transitions in a short timeline, and they will position our university operations to better support our goals.
New Budget Model – For most of our existence, the university’s approach to budgeting assumed that growth always would continue. Now we have to think differently about our budget. Many people across UCF have worked to prepare for this shift, developing a new budgeting approach – a modified Responsibility Centered Management (RCM) model – that will go into effect July 1. This model is incentive based because revenues are allocated to the colleges that earn them, and it is more transparent. We will offer opportunities to learn more about the budget model this summer and fall.
I am grateful for all the efforts of our faculty and staff, honored to serve alongside you in the role of provost, and deeply optimistic for our future. Thank you for another remarkable year.
