The University of West Florida (UWF) is a public university based in Northwest Florida with multiple instructional sites and a strong virtual presence. UWF’s mission is to provide students with access to high-quality, relevant, and affordable undergraduate and graduate learning experiences; to transmit, apply, and discover knowledge through teaching, scholarship, research, and public service; and to engage in community partnerships that respond to mutual concerns and opportunities and that advance the economy and quality of life in the region.
UWF is committed to planning and investing strategically to enhance student access and educational attainment; to build on existing strengths and develop distinctive academic and research programs and services that respond to identified regional and state needs; and to support highly qualified faculty and staff who engage students in rigorous, high-impact,[1] student-oriented learning experiences that enhance personal and professional development and empower alumni to contribute responsibly and creatively to a complex 21st Century global society.
The University of West Florida aspires to be widely recognized as a model of excellence and relevance, sought out as a distinctive intellectual and cultural center, valued as an engaged partner, and acclaimed for being “different by design.”
UWF’s institutional values, shared by students, faculty, and staff, make the University a great place to learn and to work. UWF is committed to maintaining policies and practices and pursuing initiatives congruent with these articulated values.
Caring: Maintaining a safe and dynamic learning and working environment that fosters the development of individual potential.
Collaboration: Promoting a culture of supportive and cooperative interactions and communication to advance and achieve shared expectations and goals.
Distinctiveness: Choosing to be different by design.
Inclusiveness: Welcoming, respecting, and celebrating the ways in which people and ideas are different and the ways in which they are similar.
Innovation: Exploring, expanding, and enhancing learning and knowledge through transforming experiences.
Integrity: Doing the right thing for the right reason.
Quality: Committing to uncompromising excellence.
Relevance: Adding value to enrich the personal and community lives of stakeholders.
Stewardship: Managing responsibly the resources entrusted to the University.
UWF Priority 1.1. Foster student learning and development to include the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that optimize students’ prospects for personal and professional success.
UWF Priority 1.2. Facilitate students’ access to and choice of the University of West Florida to meet their higher education needs.
UWF Priority 1.3. Improve student persistence and timely progression to degree attainment.
UWF Priority 2.1. Respond to the changing needs of the region, state, and nation by investing strategically to support innovative instruction and high-quality, relevant, and distinctive academic and research programs.
UWF Priority 2.2. Recruit, support, retain, and recognize dedicated, high-quality faculty who advance the mission, vision, and values of the University.
UWF Priority 2.3. Build a vibrant culture of scholarship and research that aligns with UWF’s strengths and capacities and supports UWF’s mission, vision, and values.
UWF Priority 3.1. Develop, cultivate, assess, and sustain a network of mutually beneficial community partnerships.
UWF Priority 3.2. Advance the economy and quality of life in the region through partnerships with the citizens, businesses, organizations, and communities UWF serves.
UWF Priority 3.3. Expand community awareness, visibility, and support of UWF through its mutually beneficial partnerships.
UWF Priority 4.1. Support and sustain the high-quality services and infrastructure needed to achieve identified UWF priorities.
UWF Priority 4.2. Recruit, develop, retain, and recognize dedicated, high-quality staff members who advance the mission, vision, and values of the University.
UWF Priority 4.3. Maximize the acquisition and deployment of resources, and strategically align and integrate planning, budgeting, assessment, and continuous improvement efforts.
[1] High-impact learning experiences include teaching and learning practices that educational research suggests improve student engagement, learning, and retention (e.g., learning communities, undergraduate research, international studies and study abroad, service learning, community-based learning, internships, capstone projects).
