Our annual review, Spotlight, provides us with an opportunity to celebrate the college’s accomplishments from the past year. There are always many, and this year is no exception. Faculty and students started returning to campus for more classes and events. Our college was wildly successful in UCF’s inaugural Day of Giving. UCF Celebrates the Arts roared back to life after two years of unconventional events. Research events initiatives like the Center for Ethics Speaker Series and multiple Florida Humanities Greater Good grants stood out as successes. We graduated twice as many doctoral students and 27 percent more graduate students overall than our five-year average.

I also look at Spotlight to learn how we can be better. Our historians have demonstrated the importance of looking backwards: It can help us from repeating mistakes, but also it helps us build a stronger future. So, at the end of each academic year, we log the college’s activity into this report and analyze it to see not only where we excelled, but also to help us determine where we are going.

One way we will be moving forward is by aligning with UCF’s new strategic plan: Unleashing Potential. By continuing our work in the college’s exemplary programs and making small adjustments in accordance with this plan, we can help UCF uncover new areas of excellence. Our departments have always been drivers of student success, and the university relies on us to help reach these new goals.

We also continue pushing forward with facilities for performing arts. In the past year, we selected an architect and construction manager for a new space for innovative arts-making, and building plans are underway. We also hired an executive director for fundraising. The building is innovative and exciting – it will generate a trained workforce pipeline for some of Florida’s largest employers and be the home our creative community deserves.

Our faculty and staff are our biggest strength. In this report, you will see how our faculty have contributed to the strength of the college and to the community. Administrative changes have made for a challenging summer for every unit in the college, but I am heartened to see the pressure starting to ease and am confident that the staff in our new business centers and those remaining in the academic units are among the best at the university.

Each and every day, I am thankful to work alongside the people who make this all possible. To our faculty and staff, our students and their families, our alumni and donors, our industry partners and community supporters: Thank you for creating and sustaining the arts and humanities at UCF.

Jeff Moore
Dean, UCF College of Arts and Humanities