FPC Meeting & Spring Faculty Meeting —April 20, 2026
Time & Location: 2:00pm, Norman Conference Center
Welcome
Meeting called to order at 2:06 pm.
Approval of the Agenda
Motion to approve agenda by Brady Nash at 2:08 pm. Seconded by Tammy Huang with consensus of the group. No abstentions or objections.
Approval of Last Meeting’s Minutes (March 23, 2026)
Motion to approve March minutes by Brady Nash at 2:09 pm. Seconded by Suzanne Chapman and approved by consensus of the group. Minutes stand approved at 2:09 pm.
Announcements/Reminders
Deans’ Reports
- Dean Glenn Good
- Communications team catchphrase “Unstoppable”
- Challenges we are facing at federal level
- Tax on higher education
- research funding
- implicit actions to close DOE and stop research
- push for school choice
- savings accounts
- reduction in international students, workers, faculty
- DEI considerations
- UC system is having budget cutbacks, issues with strong unions
- Private universities issues funding doctoral students with lack of federal research funding
- Florida challenges
- School choice – PK Yonge more than half students are school choice
- Challenges with teacher qualificiation, preparation, compensation
- UF maintains equilibrium and systemic transitions
- Transitions & Hassles
- Active BOG & BOT
- Interim President (search underway)
- Administrative pauses (much on hold)
- ADA
- Simple Syllabus
- FEA system for faculty annual reporting
- Advancement & Stability
- Crowned as new ivy university
- Ranked #1 for UF Online
- Zero budget cuts or layoffs
- Raises possible
- The COE aggressively defies national educational trends
- Federal funding is being redirected away from education, but the college is operating firmly in the black with expanding expenditures
- Research universities are in trouble, COE has unstoppable momentum toward a historic ranking
- Macro environment is facing cutbacks and pauses – COE is actively hiring new faculty and increasing salaries
- Total research expenditures is rising
- Ranking is rising
- Number 2 Ranking
- Financial stability accelerates our academic hiring and doctoral admissions
- Budget in black
- Podcast audio presentation explaining how the national educational landscape faces unprecedented fragmentation, while the UF COE is achieving an unprecedented consolidation of talent, funding, and prestige
- Three foundational pillars guide our structural and academic expansion
- Grow undergrad BAES courses & enrollments
- Increase master’s, specialist, & EdD enrollments
- Foundational understanding of AI
- Prepare students for workforce of the future
- Norman courtyard restoration
- Confirmation from UF facilities that courtyard restored by fall
- Associate Dean Thomasenia Adams
- Find information about OER on website
- Especially colleagues pursuing funding
- Photo of OER team
- Pre-Award
- Post-Award
- Team is top-tier
- College is investing in research administration
- For all pre and post award needs, we exist to serve you
- OER 2025 by the numbers
- 17,463,338 received external funding
- 93 sponsors
- 259 proposals submitted
- 72 awards
- 287,725,628 requested in external funding
- We are a top-tier R1 institution. Encouragement to continue to pursue funding
- OER 2025-26 Highlights
- Research Rising! Initiative
- Intentional & targeted searches
- Lead time on upcoming opportunities
- Centralized research coordination service
- PD programs, including 1-1 mentoring of junior faculty
- Diverse Funding Venues
- Faculty Survey
- Faculty Candidates
- OER has 25-history of success
- Never missed a deadline
- Always supporting faculty
- Find information about OER on website
- Associate Dean Elayne Colón
- 2025-2026 Distinguished Faculty Honors – see slides for awards
- Nominate COE Outstanding Graduate Student Awards due April 22
- EduGator Central Admissions & Grad Stats
- Applications by the numbers: 25-26
- 526 Master’s
- 219 Specialist
- 30 Education doctorate
- 278 Total Grades (spring 2026)
- 111 bachelor’s (including 15 inaugural EC UFO grads)
- 98 Master’s
- 18 Specialist
- 37 EdDs
- 14 PhDs
- Clinical Experiences and Partnerships
- Internship Placements
- 125 teacher preparation
- 95 other school professionals
- 15 new supervisors mentors trained
- Total New MOUs: 41
- Locally (including charter schools, private schools)
- Out of state placements
- Annual COE Research Symposium
- Kent Crippen and Alexis Dixon worked closely to oversee that event
- Held April 2, Norman Conference Center
- Provides safe space for students to prepare for national conferences
- Slides acknowledge faculty judges
- Upcoming Events and Due Dates
- Commencement and COE Recognition Ceremony
- Doctoral ceremony – April 30 at 9am
- College recognition ceremony – April 30 at 2pm
- University wide commencement – May 1 at 7pm
- Simple Syllabus and Textbook Adoptions
- Fall 2026 course syllabi – June 18
- Associate Dean Erica McCray
- Personnel Affairs
- H1B Pause in place until January 2027
- Affects ability to attract and hire faculty from international contexts
- Most of faculty that have applied are in US on some form of visa
- Next hiring cycle: don’t hesitate to reach out or recommend international candidates
- H1B pause is about initial entry into the country
- Return to work implementation
- Affected parking
- FEA for annual evaluations
- For those in promotion process, you are already in system
- See it as an asset
- Mentoring guidance for faculty and post-doctoral associates
- If you are interested, reach out to me
- Personnel Affairs: Searches
- Searches concluding and continuing
- Concluded: Science Education (TT), ESOL/Bilingual Ed. (NTT), Early Childhood Ed (NTT), School Psychology (NTT), Special Education (TTx2; NTTx2)
- Continuing: Teachers, Schools, and Society (NTT), Higher Ed. Admin & Policy (NTT), REM-Qualitative (NTT), AZCEECS Exec. Director & Lawrence Endowed Chair (TT)
- Community Engagement
- Recess this Thursday – ice cream social
- Connecting inquirers with appropriate faculty
- Support for international activities
- If you are interested in Fulbright, study abroad, virtual exchange, please let me know
- Please share your wins
- Personnel Affairs
- Invited Guests
- Hector Silva, COE Financial Report – not in attendance
- School Directors:
- Melinda Leko – SESPECS notables
- Survived year of transitions – Director, Associate Director, Graduate Coordinator, Program Coordinators, 2 new staff members
- Formally designated workspace for GAs
- Multiple faculty successful securing external grant funding
- Instituting school-level awards committee in upcoming year to formally and strategically recognize faculty, staff, and graduate students (counts as formal service)
- Faculty and staff worked on five searches this year, and we look forward to welcoming seven new faculty next year
- For another consecutive year, the Special Education Graduate program was ranked within the top 5 nationally
- Corrinne Manley – HDOES Notables
- HDOSE mission statement
- HDOSE student and faculty awards and celebrations
- Faculty successes in ADA, FEA, and Simple Syllabus
- Program Rankings
- EDL & P is #2 in Online Graduate Education
- CE is #2 in Best Student Counseling Programs
- Ongoing
- Continued increases in AI enhanced course development & undergraduate course offerings
- Strong faculty grant activity for healthy HDOSE budget
- HDOSE investments in faculty and programs
- Strategic reinvestment seed grants
- IDC programmatic investments in recruitment and growth – given out money to each of four program areas
- Alyson Adams – STL notables
- Rankings: COE #2, Elementary Ed #12, Curriculum & Instruction #17
- New grant landscape but lots of grant successes and foundation gifts
- STL spent:
- $35K in IDC funds to support STL faculty research
- $12K in salary savings to support 31 PhD students to present research
- $80K in salary savings for faculty conference travel
- College and UF-level awards for mentoring and teaching
- Exemplary online course designations & CTE PLC leadership around AI
- UF-wide challenges and eventual successes with school-level investments and COE resources
- FEA for PTR, annual evaluations, and T & P
- Simple Syllabus
- ADA accessibility compliance
- New office manager
- 4 faculty members retiring
- Melinda Leko – SESPECS notables
Discussion and Action Items
- Ad Hoc Committee for Non-REM Courses Report: Walter Leite
- College level courses that will count towards college minimal methodology requirements
- Leite as Chair, teamed with Albert Ritzhaupt, Hannah Matthews
- 4 submissions – all approved
- Structured criteria to guide future years in this process
- Organized by Simple Syllabus sections
- Will be posted on FPC website soon
- Committee End of Year Reports
- Budgetary Affairs: Tuuli Robinson
- Final end of year meeting scheduled for Thursday of this week to discuss focus areas for next year
- College Curriculum: Caitie Gallingane
- This year the CCC approved the folllowing academic approval requests:
- 43 course modifications for undergrad and grad
- 1 graduate certificate modification
- 1 graduate program modification
- 6 undergraduate specialization modifications
- 2 undergraduate major modifications
- 5 AI course designations (approved to be forwarded to AI committee)
- 3 new graduate concentrations
- 5 new graduate courses
- In addition, the CCC navigated the impending, and then canceled, transition from the AAT system to the Coursedog system. The year ended with an empty AAT queue at the college level.
- This year the CCC approved the folllowing academic approval requests:
- Faculty Affairs: Nelson Brunsting
- Focus this year was discussion about alignment for promotion and PTR requirements
- Lectures, Seminars & Awards: Suzanne Chapman (alternate for Magdi Castaneda)
- Reviewed applicants for a number of faculty awards
- Still have graduate student awards coming up
- Long Range Planning: Kyena Cornelius
- Anthony Botehlo
- Reviewed college’s strategic plan from 2016. Consensus is it still aligns with goals and missions, but uncertainty about university level leadership and what the strategic plan will look like in action
- Will need to revisit to see how it is operationalized
- Later this week evaluation of deans and associate deans – check emails
- Research Advisory: Hannah Mathews
- Dwight
- Done with assignments for the year
- Created a Qualtrics survey to review applications
- Technology & Distance Ed: Katy Chapman
- Tammy Huang
- 5 goals
- Continue supporting faculty efforts in utilizing AI technologies in teaching and learning
- 4 workshops
- Continue open house initiative toward preparation of new instructors, TA, and adjunct
- Multiple sessions hosted by ETC
- Continue supporting faculty in efforts to create course maps
- Discussed conceptualized mechanism for sharing tech hardware at college level.
- Goal to provide support to 25-26 online plan
- Elections Committee: Nelson Brunsting, Hannah Mathews, Avery Closser
- Tara Mathien
- Thank those of you who served in FPC
- Introduced FPC newly elected members for next year
- Budgetary Affairs: Tuuli Robinson
- Action items: N/A
- Discussion items
- Tara Mathien: Data storage for FPC website(s) minutes and policies – on server for everyone to access: smb://coe-winfile.ad.ufl.edu/departments/Faculty Policy Council
- When people come in they will automatically be added
- Chair and Chair Elect will have edit access
- Albert Ritzhaupt: suggestion to use Teams
- Tara Mathien: that seems like it has to be owned and updated by someone. Having it on server, IT has to manage. Can be discussed next year in FPC
- Non-REM courses will be updated and posted
- Welcome new Chair, Caitie Gallingane and Chair Elect Chris Curran!
- Tara Mathien: Data storage for FPC website(s) minutes and policies – on server for everyone to access: smb://coe-winfile.ad.ufl.edu/departments/Faculty Policy Council
Adjournment & AI gathering & End of Semester Social
Motion to adjourn by Nelson Brunstin at 3:18 pm. Tammy Huang seconded with no objections or abstentions. The motion passed unanimously.
Remaining Meetings
NONE