Ben Sasse to move forward with 10-year strategic plan for future of University of Florida

University of Florida President Ben Sasse has a vision for what the future of school should be; It's just unclear exactly what that entails.

The No. 1 public university, according to The Wall Street Journal, has managed to keep Sasse's strategic plan out of the public eye during his seven-month tenure in Gainesville.

UF published a news release Thursday that gave a more in-depth description of his 10-year plan, though the full plan still has yet to be released publicly.

Sasse, who was installed as UF’s president in February after a contentious search that resulted in him being the lone finalist, initiated the process of creating the plan by engaging with faculty right when he took the job, the release said. He further discussed it in a closed-door presentation to faculty and deans of each of the 16 colleges over the past three weeks and briefly spoke of it during his State of the University Address on Aug. 24.

“We started with these as off-the-record conversations because I wanted people to be able to speak freely,” Sasse said during his speech. “I think they’ve been incredibly constructive. I’ve learned a lot; I’ve enjoyed them. I’ve benefited from your counsel and wisdom.”

As outlined in the release, the plan places an emphasis on what he calls “10x10x10” — 10 areas where UF should aim to rank in the top 10 over the next 10 years.

The priorities include artificial intelligence, agriculture, space and engineering, among others.

Following the earlier weeks of presentations, some professors left unsatisfied with Sasse’s vision and spoke critically of the plan to The Independent Florida Alligator newspaper.

Professors told the outlet about Sasse’s comments, which included lowering tuition rates, his mission to reduce the number of university departments and keeping track of tenured faculty members who don’t teach or produce research.

WSJ: University of Florida ranked No. 1 amongst public institutions in the nation

Sasse later disputed the report at his address, calling the professor’s remarks “bad faith readouts,” adding that most faculty were receptive to his ideas.

In Thursday’s release, Sasse said he has no plans to eliminate any departments. The Florida Legislature controls public universities’ tuition rates, which Sasse has no official say in.

Sasse has been an advocate of tenure, he said, but also sees the value in post-tenure review, a state process requiring tenured faculty’s position to be reviewed every five years, which he believes will boost rigor and productivity. He believes so-called “quiet-retiring” is a widespread issue at UF, he said.

“I am strongly in favor of tenure, but a defense of tenure is not a defense of lack of rigor,” Sasse said. “Post-tenure review will help us get at pieces of that.”

Glowing remarks

Initial faculty comments also weren’t a unanimous consensus.

The release highlights two glowing remarks from professor Chris Curran, an associate professor of educational leadership and policy, as well as Forrest Masters, interim dean of UF’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering.

“We are fortunate to have a historian at the helm,” Masters said in the release. “Universities are long-lived, operating on generational scales. Ben isn’t only looking at a snapshot of UF circa 2023. He seeks to understand where our programs were 20 years ago ... and where they should be 20 years from now.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: UF President Ben Sasses to begin 10-year plan for campus