Each administrative unit is an integral component of the University of Florida, and these units play a primary role in the institutional effectiveness of the university. Each unit engages in the ongoing, comprehensive, integrated, and research-based planning and evaluation processes that (1) focus on institutional quality and effectiveness and (2) incorporate a systematic review of institutional goals and outcomes consistent with its mission (SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation, 2018, p. 19; SACSCOC Resource Manual, 2018, pp. 56-63).
The 16 colleges, the Libraries, the Graduate School, the Florida Museum of Natural History, and the Vice-Presidential and Senior Vice-Presidential units collect data and monitor internal processes, analyze the results of these activities, and use the results to monitor and improve quality, research, and services. All units develop Institutional Effectiveness Plans and report their progress annually. The reporting cycle serves as the overall timeframe for assessment and institutional effectiveness annual planning for all units.
The Institutional Effectiveness Plans address the following components of the institutional effectiveness process:
- Mission alignment. In this section of the plan, units describe how their unit mission supports the mission of the university.
- Goals. In this section, the unit describes its goals and presents its planned measurement processes. Additionally, the colleges describe their process for monitoring the assessment of the academic programs under their purview.
- Administrative Support Services. In this section, units describe their processes for measuring and monitoring the effectiveness of their administrative support services.
- Academic and Student Services. For units that offer academic and student services, this section presents a description of their processes for measuring and monitoring the effectiveness of their academic and student support services.
- Research. In this section, the unit presents its research-related goals, and/or describes how it enables and supports the research mission of the university.
- Community and public service. In this section, the unit explains how it encourages and monitor community and public service (e.g., does the unit recognize or reward community and public service, if so, how is this done?).