Dear Faculty and Staff,

As the eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations continues to expand, we are increasingly confident about the direction we’re headed at the University of Florida. Most recently, the governor’s executive orders cleared the way for people ages 40 and older to be vaccinated starting March 29 and for individuals age 18 and older to be vaccinated beginning April 5. We strongly encourage all members of the UF community to get vaccinated when eligible, whether that’s through the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County in collaboration with UF Health Screen, Test & Protect or through retail pharmacies. The sooner we can all be inoculated, the closer we’ll be to beating this virus together.

As we look toward fall, our excitement is building toward welcoming the Class of 2025. It’s noteworthy that the number of students who applied to be a part of the incoming class was up by 6% over last year totaling 52,750. Of those admitted, 50% of undergraduates had a grade point average between 4.3 and 4.6. Those scores are similar to last year’s, an indication of the excellence of our incoming students. Congratulations to our Enrollment Management team who supported our student applicants and their families through this pivotal time.

Additionally, as you likely know by now, we are looking forward to returning to largely normal course offerings for Summer B and fall. The decision — made with the expansion of vaccine eligibility and accessibility in mind and based on the guidance from our epidemiologists — will pave the way to our traditional campus and classroom experience. Despite having over 16,000 undergraduates enrolled in face-to-face courses during the spring semester, we have not seen any evidence of COVID-19 transmission in classrooms or laboratories.

As an additional update, UF is testing its new supercomputer — known as HiPerGator 3.0 — against a number of national and international benchmarks that measure the speeds of the world’s supercomputers. Its computing capabilities are expected to land HiPerGator among the world’s Top 25 supercomputers. Further, soon we will announce the list of AI course offerings in different majors that range from animation to agriculture and journalism. The university will also offer a new undergraduate 9-credit certificate called “Certificate in AI Fundamentals and Applications,” which will help prepare students for a career in the 21st Century where AI is ubiquitous.

It is evident that our growth and momentum are on an upward trajectory. It is all attributable to our students, faculty and staff. Thank you for all of your hard work, and for continuing to help achieve this incredible success.

Joe Glover, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Charlie Lane, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

David Norton, Vice President for Research

Win Phillips, Chief of Staff, Office of the President

Michael Lauzardo, M.D., Director, Screen, Test & Protect