Florida Senate - 2018                            (NP)    SR 1162
       
       
        
       By Senator Perry
       
       
       
       
       
       8-01294-18                                            20181162__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing the University of Florida for
    3         its exemplary accomplishments as a leading academic
    4         and research institution, as well as for its
    5         contributions to the betterment of the state and
    6         nation.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, the University of Florida is a top 10 university,
    9  ranking No. 9 in the 2018 U.S. News & World Report list of Best
   10  Public Universities, and
   11         WHEREAS, the University of Florida ranks third among all
   12  research universities in the country for getting its ideas out
   13  of the laboratory and into the real world, placing UF ahead of
   14  such schools as Stanford, MIT, Cal Tech, and the University of
   15  Texas system, according to the Milken Institute’s 2017 ranking
   16  of Best Universities for Technology Transfer, and
   17         WHEREAS, the University of Florida’s entomology department
   18  is the best in the world, and a host of other UF programs rank
   19  in the top 10 globally from among more than 26,000 degree
   20  granting institutions of higher education, according to the 2017
   21  Center for World University Rankings, and
   22         WHEREAS, applications to the University of Florida reached
   23  a new record in 2017, with more than 34,000 prospective students
   24  vying for admission during the summer and fall semesters, nearly
   25  an 8 percent increase over the previous year’s total of 32,026,
   26  and
   27         WHEREAS, the University of Florida is once again ranked as
   28  one of the nation’s “Best Colleges for Your Money” by Money
   29  magazine, coming in 10th among public institutions in 2017, and
   30         WHEREAS, the UF MBA Full-Time Program at the Hough Graduate
   31  School of Business achieved its highest ranking ever in The
   32  Economist’s MBA Full-Time Rankings, rising from last year’s No.
   33  10 position to No. 5 among U.S. public institutions, and
   34         WHEREAS, with generous funding made possible by the
   35  Legislature and Governor Rick Scott, the University of Florida
   36  will hire 500 new faculty members to further enhance teaching
   37  and research and to keep UF among the best research universities
   38  in the nation, and
   39         WHEREAS, University of Florida faculty earned nearly $686
   40  million in research awards in fiscal year 2017, including major
   41  grants to study the Zika virus and citrus greening, and for
   42  special education training, and
   43         WHEREAS, the United States Department of Defense is seeking
   44  ways to speed up cognitive skills training and is awarding
   45  University of Florida engineers and neuroscientists up to $8.4
   46  million over the next 4 years to investigate how to apply
   47  electrical stimulation to peripheral nerves as a means of
   48  strengthening neuronal connections in the brain, and
   49         WHEREAS, the University of Florida’s athletics program
   50  placed third in the 2016-2017 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup
   51  standings, making UF the only program to finish among the
   52  nation’s top 10 in each of the last 34 national all-sports
   53  standings, and
   54         WHEREAS, in just over a month during 2017, three Gator
   55  teams celebrated NCAA Championship wins in women’s tennis, men’s
   56  track and field, and baseball, equaling the single season high
   57  set in 2011-2012 at Florida, which is one of only six schools to
   58  win national titles in baseball, basketball, and football, and
   59         WHEREAS, in November, UF Health opened the UF Health Heart
   60  and Vascular Hospital and the UF Health Neuromedicine Hospital,
   61  representing important steps in the ongoing efforts to serve
   62  patients in the Gainesville area, and throughout the state, the
   63  Southeast, and beyond, and creating a healing environment in
   64  which UF Health’s personalized approach to care will draw upon
   65  the latest technologies in medical science, NOW, THEREFORE,
   66  
   67  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   68  
   69         That the University of Florida is recognized for its
   70  exemplary accomplishments as a leading academic and research
   71  institution, as well as for its contributions to the betterment
   72  of the state and nation.
   73         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   74  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to University of
   75  Florida President W. Kent Fuchs, Ph.D., as a tangible token of
   76  the sentiments of the Florida Senate.