Florida Senate - 2022 (NP) SR 1984
By Senator Bean
4-02736-22 20221984__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution recognizing February 15, 2022, as “Gator
3 Day” in Florida.
4
5 WHEREAS, the University of Florida is among the nation’s
6 best universities, rising to fifth among all public universities
7 in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report Top Public Schools, and
8 WHEREAS, in 2021, U.S. News & World Report for the first
9 time ranked the University of Florida on the prestigious list of
10 the nation’s most innovative universities as well as among the
11 top schools on lists for undergraduate research and veterans,
12 and
13 WHEREAS, UF Online, the University of Florida’s online
14 bachelor’s degree program, is ranked first in the nation by U.S.
15 News & World Report, recognizing the university’s continued
16 excellence in delivering world-class educational opportunities
17 across platforms, and
18 WHEREAS, the University of Florida has installed HiPerGator
19 AI, higher education’s most powerful artificial intelligence
20 supercomputer, for training and research purposes, and is the
21 first institution to adopt an “AI Across the Curriculum”
22 approach, providing every student in every major the opportunity
23 to acquire competence and expertise in AI and data science, and
24 WHEREAS, the University of Florida continues to be at the
25 forefront of AI education, leading the Southeastern Conference’s
26 (SEC’s) 14 member institutions through the newly established SEC
27 Artificial Intelligence Consortium, sharing educational
28 resources, certificate and degree program structures, and online
29 seminars and courses, and
30 WHEREAS, University of Florida faculty achieved a record
31 $960 million in research expenditures in the 2020-2021 fiscal
32 year, playing a significant role in advancing our fundamental
33 understanding of the universe, generating creative breakthroughs
34 that have led to technologies with positive benefits, creating
35 opportunities for economic growth in this state, and changing
36 the trajectory of young people through education, and
37 WHEREAS, UF Innovate has helped launch nearly 300
38 companies, 64 percent of them remaining in Florida and 38
39 percent in Alachua County, and 12 percent of Florida biotech
40 companies in business today got their start in UF Innovate’s
41 incubation facilities, and
42 WHEREAS, those incubated companies have created more than
43 7,900 jobs with an average annual salary of $79,200 and have
44 generated more than $12 billion in private investments, and
45 WHEREAS, the University of Florida Lastinger Center,
46 working in collaboration with the Florida Department of
47 Education, school districts, and other local and state
48 organizations and with the support of the Florida Legislature,
49 has successfully implemented the New Worlds Reading Initiative,
50 a free Florida literacy program that, each month, mails a new
51 book to eligible, enrolled K-5 students in this state to support
52 each student in successfully launching his or her reading skills
53 and developing a love of reading, and
54 WHEREAS, University of Florida Health is a top-ranked
55 health care destination that attracts the brightest students,
56 scholars, scientists, and health care providers, all ready to
57 tackle patients’ greatest challenges, contributing more than
58 $4.6 billion to Florida’s overall economy and being uniquely
59 positioned to be at the forefront of medicine, making
60 discoveries that lead to clinical breakthroughs, and
61 WHEREAS, current and former University of Florida athletes
62 represented the United States during the 2020 Summer Olympics in
63 Tokyo, winning, as it has done once before, 17 medals — the
64 second-highest medal count in school history — to rank second
65 among all NCAA schools in medals won, and
66 WHEREAS, the University of Florida athletic program
67 continues its on-field and in-the-classroom success, becoming
68 the only program to finish among the nation’s top 10 in each of
69 the last 37 national all-sports standings and the only
70 university with 100 or more academic all-SEC honorees in the
71 last 24 seasons, NOW, THEREFORE,
72
73 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
74
75 That the University of Florida is recognized and
76 congratulated for its dedication to the advancement of this
77 state and on its rise to fifth in the 2022 U.S. News & World
78 Report Top Public Schools, and that February 15, 2022, is
79 recognized as “Gator Day” in Florida.
80 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
81 the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to University of
82 Florida President W. Kent Fuchs, Ph.D., as a tangible token of
83 the sentiments of the Florida Senate.