UWF in the Community

UWF President Martha D. Saunders celebrates achievements, provides future goals during State of the University address

University of West Florida President Martha D. Saunders highlighted record enrollment, thriving academic programs and emphasized that UWF is ‘Here for Good’ during her State of the University address broadcast live on NewsRadio 1620 on Oct. 23. The address originally scheduled on Sept. 26 on UWF’s Pensacola campus was canceled due to Hurricane Helene.

“I’ll get straight to the point, your University is doing just fine,” Saunders said. “This year, as in the past, we have been true to our mission in a lot of meaningful ways. Our efforts have paid off in national recognitions, rankings, metrics and gifts.”

Saunders elaborated that recognition continues to roll in because UWF has stayed true to its mission statement. Highlights in the past year included being named a Top 10 public regional university by U.S. News and World Report; earning the highest ranking ever in the Best for Vets college list; being named a 2023 Great College to Work For; receiving high marks in the Florida Board of Governors’ 2023-24 performance-based funding model; and launching the University’s Here for Good Capital Campaign.

The address celebrated the University’s milestone enrollment record this year, which was up 3% for undergraduate enrollment YTD and 13% higher compared to last year’s graduate enrollment. More than 14,700 students enrolled at UWF for the Fall 2024 semester leading to an increase of 11% for the institution’s overall enrollment.

“These new students are more academically talented than ever before,” Saunders said. “When I came into the presidency, UWF had never had a National Merit Finalist. This year, we welcomed our 16th. These are students who can go anywhere they choose and they have chosen UWF.”

Saunders shared UWF students’ achievements at national, state and regional competitions. She also highlighted significant grants and research funding awarded to UWF, including $12.3 million in various grants to launch the UWF Florida Cybersecurity Training program and to expand CyberSkill2Work as well as a nearly $6.7 million TRIUMPH grant to enhance nursing program offerings. Additional community partnerships in the past year also helped enhance the prosperity of the region, state and community, Saunders said.

She ended her address by looking ahead to big University projects including the Sandy Sansing Sports Medicine Center, which is set to open in November and keeping the momentum of the Here for Good capital campaign which aims to fund $90 million in the growth and development of UWF’s people, programs, place and community.

For more information about the University of West Florida, visit uwf.edu. A recording of the broadcast can be found on Newsradio’s website.