Florida Senate - 2019                            (NP)    SR 1822
       
       
        
       By Senator Perry
       
       
       
       
       
       8-03182-19                                            20191822__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution commending the University of Florida for
    3         its outstanding ranking as eighth on the 2019 U.S.
    4         News & World Report list of Top Public Schools in the
    5         nation and recognizing April 10, 2019, as “Gator Day.”
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, the University of Florida is a top 10 university,
    8  rising from No. 9 in 2018 to No. 8 in the 2019 U.S. News & World
    9  Report list of Top Public Schools among National Universities,
   10  and
   11         WHEREAS, the University of Florida continues its upward
   12  momentum with a 40-percent increase in the number of graduate
   13  programs now ranked among the top 30 nationwide, according to
   14  the 2020 U.S. News & World Report list of Best Graduate Schools,
   15  and
   16         WHEREAS, UF Online, the University of Florida’s online
   17  bachelor’s degree program, is tied for the No. 5 spot in the
   18  country, up from No. 12 last year, in the 2019 U.S. News & World
   19  Report rankings, and
   20         WHEREAS, UF physics professor Clifford Will is the 2019
   21  recipient of the Albert Einstein Medal by the Albert Einstein
   22  Society in Bern, Switzerland, for his “important contributions
   23  to general relativity,” and
   24         WHEREAS, UF researchers, with funding from the State of
   25  Florida, have developed a rapid, cost-effective point-of-care
   26  test for the Zika virus which can be used in the field, and
   27         WHEREAS, applications to the University of Florida once
   28  again reached a new record in 2019, with more than 41,000
   29  prospective students vying for admission during the summer and
   30  fall semesters, and
   31         WHEREAS, UF was ranked No. 6 on College Magazine’s list of
   32  the top 10 campuses for students who have physical disabilities,
   33  and
   34         WHEREAS, with generous funding made possible by the
   35  Legislature, the University of Florida is nearly halfway toward
   36  reaching its goal of hiring 500 new faculty members to further
   37  enhance teaching and research and to build on UF’s reputation as
   38  one of the very best research universities in the nation, and
   39         WHEREAS, University of Florida faculty earned a record
   40  $837.6 million in research awards in fiscal year 2018, and
   41         WHEREAS, UF athletes have won 20 national team titles since
   42  the 2008-2009 season, and UF is one of only two programs to
   43  claim at least one national title in collegiate sports each of
   44  the last 11 seasons, and
   45         WHEREAS, the UF athletic program has ranked among the
   46  nation’s top 10 for 35 straight years (1983-1984 to 2017-2018)
   47  and among the top 5 for 20 of the last 27 years, according to
   48  national all-sport rankings, and
   49         WHEREAS, the University of Florida Athletic Association has
   50  contributed more than $76 million since 2006 to help fund UF
   51  academic endeavors, NOW, THEREFORE,
   52  
   53  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   54  
   55         That the Florida Senate commends the University of Florida
   56  for its outstanding ranking as eighth on the 2019 U.S. News &
   57  World Report list of Top Public Schools in the nation and
   58  recognizes April 10, 2019, as “Gator Day.”
   59         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   60  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to University of
   61  Florida President W. Kent Fuchs as a tangible token of the
   62  sentiments of the Florida Senate.