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Home  >  Core Values

University of Florida's Core Values

UF Core Values: Excellence, Discovery & Innovation, Inclusion, Freedom & Civility, Community, Stewardship

Our Shared Values


In 2015, the University of Florida adopted “The Decade Ahead” strategic plan comprising seven university-wide goals and objectives and one overarching aspiration: That the University of Florida will be a premier university that the state, nation and world will look to for leadership.


In 2020, the university augmented the plan with the “UF Core Values” underpinning its goals and overarching aspiration with six central values. The values were shaped by input from all of UF’s key stakeholders to ensure they reflect the diverse UF community.

Learn More About Our Core Values

Browse through the menu below to learn more about each core value.

Excellence
Discovery & Innovation
Inclusion
Freedom & Civility
Community
Stewardship
Excellence

Strive for greatness as an institution that brings out the best in each individual.

 

Our standard is to be the best by doing our best. We strive to lead with integrity and distinction in all our endeavors. Excellence requires continuous improvement, accountability, and the courage to recognize that there is always more we can do to deliver the highest quality performance.

Discovery & Innovation

Collaborate on the uncharted frontiers of knowledge to seek truth and make the world a better place.

 

Discovery is at our core. We are driven to bring fresh perspectives that create new knowledge and understanding in the classroom and beyond. It is our creative risk-taking that creates transformative change. We are constantly looking for ways to drive scholarship and service that push our campus, community and the world forward. We should never be satisfied with the status quo, but always look for inspiration and new ways of doing things.

Inclusion

Celebrate differences in identities, thoughts, and abilities, and seek to provide equitable access to opportunity.

 

Excellence is only possible by including people who bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Our growing diversity enhances discovery and innovation. It is reliant on freedom and civility. It enriches the UF community. It is rooted in stewardship. It is the connective tissue for all of our Core Values.

Freedom & Civility

Embrace the freedom to inquire and express ideas without condemnation, and to show respect for the right of others to do the same.

 

We are a community that affirms and embraces openness to an inclusive range of viewpoints. An open-minded culture is the foundation of freedom of expression and affirms our commitment to academic freedom, which is rooted in mutual respect of others. We encourage curiosity in research, scholarship and exploration, and we create the conditions where inquiry can flourish. We should guard others’ right to express themselves as unequivocally as we expect that right for ourselves.

Community

Create a safe, welcoming community and a shared purpose that builds a sense of belonging and togetherness.

 

We work together toward the betterment of our local community and the world around us. Our community has a shared sense of purpose that unites everyone around goals that are held in common. Those goals elevate the collective and are greater than any one of us alone. We utilize our intellect, creativity, skills, strength and compassion to create a supportive community that serves the common good.

Stewardship

Show respect for those who came before us, responsibility for those now with us, and the commitment to leave a just and habitable world for those who come after us.

 

We were founded as a land-grant university, which carries with it an obligation to leave the State of Florida and the world better than we found it. Our aim is to operate with utmost respect for the resources provided us, and utilize them in a humane, respectful and responsible way. This is how we create an environment that gives students the opportunity to develop the intellectual, physical and social skills that will enrich their lives.

Actions speak louder than words.

Find examples of how UF's faculty, staff and students embody UF's Core Values and share how the values are represented in your area or organization.

Bob Graham Center for Public Service

Civil Discourse in an Uncivil Age. During this event, PBS host Alexander Heffner discussed the effects of divisiveness on discourse, campaigns, and governance as well as the influence of new media, dis/misinformation, and filter bubbles that polarize American society. 

Learn More
Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems

Work is underway after the University of Florida received a recent grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand its research on livestock systems in Africa. 

Learn More
UF College of Public Health & Health Professions

Putting UF Core Values into practice at the College of Public Health and Health Professions

Learn More
UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center

Improving the cultivars of disease-prone crops is one example of how UF/IFAS TREC facilitates community with and among local growers. 

Learn More
UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

What started as a community in IFAS to learn how to leverage Microsoft Teams, has turned into a UF wide community to help all Faculty and Staff leverage the MS 365 platform.

Learn More

Additional Resources

Download the UF Core Values model and iconography, templates, a discussion guide and more here.

For any questions about these resources, please contact hrcommunications@hr.ufl.edu.

UF Core Values Flyer
UF Core Values Model
UF Core Values Presentation
UF Core Values Discussion Guide
UF Core Values Icons - Digital
UF Core Values Icons - Print

Have you seen a core value in action?

Share with us using the form below.

Values in Action FormHave you seen a UF employee, team, department, or unit embody a UF Core Value? Let us know by submitting this form.
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