UWF President Sets 12 Performance Goals

At last week’s special meeting of the University of West Florida Board of Trustees, President Manny Diaz presented his annual goals and objectives as required by his employment agreement. Read Diaz Goals.

• Why this matters: Achievement of the annual goals and objectives makes the president eligible for his annual performance compensation bonus.

Several of the performance goals presented Diaz achieved while serving as interim president:

Oversee the achievement of expanding and meeting the goal of the “Here for Good” campaign to 100 million.

• In October, UWF announced it would build on its record-breaking fundraising success, increasing the goal for its “Here for Good” capital campaign from $90 million to $100 million. The campaign, which launched publicly in April 2024, has already surpassed its original goal. We have been told that UWF already had commitments for the additional $10N before Diaz arrived on campus.

Oversee and implement a comprehensive university brand audit and refresh.

• We showed the suggested logos produced by a Tallahassee firm last week.

Double the number of Talent Catalyst internship partners from seven to 14.

• UWF Talent Catalyst program, sponsored by Landrunm, connects Northwest Florida employers with full-time enrolled UWF students, offering invaluable on-the-job training and essential professional skills development.

Oversee and implement the groundbreaking construction of the new football stadium to include general event space for the university.

• The groundbreaking happened the day before the board meeting

Improve campus appearance and enhance student areas to include a new student union patio and refurbished Cannon Green.

Explore and propose P3 opportunities for the university to expand housing and new retail entertainment facilities.

Establish a center for civic literacy and increased civil discourse engagement.

• The University of West Florida Board of Trustees approved in December the creation of the Academy of American Civic Republicanism Center, a $1.5 million initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Is Diaz creating another one?

Expand and implement a state and federal advocacy program with emphasis on combined and expanded funding opportunities.

Establish the Office of Military Services to better serve active military veterans and military families under the Office of the President.

• This office was announced in August.

Under the current Florida SUS performance-based funding model, UWF’s overall metric for the 2025-26 performance year is at least 90.

• Not very ambitious, it’s one point less than 2024-25. The University of West Florida landed in the top three among all 12 Florida State University System institutions and top three in four metrics in the Florida Board of Governors’ 2024-25 performance-based funding model, earning 91 out of 100 points, ranking third highest points along with Florida State University, trailing in points only to Florida International University and the University of Florida.

Achieve an increased overall research expenditures from FY 2024 to FY 2025 as reported by the NSF HERD Survey.

Grow and sustain UWF’s total fall semester student enrollment to more than 15,000 students.

• Diaz wants to maintain the enrollment. The University of West Florida (UWF) achieved record-breaking enrollment in Fall 2025, exceeding 15,000 students for the first time in its 58-year history. Total enrollment for Fall 2025 reached 15,601, representing a 5% increase over the previous year.

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