University of North Florida. College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (COAS) was founded in 1972, one of the three original academic colleges established at the University of North Florida. The first formal meeting of the Chairmen of the College of Arts and Sciences was held on September 20, 1971, approximately one year before the opening of the University in October 1972. Attendees at this meeting included founding COAS Dean Willard Ash, Dr. Larry Green, Dr. Gary Harmon, Dr. Edward Healy, Dr. Thomas Mongar, and Dr. Gerson Yessin. Topics covered: faculty recruitment, library procedures, textbook policy, planning academic programs, student counseling, academic regulations, and liberal studies. Thereafter, meetings were held on a weekly or as needed basis. Names for the group varied through the years: Chairmen's Meetings, Chairpersons' Meetings, Chairs' Council, College of Arts and Sciences Chairs'.

The following is a listing of the COAS Deans to date:

1970-1978 Willard O. Ash (deceased)

1978-1979 Jack T. Humphries (Interim Dean)

1980-1983 Peter H. Salus

1983-1984 Edward A. Healy (Interim Dean)

1984-1987 Edward A. Healy (Dean)

1987-1989 Richard R. Weiner (Interim Dean)

1989-1992 Afesa M. Adams

1992 James B. Crooks (Interim Dean)

1993-2000 Lewis J. Radonovich

2000-2001 Henry (Hank) J. Camp (Interim Dean)

2001-2005 Mark E. Workman

2005-2006 David D. Jaffee (Acting Dean)

2006-2007 Dale L. Clifford (Interim Dean)

2007- Barbara A. Hetrick

Currently, the COAS is the largest of the five colleges that make up the University. Instructional responsibilities for the 287 COAS faculty members extend from the lower level general education program, through diverse majors for undergraduates, to a growing number of graduate programs. The college consists of fifteen academic departments, and also houses a variety of centers, including a newly established Center for Environmental Studies, as well as pre-law and pre-medical programs.

The mission of the College of Arts and Sciences is:

**to provide learning opportunities of the highest quality to our students, both undergraduate and graduate, to develop their capabilities as critical and reflective thinkers, and to offer each occasions for transformative learning;

**to promote faculty engagement in pursuit and production of disciplinarily significant and high quality scholarship -- discovered and applied, global and local;

**to offer undergraduate and graduate programs that contribute to the successful achievement of our students’ ambitions, are responsive to and engaged with the communities of which the university is a part, and continue the tradition of an excellent liberal arts education;

**to dedicate the college's full range of resources to these goals.

From the guide to the University of North Florida. College of Arts and Sciences Records., 1971-, (UNF Library Special Collections and University Archives)