The University of Florida series, Measuring University Performance , will take up additional topics reflecting the university's commitment to measuring university performance in quality and productivity of research, teaching, extension, and service. All of us at the University of Florida welcome comments and suggestions prompted by this series. In the last Measuring University Performance we focused on undergraduate education at the University of Florida and the progress that has been made over the past few years. We now turn our attention to graduate education and the improvements that we must make to match the very best universities in the country. Graduate education is an integral part of the rich undergraduate experience offered by a research university.
Undergraduates benefit from the teaching, research, service, and mentoring of graduate students.
And, graduate students develop the leadership skills and receive the hands-on experience so desired by employers. Graduate students participate in a large portion of university research and development and enrich them with new ideas. Strong research programs attract the very best graduate students. Over the past five years we have seen tremendous growth in our sponsored research activity. Between FY 1995 and FY 1997, external research funding increased by 22 percent and royalties and license fees by 230 percent.