News

Many who join the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida have come from Gator households or decided on UF after a rigorous exploration of top-tier institutions. Still, the path to Gainesville’s campus can be obscure for others, with obstacles Adrienne Provost intends to clear as director of the newly formed Office of Student Strategic Initiatives.

Provost, who donned her doctoral regalia for the first time this month with a PhD in curriculum and instruction from UF, said her primary objective in her new role is to promote access and opportunities in CLAS for students across Florida.

“The central focus is to ensure a welcoming and supportive college environment for traditional and non-traditional students,” she said. “To achieve these goals, I will identify grant and philanthropic funding sources aligned with the college’s mission.”

Provost’s own route to UF has been circuitous. She grew up near Ocala, helping her family raise thoroughbred horses and competing as a three-day event rider. She earned a bachelor’s in English education from the University of South Florida and a master’s in English literature and creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University. Provost returned to North Central Florida, where she worked as a high school English teacher for several years.

Most recently, while working on her PhD, she has been director of TRIO programs at Santa Fe College in Gainesville. In that role, she assisted in dramatically increasing the number of federally funded grants at the institution while extending higher educational opportunities to over 2,000 low-income, first-generation students annually.

Nationally recognized for her work in innovative programming, Provost has received a variety of prestigious awards: the 2022 Santa Fe College Advocacy Leadership Award, the 2020 Association of Florida Colleges Student Development Exemplary Practice Award, the 2020 Workforce Adult and Continuing Education Commission Exemplary Practice Award, the 2019-2020 Santa Fe College Innovation Award, and the 2017-2018 Robert B. Primack Memorial Foundations of Education Endowment.

“My background in community colleges has been pivotal to my career,” she said. “In the near-decade I spent as a community college scholar and practitioner, I have seen the transformative impact of higher education. I look to this new step in my profession to further my commitment to this ideal and my conviction that education is the cornerstone of democracy.”

Associate Dean Margaret Fields said the Office of Student Strategic Initiatives was created to direct the long-range strategic planning and operations for student recruitment and support. The director will develop and write grant proposals to foundations and government agencies to obtain funding for activities promoting equal access and opportunity for prospective CLAS students across Florida. That includes building a welcoming and supportive college environment for traditional and non-traditional students.

“As the largest college on campus, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is charged with teaching the university’s core curriculum. In short, the college is the heart of the University of Florida and the Gator Nation,” Fields said.

“Dr. Provost has successfully sought and supervised eight federal and college-funded grant programs and managed over $3 million in annual operational budgets,” she said. “As the prior director of TRIO and the College Achievement Program at Santa Fe College, she brings skills in identifying and cultivating relationships with internal and external stakeholders.”

Provost said her training and experience have shown her that many people have difficulty seeing themselves as UF students, regardless of their potential, and may not see how a degree in the liberal arts and sciences translates to a successful career.

“While these initiatives will benefit all students, I will specifically focus on strengthening transfer pipelines with community colleges and developing innovative summer bridge programs, particularly for first-generation students and those from economically challenging backgrounds,” Provost said.

“I am drawn to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UF because of its diverse opportunities. As the largest college in the University, it is a beacon of limitless potential. The college is home to the next generation of thinkers and doers, and the energy and creative spirit are palpable across campus,” she said.