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Mission Statement:

The Department of Statistics at the University of Florida has as its purpose: (i) to provide excellent education in statistics, (ii) to prepare departmental majors for successful careers in academia, industry and government, (iii) to extend the frontiers of statistics through basic and applied research, (iv) to collaborate with researchers in other disciplines to investigate important scientific issues and (v) to provide leadership within the University and the profession. The Department seeks to be comprehensive, balanced and to conduct itself with openness, enthusiasm, integrity and respect for the diversity of the contributions made by its members.

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General:

The Department of Statistics at the University of Florida has one of the largest and most comprehensive statistics faculties within a single department in the U.S. The faculty have a wide variety of teaching and research interests in statistics. When it comes to selecting coursework or a Ph.D. dissertation topic and advisor, students can choose from a wide variety of topics and methodologic interests.

See: Faculty -- Computing Environment -

Academic Programs:

The undergraduate program of the Department of Statistics offers B.S. and B.A. degrees through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a B.S. degree through the College of Agriculture. The graduate program offers M.S., M. Stat. and Ph.D. degrees. There are approximately 55 undergraduate majors and 55 graduate student majors currently enrolled in departmental programs.

See: Undergraduate Program -- Graduate Program

Structure:

The teaching program of the department emanates from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences through the department's location in Griffin-Floyd Hall. The majority of our faculty have offices in Griffin-Floyd. The Division of Biostatistics in located in the University's Health Sciences Center. The biostatistics faculty participate in the department's teaching and research missions, while actively collaborating in important research projects in the medical and health sciences. The Department of Statistics in also a department in the College of Agriculture, part of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), which is responsible for programs pertaining to food, agriculture, natural resources, forestry and veterinary medicine. Our IFAS faculty likewise teach, conduct statistical research and collaborate with IFAS researchers on a wide variety of scientific studies. The department's Pediatric Oncology Group Statistical Office conducts clinical trials investigating treatments for childhood cancers through a consortium of physicians cooperating in studies conducted at 127 international research hospitals. In addition to teaching assistantships, graduate students can gain valuable experience via a consulting assistantship in biostatistics or in IFAS research.

See: IFAS Statistics 

Research:

Department faculty have a wide variety of research interests, ranging from theoretical to applied topics and over a broad spectrum of methodologic topics. Categorical data analysis, design of experiments, Bayesian analysis, linear models, biostatistics, nonparametrics, clinical trial methods, statistics education, genetic data analysis and probability theory are some of the areas of interest. Department faculty actively collaborate with scientists in other disciplines on important research investigations.

See: John Saw Library -- University Libraries

Teaching:

Since its founding by Dr. William Mendenhall in the early 1960's, the department has placed strong emphasis on quality teaching. The faculty are known for clear presentations of statistical topics and for leadership within the profession in statistics education. Many excellent textbooks have been written by our faculty.

Hiring Policy and Voting Procedures:

Ranked faculty (Assistant, Associate and Full Professors) from all units vote on hiring for a ranked faculty position, regardless of the unit into which the faculty member is to be hired. (Absent faculty must submit proxies in advance to be counted.) In discussion of candidates, it is our tradition that particular attention is paid to the concerns and opinions of the faculty in the unit into which the person is to be hired and anyone voting against a candidate should be willing to give an indication of the reasoning behind the negative vote.

Discussion of candidates is confidential. Lecturers, Assistant In's and Associate In's are included in votes for the hiring of persons at those ranks.

Approbation Vote: To achieve approbation (official approval), a candidate must receive a postitive vote by at least two thirds of the faculty in the unit in which the person is to be hired and a positive vote by at least two thirds of the whole faculty. A positive vote on approbation indicates that the voter would favor hiring the person into the designated position, if that person was the only candidate.

Ranking of Candidates Achieving Approbation: If two candidates achieve approbation, a vote is taken to see which candidate should receive the initial offer. If three or more candidates achieve approbation, then a vote is taken between all possible pairs of candidates achieving approbation. These results will give the chair and unit director indication of faculty preferences among those who have achieved approbation.

Voting Policy: Ranked faculty (Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors) from all units vote on issues related to the departmental program, including curriculum. It is our tradition, that in discussion of issues, eg undergraduate or graduate program issues, particular attention is paid to the concerns and opinions of the faculty who work directly with that program area. Lecturers, Assistant In's and Associate In's do not vote on issues, unless they are directly involved in the area being discussed. (Questions of voting on particular issues will be resolved by the Chair).