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New University of Central Florida President Meets With Media For The First Time

UCF President Alexander Cartwright. Photo courtesy of UCF
UCF President Alexander Cartwright. Photo courtesy of UCF

The University of Central Florida’s new President Alexander Cartwright officially started on Monday. 

Cartwright was voted in unanimously by the UCF Board of Trustees and he was confirmed as UCF’s sixth president last month.

In an effort to be transparent, the former chancellor of the University of Missouri talked with UCF’s journalism students and other local media by video conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Cartwright said he has witnessed how strong UCF is while going through this pandemic, but he is excited to make it even stronger. 

“Almost all the positions [in UCF administration] are interim, and to me, I saw an institution that could benefit from me coming there,” Cartwright said.

Cartwright said he is confident he can improve the university, but he said he does not know how this pandemic will affect UCF long-term.

While he joins the university in a time of disruption, Cartwright says these new challenges can lead to innovation.

The new president said he jumped right into his new role by meeting with faculty on Monday to talk about how to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic while still keeping students engaged.

“It is going to change the way we work, it’s going to change the way we teach, it’s going to change the way our staff works,” Cartwright said.

UCF switched to remote learning last month and announced that all summer courses will be taught online. 

Cartwright said he isn’t sure when UCF will resume in-person classes, but the university announced last week that it won’t be before the fall semester begins.