Scott Bennet will begin serving as UNF’s vice president of Administration and Finance starting today, Jan. 11, after serving the role as an interim since early 2020. 

“Working for UNF the past 21 years has really been like being part of a family,” Bennet said to Spinnaker. “The growth that we’ve experienced and the changes we’ve gone through have been remarkable, but at our core, we’ve always remembered who we are and remained true to our values.”

Bennet has been working at UNF since 1999 and has decades of experience serving various positions at UNF, including associate vice president and assistant vice president of Administration and Finance, Inspector General, and project director for the University’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation project.

“We are very fortunate to have Scott continue to serve in his role as vice president leading our administration and financial operations,” UNF President David Szymanski stated in a release. “He is a dependable and trustworthy leader with a proven track record of successfully managing multiple departments as well as the key responsibility of keeping the University’s operations accountable.”

Not only is Bennet a licensed certified public accountant (CPA), but he has served on multiple local and national boards and committees, such as the Community First Credit Union’s Board of Directors and Audit Committee, the Southern Association of College and University Business Officers (SACUBO) Comprehensive College and University Committee, and various review committees.

The vice president of Administration and Finance looks after at least 20 UNF departments, manages financial operations, information technology, business services, human resources, construction, the University Police Department (UPD), and more.

Bennet says that he has been extremely lucky to have had the opportunities to work with some amazing leaders both in Tallahassee and here, who have all played a role in his growth.  

“The past 17 years, I had the opportunity to work with my predecessor who was not only an amazing leader but an amazing person, who definitely instilled in me the importance of not only being a better leader and manager but doing it with a caring heart and always trying to understand others perspectives,” Bennett said.

Bennet also mentioned that UNF recently went through a strategic planning process with the President, Board, faculty, and staff to lay out a road map for the future of our university.  

“It’s one of being excellent in everything we do and continuing a path to being a top 100 public institution in the nation.  My job, along with the entire leadership team, is to structure the administrative and finance areas in a way to support and assist with those efforts.  A&F has an amazing team who makes all this possible.”

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