{"id":145414,"date":"2026-02-05T23:50:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T23:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/145414\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T23:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T23:50:06","slug":"unf-names-angela-garcia-falconetti-as-interim-president-action-news-jax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/145414\/","title":{"rendered":"UNF names Angela Garcia Falconetti as interim president \u2013 Action News Jax"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The University of North Florida Board of Trustees has named Angela Garcia Falconetti as the university\u2019s interim president. Falconetti, who currently leads Polk State College, will begin her new role February 16.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">Falconetti replaces outgoing President Moez Limayem, who has been named the president of the University of South Florida. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">A Jacksonville native and alumna of the university, Falconetti has served as the president of Polk State College since 2017. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">Her appointment comes as the university begins a national search for a permanent successor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/live-breaking\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/live-breaking\/\" target=\"_blank\">&gt;&gt;&gt; STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE &lt;&lt;&lt;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">\u201cThe University of North Florida is on an upward trajectory and Falconetti will continue building on that momentum during the transition process,\u201d Steve Moore, the board of trustees chair, said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">He noted that as a graduate who grew up in Jacksonville, Falconetti has strong ties to local business and civic leaders. Moore said she will focus on student success, research, faculty support and community partnerships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">The leadership change comes as the university reports historic gains in enrollment and retention. The institution recently achieved its highest performance-based funding score and has seen a rise in national rankings. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">Falconetti said she is honored to return to the university but confirmed she will not be applying for the permanent presidency. \u201cIt is truly an honor to return home to the University of North Florida to serve as Interim President,\u201d Falconetti said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">She added that the institution shaped her life in ways that tie her directly to its mission and that she looks forward to working with students, faculty and staff during the transition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">[DOWNLOAD: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">Falconetti\u2019s educational background includes degrees from both New York University and UNF. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">She earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in communications and education from NYU. She later received a master\u2019s degree and a doctorate in educational leadership from UNF, where she specialized in instructional leadership, postsecondary education and adult learning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">Her professional history with the university began in the Office of Student Affairs. She held several roles there, rising from an academic adviser and recruiter to assistant vice president of student affairs. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">Falconetti also worked in Washington, D.C., as a special assistant to the first deputy assistant secretary for community colleges. Her career includes additional positions at Virginia Western Community College and Daytona State College.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">Since 2017, Falconetti has served as the president of Polk State College. Under her leadership, the college expanded academic and workforce programs and increased partnerships with local businesses. She also secured funding for campus improvements, including the construction of the Polk State Haines City-Davenport Campus. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">The board of trustees will launch a national search for a permanent president during the transition period. Falconetti\u2019s service as interim president is subject to confirmation by the Florida Board of Governors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">[SIGN UP: <a href=\"https:\/\/membercenter.actionnewsjax.com\/newsletters\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/video\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n<p>Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The University of North Florida Board of Trustees has named Angela Garcia Falconetti as the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[344,70387,7094,347,28,348,116,351,118,117,349,350,9939,70386,70385,346,345],"class_list":{"0":"post-145414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action-news-jax","9":"tag-angela-falconetti","10":"tag-angela-garcia-falconetti","11":"tag-cbs47","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-fox30","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-jacksonville-fl","16":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","17":"tag-jacksonville-news","18":"tag-northeast-florida","19":"tag-southeast-georgia","20":"tag-unf","21":"tag-unf-new-president","22":"tag-unf-president","23":"tag-wfox","24":"tag-wjax"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}