Only three months into UF Online’s first semester, executive director Betty Phillips resigned.
In an administrative memo sent Tuesday, provost Joseph Glover wrote that associate provost Andy McCollough will take over administrative duties for UF’s fully online degree program immediately.
Phillips resigned March 1.
Although the reason for Phillips’ abrupt resignation was not explained, UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes wrote in an email that Phillips will return to Arizona State University as a faculty member.
“Since she wants to devote more time to research in this important area of online education, she decided to resign her administrative position in favor of a faculty position that will allow her to pursue these interests,” Sikes said.
Phillips was named as executive director for the program in September 2013.
She left her position as provost and executive vice president for ASU to lead UF’s online baccalaureate program.
She is married to Win Phillips, UF’s former senior vice president and chief operating officer, who stepped down in December 2013.
UF Online launched Jan. 1.
There are 583 students enrolled in UF Online with a goal of 24,000 by its 10th year of operations, according to the program’s business plan. In February, UF spokesman Steve Orlando said the university had accepted three UF Online students. Other applications were not yet completed.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 3/14/2014 under the headline "UF Online director resigns three months into job"]
