UWF officials say growth is on the way

Officials at the University of West Florida have set their sights on a future filled with growth and they made that announcement public at a campus rally Monday afternoon.

If enrollment projections hold and the university’s new business model works out, UWF’s Pensacola campus could see a new student union; a football team and stadium; more dorms in the center of campus and on-campus housing for graduate students and professors; a hotel and several restaurants in the next decade.

“I know that if you don’t think big, you’re not going to get big,” UWF President Judy Bense said.

The proposals are the next step in a plan set in motion about a year ago by Bense and her staff. The goal, Bense said, is to ensure the university is meeting the needs of the communities it serves.

At that time, one of the primary goals was to “right-size” UWF Emerald Coast in Fort Walton Beach. To do that, staff was laid off, program offerings were reduced and a lease for a building in Fort Walton Beach was terminated.

“I think the difference is before we used to offer here what we wanted to, what was convenient for us. Now what we’re offering here is what people want,” Bense said. “We’re asking what they want, what are the jobs, what’s the market, what’s the employability of graduates in different career fields, what does the workforce need, and that’s what we’re honing in on.”

To date, the local campus offers seven programs. Because of demand, it is in the process of beginning undergraduate and graduate social work programs and an interdisciplinary information technology program, said Susan Shaw, director of UWF Emerald Coast.

She said they also hope to add a computer science program.

Five full-time professors are also set to join the two full-time professors in Fort Walton Beach, Shaw said.

Northwest Florida State College President Ty Handy and several of his professors also are interested in teaching at UWF, but those details are still being worked out, Bense said.

UWF also is setting up a remote classroom at Eglin Air Force Base so airmen can join a class at another campus via a video feed.

On the social side, Shaw said a coffee shop inside the library will open soon.

“I think it’s going to change the culture of that campus,” Shaw said. “Before, it was a vending machine and that’s it.”

UWF has about 12,000 full- and part-time students on its campuses. About 500 attend UWF Emerald Coast.

The college is in the process of hiring 42 new faculty members for its main campus.

Future growth isn’t only focused on people and programs. In November, the school established a nonprofit organization called the University of West Florida Business Enterprises Inc., which will help open the doors to new construction on the largely undeveloped main campus, said UWF Vice President Matthew Altier.

In the past, funding for new buildings came from the state, Altier said. That money has run out, so UWF has decided to consider private partnerships. For example, the university is accepting proposals from companies and individuals for the proposed hotel and conference center on the east side of campus along U.S. Highway 90.

While a private company would build and own the hotel, the university would benefit not only financially from having it on its property, but academically because it would provide hands-on experience for students in the school’s hospitality program, Altier said.

“It’s a great way to get things started in a public-private relationship,” Altier said

Most of the facilities will take several years to come to fruition, but Bense and her staff are certain the changes are coming, based on continued enrollment increases and a conservative estimate that the student population will jump by at least 2,000 by 2015.