USF Sarasota-Manatee is expanding its footprint - and its horizons
Until 16 years ago, the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus did not have a home of its own, sharing quarters with New College of Florida since our founding in 1975. Not having our own campus made it difficult to shape an identity other than as a “commuter college.”
Moving up U.S. 41 to our own home in 2006 signaled the start of an exciting era for USF in Sarasota-Manatee. Our profile as the only four-year research university in the two counties heightened, enrollment increased and academic offerings expanded. We grew and prospered along with the rest of the region.
The USF Sarasota-Manatee campus is on the verge of its next big moment. Over the next few years, two exciting expansion projects – construction of a Nursing/STEM building and a housing/student center complex – will transform not only our place in the community and the appearance of our beautiful campus along Sarasota Bay, but also what it means to be a student or member of the faculty and staff here.
The centerpiece of this new era is a Nursing/STEM building designed both to meet our physical needs – we have run out of classrooms and are lacking in labs as our enrollment and academic offerings grow – and to address heightened demand in the local marketplace, and beyond, for more nurses, business professionals, scientists, engineers and other professions.
This will be a building where ideas are celebrated and grown, solutions discovered and better answers generated for many of the most challenging issues faced by our society, in general, and our community, in particular. We are confident it will help us recruit and retain outstanding faculty and students. It will be an economic engine for our region.
Earlier this year, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved an initial $3 million appropriation for a 75,000-square-foot building. The $62 million facility, which will go just west of the current Crosley Campus Center, will double the size of the campus’s nursing program; increase new majors in health disciplines and other programs; and fill the need on campus for teaching and clinical labs and research facilities.
The award was the latest good news at this consequential moment in the history of our campus:
• This past July marked the second anniversary of the consolidation of USF campuses in Sarasota-Manatee, St. Petersburg and Tampa under a single accreditation. Consolidation has provided a wide range of new academic and other opportunities for students and faculty.
For example, the fast-growing School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, based at the Sarasota-Manatee campus, this fall expanded to offer courses for students in Tampa and St. Petersburg. Consolidation also ensured that every USF student has the chance to earn their degree from a preeminent state research university.
• In August, we celebrated a $5.26 million gift – the largest in our campus’s history – from Baldwin Risk Partners, a Tampa-based insurance distribution firm, for the School of Risk Management and Insurance. The school, which has been renamed after our generous donors, is poised to propel the program into an academic powerhouse and fill the employee shortage within a Florida insurance industry that is hungry for talent. Only one other public Florida university offers a full major in the field.
• And on Sept. 14, the State University of Florida System Board of Governors unanimously approved building a new housing and student center complex across our courtyard from where the Nursing/STEM Building will go up.
By the fall of 2024, as many as 200 students will for the first time be able to live on our beautiful campus. The $39 million, 100,000-square-foot building will transform the college experience for our students – and forever end the notion that we’re only a “commuter college.” The project is a top priority for all of USF, and we are grateful for the support our president, Rhea Law, the USF Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors.
What can you do help USF and your local campus as we grow?
First, buy a ticket to Brunch on the Bay, which is Nov. 6.
Since 1994, our premier annual fund-raiser has raised more than $6.5 million in scholarships for more than 2,000 Sarasota-Manatee students. This year’s Brunch also will support construction of the Nursing/STEM building and other exciting initiatives. (Attendees will also get to enjoy samples of fine cuisine from numerous local restaurants and caterers.)
Another way to be part of the excitement is to support a multi-million-dollar capital campaign we plan to launch next year. We could not have achieved the successes we’ve enjoyed since 2020 without your support, financial and otherwise, and know our exciting plans for the Nursing/STEM building and other programs are not possible without you.
Our area has grown tremendously in recent years, and the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus is proud to be part of that story. With your continued support, we will grow our ability to respond to the needs of our community and unleash the potential of our students and faculty for the betterment of all.
Karen Holbrook is the regional chancellor for the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus.