Huh. Parcels 1, 2, and 3 are owned by FSCJ, Parcel 4 by JEA, and Parcel 5 (the Phase 2) by the city (currently the Singleton Senior Center). The plan is 18 acres total, ~14 of them in Phase 1. Surprisingly low-rise for how much money is being proposed here.
Personally, I get a bit nervous about the feasibility of all this looking at a slide trying to compare a UF Jacksonville graduate campus to Boston/Cambridge, Austin, Charlotte, and Stanford/Berkeley. Not to dump on us, but… we're not there.
Also the state support mentioned on this slide is half of what a state legislator has actually proposed. Seems like a bad sign.
^ Small corrections. It's Research Triangle, not Charlotte. And, I think the number on the slide is $100 million, double, not half, of Duggan's proposal of $50 million. Doesn't take away from your points though.
Possible synergies with FSCJ might include a shared student union, some high tech labs, mentorships from graduate students, career counselling, faculty, etc. FSCJ also has a nursing program, albeit on their north campus, that might get some spinoff benefits. Nursing is also offered at JU and UNF who might share in same. Especially interesting would be if student and/or faculty housing was built in the area, something that FSCJ has already dabbled in on a small scale.
One big gap in the education scene in Jax over the years has been the lack of a wider range of graduate level programs. If UF is offering such programs that do not overlap with what is already here, this might be complimentary to the existing schools. And, there are many cities that host multiple higher level education programs and are able to see them all supported. With the growth of the City and possibly attracting students from other areas that would not otherwise consider studying here, I don't necessarily think this would negatively impact the existing schools. I know many schools also have programs where students overlap some of their undergraduate time with graduate studies so joint study program with FSCJ, UNF, JU and EWC might be in order. These same school could also be feeder programs where their students don't have to leave the area to advance their education.
As I posted two days ago, I join in wondering if we are being played against West Palm Beach. The proposals look to be close to identical in language and dollars. The main hold up in WPB is a $50 million land donor wants the campus named for him and UF says that's not going to happen. Without his land, the WPB deal may be dead on arrival. Hence, a possible turn to Alternate #1, Jax.
But again, I'm concerned that we don't have the building blocks as a city to make this campus competitive vs what UF is comparing it to (Boston/Cambridge, Austin, Charlotte, and Stanford/Berkeley), which I suppose lends credence to the possibility that this is really a gambit to seal a deal with West Palm. There's also a broader question of whether the current and pending changes to UF and other schools by the state will keep UF itself competitive vs other states. You can herald AI all you want, if young people don't feel like they're going to be accepted in Florida they won't come.
Ditto on these concerns.
To add, I attended a university with a large suite of grad programs and came to realize most grad students don't live like undergrads. Aside from being older (more mature
?), many have already worked before returning to grad school and/or are married, often with kids. In today's world, the better question is how virtual teaching would impact a physical campus. I have a cousin who teaches grad courses for a major state university. She said she works from home, teaching virtually, and just graduated a masters student she only met 3 times during his studies.
