This text is excerpted from a Board of Regents report: TEN YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR A NEW UNIVERSITY IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA November 20, 1992

Mission:

Florida's Newest University

The new university, located in Southwest Florida has, as its primary mission, undergraduate education, with a broad range of programs in arts and sciences, business, environmental science, computer science, education, nursing/allied health, and social services. The programs will be planned for community college transfer students and beginning freshmen. Selected graduate programs in education, business, social services, and arts and sciences will be introduced as needs are identified and resources allow.

The region in which the university will be located combines rapid population growth in a geographically constrained area, the Gulf of Mexico to the west and Lake Okeechobee to the east, with a unique and sensitive environment. The university, therefore, will be ideally suited to emphasize study of the environment. Building on a strong program at the undergraduate level, the university will have the opportunity to ultimately develop as a center for environmentally oriented graduate programs and research.

The primary service area will include Lee, Charlotte, Glades, Hendry, and Collier counties. Specialized degree programs will draw students from throughout Florida and beyond, especially as alternative teaching systems and technology are employed.

Graduate education and continuing education will primarily serve the needs of part-time working individuals whose professional growth will demand programs arranged at convenient times, places, and in modules to accommodate their employment. In addition to the traditional campus program schedule, a "weekend college" program will be offered in selected subject areas to enable students to earn complete degrees solely through evening and weekend study.

An important element of the university will be the variety of alternative learning and teaching systems. Parts of many degree programs will be available via television courses, computer-assisted instruction, and competency-based exams, which will permit those who have special achievements or experience in a variety of settings to satisfy some of their degree requirements. Students who enjoy and are able to succeed at independent study will be able to move along at their own pace. Specialized faculty will be available to advise students to establish individualized learning plans by selecting one or more of the options.

Some existing programs established through the University of South Florida will be expanded, where feasible, to permit full-time students to obtain a bachelor's degree during the developmental stages of the university. This will bring about a smooth transition in the development of the University of South Florida's regional center into the new university. Clinical practice and portions of the curriculum which require hands-on experience will be developed in close coordination with regional health care, education, social service, and other professions to minimize the need for specialized laboratories and equipment on campus. Applied degree programs will strive to have a strong community-based component involving clinical/adjunct faculty, based on memoranda of agreement, and contract relationships.

Although the primary emphasis of the university will be on undergraduate education, it is anticipated that within ten years, up to fifteen percent of the instructional load will be at the graduate level. This instructional load will be divided between degree programs and continuing education. Faculty will be expected to focus on public service activities and projects that are primarily community-based with the relative need being assessed with input from regional community organizations. Complementing the public service mission will be a student volunteer service designed to provide each student with exposure to a planned community project, thus developing in the student a commitment to public service after graduation. Faculty research will support the teaching and service mission and will have as its primary focus the application of research to serve state and regional needs.

Undergraduate students will have a mentor/advisor who will guide them during a senior project or paper, in order to synthesize the work done in the curriculum and prepare the students to organize ideas from across disciplines in a final research document.

The library will be the heart of the university's learning environment. In addition to a collection appropriate to the selected degree offerings, the library will include a learning resource center, and an instructional development center to assist faculty, and will utilize available data bases to access library materials from across the state and the nation.