by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
With little fanfare, another job opening at the University of North Florida was filled last week. Current mayor and incoming UNF president John Delaney notwithstanding, Jacksonville native Mark Foxworth is one of the newest employees on campus. He’s the chief of police.
“Law enforcement has always been a lifelong dream,” said Foxworth, 41. “I started right out of high school at 18 when I was working as a corrections officer and I’ve been at it ever since. I love it.”
Foxworth, a graduate of Terry Parker High School, also put in stints in the homicide divisions in Duval and Clay counties.
“For a while I had been hearing that the former chief [Gene Owen] was going to be retiring. I thought that this was a place where I could work and hopefully improve, so I threw my hat into the ring.”
From there, the father of three endured “a stressful but rewarding” interview process that consisted of several phone interviews and one day-long campus meet-and-greet with students, faculty and staff.
“I really enjoyed that day,” he said. “Students had the opportunity to come and ask me any questions that they might have and it was nice to see that so many actually cared enough to show up.”
Foxworth said the other police officers also had a lot of influence over who would become the next chief.
“I have some great officers working with me,” said Foxworth.
And when it was finally announced Foxworth got the job, he noticed something on his first day behind the desk.
“I was very surprised to see what a friendly atmosphere this campus has,” he said. “Everyone introduced themselves to me and really made me feel comfortable, even if I had already met them. I really appreciated that and it made me feel good about my decision to come to work here.”
And the summer is going to be a busy one for Foxworth, despite calling his new job “more laid back” than past positions he’s held.
“I want to spend some time to get organized and to better familiarize myself with the campus and people on it,” he said. “I really haven’t had the time to address certain issues the way I want to and I’m looking forward to that.”
First on Foxworth’s agenda is a push towards improving the community involvement of the UNF police department.
“We really want to work on our interaction, not just from within the campus, but also in the outside community, too,” he said. “We talked about that before I came here.”
With his family’s continued support, Foxworth said he’s looking forward to his new job.
“It took me a while to get here,” said Foxworth, “but I think I’ve arrived at a level in my life and career where I realize that this is the atmosphere I’ve been looking for.”