by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Jacksonville University (JU) is enrolling more students, improving campus facilities, inaugurating new programs and will add another Div. 1 sport next year. All that plus the other institutions of post-high school education opportunities in the city combine to make Jacksonville “A great city for higher education,” said Jacksonville University President Kerry Romesburg at Monday’s meeting of the Downtown Rotary Club of Jacksonville.
He said the current enrollment of slightly more than 2,000 undergraduate students is set to grow by 6 percent per year. By 2012 the private college will have 3,000 undergraduate students, plus about 1,000 more in adult learning and part-time programs.
Romesburg admitted the current economic climate gives him and his colleagues at private colleges statewide pause.
“I’m really nervous about next fall,” he said. “Applications are currently up and room deposits are up, but the current state of the economy doesn’t help institutions like JU. It will help community colleges and state universities. But in times like these, private colleges contract (in terms of enrollment).”
That being said, Romesburg pointed out JU is well-positioned for the future. The college is aggressively recruiting potential students in south and central Florida and is adding some new programs. Facilities are also being added and older buildings are being renovated, he added.
“The remodeling of the Swisher Theatre is complete and the new Davis Student Commons is open,” said Romesburg. “We also have a new 500-student residence hall and we’re remodeling an existing dormitory.
“We also just built a $3 million rowing center and have formed a partnership with Brooks Health Services to offer an adaptive rowing program for people with disabilities.”
The Marine Science Research Institute at JU, said Romesburg, offers the college the opportunity to make a contribution to the community while educating the oceanographers and marine scientists of the future.
“We know the St. Johns River is threatened. There is a great deal we don’t know about it that we need to know,” he said. “Jacksonville University will focus on the St. Johns River.”
The new program will begin in July with the St. Johns Riverkeeper on-site as well as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which will maintain a regional office as well as laboratories at JU.
Romesburg also delivered some advance news about JU athletics. He said it won’t be official until Wednesday, but he’s confident the college will be adding lacrosse to the roster of sports, first on the club level before elevating to Div. 1 status by the fall 2009 term.
“Lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport in America,” he said.
Romesburg also announced JU currently has the second-largest Navy ROTC program in the nation and the college has formed a unique partnership with Florida Coastal School of Law (FCSL). Students will spend three years at JU, then transfer to FCSL for the fourth year while earning credits for an undergraduate degree at JU. Then after two more years at FCSL, J.D. candidates would be ready for the bar exam.
“Students will save a full year and the tuition costs that go with that,” said Romesburg.