An Overview of the University and Its Resources
The University of North Florida (UNF) was founded in 1969 after one thousand acres midway between
downtown Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Beaches was put aside for the campus. UNF opened in the
fall of 1972 with an initial enrollment of 2,027 juniors, supported by 117 faculty and more than 150
staff. Originally, UNF was designated as a "senior" college, enrolling only upper classmen and graduate
students. Freshmen and sophomores were admitted for the first time in 1984. Enrollment at UNF
exceeded 10,000 in 1995, and in spring of 2000 it broke its commencement record, graduating over
1,000 students. The 2000s saw a significant development on campus as many new buildings including
the Social Science building, Science and Engineering building, College of Education and Human Services
building, Fine Arts Center, Student Union, and Osprey Fountains residence hall were built. In 2002, a 13member Board of Trustees began work to oversee UNF. UNF was officially reclassified as an NCAA
Division I school for its athletics programs in 2009.
Nestled among 1,300 acres that include a state-protected wildlife and bird sanctuary featuring miles of
nature trails and numerous lakes and ponds with an abundance of wildlife on and around campus, from
armadillos to alligators, UNF is organized into five colleges which offer 53 undergraduate degree
programs and 29 graduate-degree programs with a 2008 student-to-faculty ratio of 21:1. The University
employs more than 553 full-time instructional faculty and over 1878 staff. UNF is a member of the
Atlantic Sun Athletic Conference, has a $214 million annual budget, and an annual economic impact of
$1 billion.
UNF faculty, students, and staff are proactive in the search for new knowledge and consistently
demonstrate their concern about the world in which we live. With the support of private and public
agencies, they contribute to our knowledge about the world and apply their findings and skills to solving
many of the problems facing contemporary society. Many contributions evolve from basic research;
others, from practical applications of new knowledge. Other projects make specialized training available
to public officials, to organizations working for social betterment, to religious and educational
institutions, and to business and manufacturing organizations. Through sponsored and non-sponsored
activities, UNF faculty, students, and staff make significant contributions to instructional programs.
UNF faculty members received nearly $15 million in grants and contracts in 2009 for such projects as
examining the link between physical activity and metabolic health, assisting small businesses with
strategic planning, developing a fuel cell battery, and providing college preparation to middle school
students. UNF researchers developed high-tech sensors that can detect certain substances, gases or
disease-causing bugs by sniffing the air or coming into contact with a chemical. The technology could
potentially detect disease from a patient’s breath, identify pollutants and detect bacteria on surfaces or
in food.
UNF has 28 major buildings and five housing facilities on campus. Among them, the Social Science
building received the 2007 Award of Excellence for University Building by the Southeast Construction
Company for Energy and Environmental Design. The Thomas G. Carpenter Library has a total square
footage of 199,000 square feet. Currently, the Library has 300 public workstations, 17 group study
rooms, 37 carrels, 21 faculty, 24 support staff, over 1.4 million microform units, over 800 videos, 13,000
electronic journals, over 52,000 electronic books, and over 800,000 volumes. The UNF Student Union,
which opened in 2009, is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified building. It is also
one of the first Gold LEED-certified buildings in Jacksonville.
UNF acquired the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville in 2009 as a cultural resource. The
affiliation with the museum allows UNF to improve the facility's operations and marketing. The
acquisition improves UNF's downtown presence and strengthens ties with the city. The MOCA collection
consists of nearly 800 works of art, including painting, printmaking, sculpture and photography. MOCA
served more than 8,000 children in 2009 through its arts in education programs. In addition to school
tours, MOCA’s initiatives provide outreach to at-risk children.
In 2009, the Princeton Review named UNF a “Best Value College” nationally and, in 2010, added the
University to its list of “Best in the Southeast.” The U.S. State Department ranks UNF No. 7 nationally for
the number of short-term study-abroad students and No. 20 nationally for the total number of study
abroad students. Additionally, for 2010, UNF was named a “Military Friendly School” by G.I. Jobs
magazine, placing UNF in the top 15 percent of all colleges and universities nationwide.
The University of North Florida fosters the intellectual and cultural growth and civic awareness of its
students, preparing them to make significant contributions to their communities in the region and
beyond. At UNF, students and faculty engage together and individually in the discovery and application
of knowledge. UNF faculty and staff maintain an unreserved commitment to student success within a
diverse, supportive campus culture.