At Wednesday’s meeting, the Florida Board of Governors accepted the University of Florida’s initial proposals for a new graduate campus in downtown Jacksonville.

According to the designs approved on Wednesday, UF will host their programs on a temporary campus at the new JEA offices on North Pearl Street and Adams Street. The fifth story of the office will contain a mix of study rooms, offices and classrooms.

The BOG is expected to decide on a permanent location for the new campus in the fall.

The institution will offer nine master’s programs, four of which will be in artificial intelligence. The other five will be in genetic counseling, law, architecture, physician assistant studies and engineering management in data analytics.

Last Friday, UNF President Moez Limayem shared a message to the UNF community about a joint task force between the universities.

“The approval … calls for a joint task force between the University of North Florida and UF to ensure that our programs complement each other rather than compete,” he said. “The task force will also give periodic updates to the BOG regarding collaboration in curriculum, research and shared facilities and spaces.”

According to the BOG, the State University System of Florida’s research expenditures will partially fund the new downtown campus.

During the 2022-23 academic year, Florida public universities created 3,660 new jobs and contributed an estimated $5.5 billion in economic impact, of which $1 billion came from state funds. 

Brian Lamb, chair of the BOG, said this increase in research is possible because of continued collaboration between Florida institutions, faculty and student research scholars who work to secure research grants and compete for federal awards.