USF Sarasota-Manatee to lease Pan-American Center in North Port
SARASOTA, February 8, 2010 – The University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee has signed an agreement with Iberia Bank to lease a portion of the Pan-American Center, 5900 Pan American Blvd., in North Port, corner of Tamiami Trail South and Pan American Blvd. Classes are scheduled to begin at the new location beginning Fall of 2010.
USF Sarasota-Manatee has operated the South County Instructional Site on the State College of Florida Venice campus since 2004, providing convenient access to university programs for residents of Englewood, North Port, Venice and surrounding areas. The new location, five miles south of its current location, will allow the university to accommodate the substantial growth to its southern Sarasota County program which began with 50 students and has grown to almost 500 students in the past five years.
Programs offered at this location include bachelor degrees in Elementary Education and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences; bachelor degree coursework in Psychology, Criminology, and Business; Master’s Degree program in Educational Leadership and Associate of Science to Bachelor of Science Degree in Business and Criminology. There is on-site student support, advising and counseling.
The university plans to utilize 6,420 square feet of space on the second floor with room to expand in the future. This will include four classrooms, one videoconferencing room, six offices and a conference room. The lease allows the University to rename the building to USF Sarasota-Manatee and also have a voice in determining the other lessees.
Local partners have made a tremendous investment in the new location. The Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice awarded USF Sarasota-Manatee a grant for $170,000 over two years which will enable the university to hire resident faculty–one full-time professor in Management and two part-time professors in Marketing to improve delivery of Business Degree programs in southern Sarasota. The City of North Port has also contributed $125,000 toward the project.
“We are very excited about this new location not only for our students but for the community,” said Dr. Arthur M. Guilford, regional chancellor of USF Sarasota-Manatee. “We have been very committed to providing higher education to the three-county area and our ongoing partnership with the City of North Port and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice shows the community’s commitment as well.”
The City of North Port has identified education as one of its five key industries for its business recruitment efforts. Combine into one paragraph. “The City of North Port is extremely pleased and excited that USF Sarasota-Manatee has made a commitment to come to our city,” said Allan Lane, economic development manager for the City of North Port. “While nearly all industry sectors are hurting in this economy, we know that the future of the education sector is promising since it is the foundation for all economic growth and expansion because it involves training, research, scholarship and innovation. We see USF Sarasota-Manatee’s commitment to North Port and Southern Sarasota County as a catalyst for attracting other educational resources to the community.”
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USF Sarasota-Manatee is an upper-level university for those with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree interested in pursuing a baccalaureate or master’s degree, professional certification, or continuing education credit. USFSM offers the prestige of a nationally ranked research university with the convenience of a hometown university, including classes in south Sarasota County. –end—
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