Incoming UF campus aims to upskill working professionals (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — University of Florida faculty members are less than a year away from teaching in Jacksonville.
Ground-up development isn’t happening yet — that’s still in the design phase — but with renovations underway at 801 Bay St., the university is preparing to launch its first wave of graduate programs in August.
This talent engine is being designed to, in part, help Jacksonville employers retain and upskill their workforce, university representatives said during a presentation to the Jacksonville Information Technology Council Tuesday morning.
“We have a couple different target markets — we’re definitely looking for young people coming right out of school that want to go to graduate school,” said Jennifer Reid, associate director of UF Jacksonville’s Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering. “But we’re really gearing this toward working professionals.”
With evening and weekday courses, the campus will bring research faculty permanently based in Jacksonville and programs built around technology and engineering management, according to the presentation.
Programs launching in August include MS Computer Science, MS in AI in Biomedical and Human Sciences, MS in Engineering Management, Master of Studies in Law, architecture and a weekend part-time MBA, according to the presentation.
The AI and cybersecurity concentrations will bring access to UF’s top-tier computing infrastructure, including its $24 million NVIDIA supercomputer — one of the nation’s fastest — called the HiPerGator AI.
The degrees in computer science and engineering management will each have two concentrations: artificial intelligence and cybersecurity; data analytics and smart manufacturing, respectively. August will also bring the beginnings of the Florida Semiconductor Institute, speakers said.
“Two of the concentrations that we will have initially … we are going to be able to change with the demand, ” Reid said of the UF courses. “If we see that the demand is growing, then we have to change that definition.”
Physical construction of the $287.5 million, 200,000-square-foot campus itself won’t begin till next year and is expected to run through 2029.
Campus progress
Though UF has gone through the motions for months, it’s still a chunk away from breaking ground.
The university began its search in September 2025 for a local development partner to deliver its long-awaited urban campus. The idea is that the developer will take on the complex task of managing design and construction, while UF provides the funding and vision for a walkable, urban campus that blends into LaVilla and anchors the western edge of downtown’s ongoing redevelopment.
Final selection of that spearheading company is anticipated for March, according to a spokesperson at the time.
The two-story building at 801 W. Bay St. will serve as an initial launch point for the campus — a project anticipated to cost $4.6 million, according to UF. A completion date was set for June 2026.
“What we’re going to build is going to be flagship — the very latest and greatest,” said Kurt Dudas, UF’s vice president of strategic initiatives. “So when [the rest of campus] opens, 801 Bay will look a little bit, it’ll be a little jealous of those new buildings, I think.”
In the months since that developer walkthrough, the City of Jacksonville purchased 801 Bay St. from Gateway Jax, months after officials approved the land swap. While no money was exchanged, the deed transacted for $6.52 million in December.