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The University of North Florida (UNF) is a nationally ranked university located in the scenic Northeastern Florida city of Jacksonville. Composed of six colleges of distinction, the University currently has an enrollment of nearly 17,000 students and employs more than 500 full-time faculty as well as over 1,000 staff members.

UNF is an emerging center for entrepreneurship in Jacksonville, and in Northeast Florida. UNF’s Coggin College of Business is primarily responsible for the increased emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovation. Most recently, after a $1 million dollar donation, UNF created the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

The Coggin College of Business also offers a minor in entrepreneurship that all students have the opportunity to partake in. The minor itself is predominantly business-oriented but does offer courses that teach creativity and design thinking. This minor coincides with the 200 registered student organizations on campus, one of which is the Entrepreneurs, Creators, and Innovators club. In addition, UNF offers courses such as GEB4942: Entrepreneurial Internship, which stimulates innovation and allows students to gain real-world experiences in entrepreneurial business. Other courses such as MAN4294: Creativity and Innovation in the Workplace, teach students how to have a creative mindset when exploring different possibilities in complex and uncertain environments. There may be an opportunity to expand the number of clubs or students involved with social innovation because the UNF Student Government, which has an annual budget of roughly $4.5 million dollars, just announced the creation of a new Student Involvement Center.

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs is one of the ways UNF encourages student innovation and entrepreneurship through funding a variety of different research-based projects. The final way that UNF encourages student innovation and entrepreneurship are through Transformational learning opportunities (TLOs). TLOs may take a myriad of forms that include study abroad experiences, service-learning experiences, research/directed independent study experiences with a faculty member, and leadership experiences.

</div>The University of North Florida does not offer a tremendous amount of resources for faculty interested in entrepreneurship and innovation. The Office of Faculty Enhancement hosts the [https://www.unf.edu/ofe/events/Summer_Teaching_Innovation_Institute_2019.aspx Teaching Innovation Institute] every summer. The institute focuses on redesigning an existing course of developing a new course while involving innovative instructional strategies. The interdisciplinary focus of the institute allows for all faculty and department teams to participate, underlining the opportunity for innovation and entrepreneurship to become a university-wide point of focus.&nbsp;

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<div><div><br /></div><div>Another major aspect of developing private-public relationships is UNF’s continued dedication to earning the Carnegie Foundation “Community Engagement” designation. The University has established numerous public outreach and community partnerships that include the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, HandsOn Jacksonville, Public Opinion Research Lab, Small Business Development Center, Center for Community Initiatives, Volunteers in Medicine, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Center for Ethics, Public Policy, and the Professions. These community partnerships allow faculty members, and dedicated student assistants, to utilize their disciplinary expertise to produce “applied scholarship” that directly addresses an array of regional concerns.&nbsp;</div><div>

<br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-184d11d1-7fff-0ff1-4451-f72c0fcdece1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The University of North Florida has an annual economic impact of nearly $1 billion on the regional economy. Despite this general impact, the university is committed to contributing to the growth of the regional economy through specialized initiatives, institutes/centers, and programs. One of the University’s largest center is </span>[https://www.sbdc.unf.edu/about-the-sbdc/ <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of North Florida</span>]&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(SBDC). With funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the University of North Florida, the City of Jacksonville, the Clay County Chamber of Commerce, Marion County, Nassau County, St. Johns County, Putnam County, Suwannee County and other public and private sector sources, the Florida SBDC at UNF is able to provide its management assistance services at little or no charge to the client. SBDC programs deliver up-to-date management advice, training and information to help business owners make sound decisions and to assist potential owners in getting started on the right foot. For every federal dollar invested in the SBDC program, nearly $10 is returned in the form of tax revenue.&nbsp;</span></span>

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