The University of North Florida Department of Housing and Residence Life is a featured program.
Land of the Geese | Home of the Osprey
The University of North Florida (UNF) is located in Jacksonville, Florida and is home to approximately 16,000 Osprey. UNF is currently ranked among the nation’s best valued institutions of higher education, and the Princeton Review named UNF a Best College in the Southeast for the sixth straight year. To learn more about the University, check out our website www.unf.edu.
The Student Experience
Being an Osprey
Students choose to join the Osprey Nation for a number of reasons. Located on a nature preserve, many students find the surrounding scenery and wildlife to be serene and calming. Others appreciate the growing athletics program, while many others enjoy UNF’s close proximity to their hometowns. UNF’s student population is 94% Floridians, with 41% of those students from Duval County, right here in UNF’s zip code!
Campus Recreation
As mentioned above, UNF is located on a nature preserve, and therefore, the University works to offer experiences that cultivate awareness of nature and our surrounding environment. UNF’s Eco-Adventure allows students and staff to take advantage of kayaking, Osprey Challenge Ropes Courses (high and low), team building programs, zip lining, and more! The mission of Campus Recreation is to promote and contribute to individual physical fitness and wellness, as well as enhance leadership and interpersonal skills. All programs within the Department are in place to achieve these goals and promote a healthy, well-balanced UNF community.
High Ropes Course at UNF’s Eco Adventure
UNF is certainly a growing institution with a small-town feel. With an average class size of 32, UNF student receive one-on-one attention from faculty and staff in order to ensure their success. While many students are local to the area, they choose to stay on campus nights and weekends due to the special weekend programming efforts from Campus Life and Housing and Residence Life. UNF’s Ospreys consider campus their home away from home! SWOOP!
Wellness Complex
UNF’s Student Wellness Complex is LEED-Gold Certified and considered the largest and most comprehensive wellness center in northeast Florida. It has won several awards since its construction including the Excellence in Design by The American Institute of Architecture, Outstanding Design of an Athletic Facility by American School & University, and Top 10 Building by The American Institute of Architecture Florida. The Complex includes a 1/9 mile track, Jamba Juice smoothie shop, 34-foot tall climbing wall, and three large group fitness classrooms where over 50 classes a week are held, just to name some of the amenities available!
The Osprey Clubhouse
The Osprey Clubhouse is one of the newest buildings at UNF. It is a 14,000 square foot facility that is open to all UNF students, but conveniently located on the residential side of campus. The Clubhouse is a two story building with multipurpose rooms for classes, trainings, programming, large–scale events and more. It is also home to a game room, Pita Pit, and a 3,000 square foot outdoor pool and 6,000 square foot pool deck.
UNF Department of Housing and Residence Life (HRE)
Mission of UNF HRE
The Department of Housing and Residence Life at the University of North Florida supports the educational mission of the University through the creation of a positive living and learning community with the best facilities, services, programs and customer service for our students. Our responsive staff strive daily to enhance student academic and personal development by fostering a sense of respect for self, others and the community, placing an emphasis on diversity, encouraging personal and civic responsibility, while providing opportunities for leadership development.
On Campus Housing
In 2015, UNF began implementing a first year live–on requirement for all first year students. UNF HRE recognizes that students are more successful in their personal, professional, and academic development when they resident on campus their first year. To that point, when students live in University housing beyond their first year, they remain more successful than their peers who choose to seek out housing options on their own. With the acquisition of The Flats, UNF HRE wanted to continue to provide more options to students interested in remaining on a contract with HRE.
Three residential areas are home to our first year students (Osprey Landing/Hall, Osprey Cove, and Osprey Crossings), which consist of 10 buildings able to sleep 1648 residents. Osprey Fountains and Osprey Village are our on campus suite and apartment style options available to our returning students, and consist of 9 buildings able to sleep 1399 residents.
University Owned Off Campus Housing
The Flats was acquired by UNF in the fall of 2014, and offers an off–campus, apartment style option to upper–class students. The Flats is home to eight apartment buildings with easy access to two swimming pools, a TV lounge, game room, study center, basketball courts, ping pong tables, and more! While the complex is located off campus, the Housing policies and contract are the same format as those signed by students living in residence halls directly on campus.
Professional Development for Staff/StaffCirriculum
All Residence Life Coordinators/RLCs (professional staff) and Assistant Residence Life Coordinators/ARLCs (graduate student staff) are required to sit on either the Training and Development Committee or the Recruitment and Selection Committee, both under HRE.
There are also additional opportunities for RLCs and ARLCs to be a part of Division wide committee work, projects, and efforts as interest and passion areas are further developed. Some of these focus areas include sustainability, student involvement, and health promotion. At the start of fall 2015, the UNF Division of Student Affairs utilized a team of professionals to host various professional development workshops for full–time employees, as well as graduate level students, which makes taking advantage of learning opportunities quick easy.
Specific to the Department’s graduate staff members (the ARLCs), there is a detailed curriculum outlined for two years of service with which each student should become competent. ARLCs attend in–service meetings and ongoing training and professional development sessions typically hosted by various RLC team members that cover topics found on their curriculum model. These in–services can range from topics on supervising, advising, teambuilding, communication, personal foundations, and more.
» Learn more about employment possibilities at University of North Florida