St Leo University Fl

Saint Leo Opens Campus in Channel District

Saint Leo University opened a new campus Thursday in Tampa’s Channel District that by year’s end will create 90 jobs for the city.

The Tampa Education Center, headquartered in the Grand Central at Kennedy complex, will contribute an estimated $4 million in pay and benefits to the downtown economy each year, university president Arthur F. Kirk Jr. said.

Geared toward the adult continuing education student, the Tampa Education Center features a high-tech academic component and a state-of-the-art student support system.

Kirk made the announcement at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new facility, which is located at 1120 E. Kennedy Blvd. The gathering included Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Greater Chamber of Commerce President Bob Rohrlack, State Rep. Betty Reed and former Florida Gov. Robert Martinez.

Saint Leo’s Education Center "is making Tampa stronger educationally and economically,” Kirk said. “We could not be happier.”

The new education center – which covers approximately 16,300 square feet – features five state-of-the-art classrooms and a Student Support Center. The classrooms will offer the opportunity for traditional instruction, whereas the Student Support Center addresses Saint Leo’s online student population. The Support Center employs enrollment, admissions, financial aid and veterans specialists, and academic advisers, all serving adult students earning undergraduate degrees online.

One of the classrooms is equipped with video teleconferencing capability, which permits students from multiple locations to attend class simultaneously. For example, with the video teaching technology, students in the Florida Keys, east Texas and southern Virginia can share the same class.

“This is very advanced technology. … There are no more blackboards,” said Susan Colaric, assistant vice president of instructional technology.

The Tampa Education Center cost roughly $200,000 to open, center director Kenneth Gonzalez said. The center’s lease at Grand Central is for five years. But the prospect of Saint Leo leaving downtown Tampa seems remote.

“We wouldn’t have made the investment if we didn’t plan to be here for a while,” Gonzalez said.

Saint Leo is no stranger to Tampa. The Pasco County-based university opened a teaching center at MacDill Air Force Base in 1973. The school was the first four-year institution in the nation to offer college classes on a military installation. Today, Saint Leo has become one of the nation’s leading education providers to active duty military and veterans with teaching on or near military bases in seven states.

Saint Leo University Celebrates Three Commencement Ceremonies

SAINT LEO, FL – More than 960 students will receive undergraduate or graduate degrees from Saint Leo University during ceremonies set for Friday evening April 29, and for the morning and afternoon of Saturday, April 30. The ceremonies will take place in the Marion Bowman Activities Center at the main campus in the Pasco County town of Saint Leo.

At the Friday ceremony, at 7 p.m., students who have studied at the undergraduate level either through Saint Leo’s Weekend and Evening Program, or through the Center for Online Learning, will receive their degrees. The degrees to be awarded include the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), the Bachelor of Arts (BA), and the Bachelor of Science (BS). Degree recipients will hear from Pamela Tate, who is the president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. She will also receive an honorary degree. Her selection as speaker is especially fitting as most of the degree recipients attending the Friday ceremony returned to college during adulthood. Two of the students have been selected to deliver class farewell addresses. Maria Elena Marian, a business administration student from Land O’Lakes, FL, will represent the Weekend and Evening Program students. Melissa Lee Buchanan, who studied criminal justice, lives in Tacoma, WA, and will speak on behalf of Center for Online Learning students.

Saturday morning

Saturday at 9 a.m., students from a variety of disciplines at the graduate level will convene. In the cases of two of the academic degrees to be awarded, the students graduating constitute the first class of Saint Leo graduates: that is true for both the Master of Social Work (MSW) degree, an innovative online offering, as well as for the Education Specialist (Ed.S.) which offers those with a master’s degree in education or a related field further leadership instruction. Fourteen members of the Class of 2011 studied for the Master of Social Work, and another 17 studied for the Education Specialist degree. The commencement ceremony also recognizes those who have earned the: Master of Education; the Master of Instructional Design; the Master of Arts in theology; and the Master of Science in criminal justice. The degree candidates will be addressed by prominent Tampa attorney Ronald L. Weaver, a specialist in environmental and land-use law issues, and a principal in the statewide firm Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A.

A veteran of the U.S. Navy and Master of Social Work Program student from Virginia, Joseph V. Schnurbusch, will deliver the class farewell message. Schnurbusch now works with a nonprofit organization that provides emergency financial assistance to Marines, sailors, and their families. This is the second degree he has earned from Saint Leo; his first was a bachelor’s degree in sociology conferred in 2008.

Colleges in the South

Saint Leo University Alumni, Lee Marvin, Desi Arnaz, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Saint Leo University, J. P. Ricciardi, Red Barrett

American Universities and Colleges

Saint Leo University 2012

Graduate Schools in the U.S. 2010