April 16 Dedication Of New $3.9 Million Teaching Facility At UF/IFAS Indian River Research And Education Center

By:
Chuck Woods (352) 392-1773 x 281

Source(s):
Michael Martin mvm@mail.ifas.ufl.edu, (352) 392-1971
Jimmy Cheek jgcheek@mail.ifas.ufl.edu, (352) 392-1963
Walter Tabachnick wjt@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu, (561) 778-7200 ext. 124

View Photo
View Photo

FORT PIERCE, Fla.—Dedication ceremonies for a new $3.9 million teaching facility addition at the University of Florida’s IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center will be held April 16 in Fort Pierce.

State Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, will be the keynote speaker, and Dianna Morgan, vice chair of the UF Board of Trustees, will dedicate the building. Pruitt and State Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie, will formally accept the facility for the State of Florida.

Michael Martin, UF vice president for agriculture and natural resources, will accept the building for the university, and Jimmy Cheek, dean of UF’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, will accept the building for UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS).

Martin will welcome guests at 10:30 a.m., and Walter Tabachnick, interim director of the center, will introduce guests. Tabachnick will accept the building on behalf of students, faculty and staff at the center.

Martin said the 20,000 square-foot teaching facility addition complements the existing O.C. Minton Hall, citrus research groves, vegetable research fields, greenhouses and other support facilities.

The addition, which includes an adjacent 2-acre teaching garden, features state-of-the-art distance education facilities, lecture rooms and auditorium for courses, seminars and meetings. The addition has five classrooms, two laboratories, a computer laboratory, a library, greenhouses and office space for faculty and staff.

Martin said the expanded teaching program at Fort Pierce reflects “UF’s unique statewide agricultural research and education mission” that is mandated in federal laws, beginning with the 1862 Morrill Act that established land-grant universities in every state.

“Providing access to students, conducting research in the public interest and taking new knowledge to the people are more than land-grant traditions; they are legally-binding responsibilities,” Martin said.

Martin thanked Sen. Pruitt, chair of the Treasure Coast legislative delegation, and former State Rep. O.R. “Rick” Minton, D-Fort Pierce, for their outstanding support in making the expansion a reality.

Cheek said the addition, started in June 1999, will accommodate the center’s growing number of students who can earn their bachelor’s degree from UF without having to leave the Treasure Coast. Nearly 500 students have participated in both degree and non-degree teaching programs at the center.

He said the cooperative teaching program at the center involves Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce and Florida Atlantic University in St. Lucie West.

“Thanks to the support and collaboration of our legislators, local and state educators, business groups and others, we are able to move forward and expand the statewide teaching programs of the UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences,” Cheek said.

“The Fort Pierce center is one of six UF/IFAS off-campus sites with teaching programs. Other UF/IFAS centers with similar programs are at Apopka, Fort Lauderdale, Homestead, Hillsborough Community College at Plant City and Milton near Pensacola.”

Cheek said UF’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is the only comprehensive program of its kind in the state, providing instruction in food, natural resources, human and life sciences.

The UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center was established in 1947 to serve the research and education needs of Florida with special emphasis on the five-county area comprising St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Martin, Indian River and Brevard counties.

-30-

0

Avatar photo
Posted: April 11, 2002


Category: UF/IFAS



Subscribe For More Great Content

IFAS Blogs Categories