The University of Central Florida will look at possible limitations on its planned downtown Orlando campus this week.
The nation’s second largest university wants to put a $60 million campus in downtown Orlando. Of that, one third of the money would come from UCF, one third from state dollars and one third from private donors like the Orlando Magic.
This year the state budget had a $15 million appropriation for the campus – but Gov. Rick Scott vetoed it. Now, UCF’s board will vote on a memo this week outlining four promises for the downtown campus, sent directly to the governor’s office.
“What I would say to you is we have been diligently trying to ferret out all the issues,” said Dan Holsenbeck, vice president of university relations. “We came in last year with a grand plan, which we still think was a very good plan. But everybody involved said you may reaching a little too far. So we scaled our plan back and are only looking at that one building. That’s what we’re saying publicly, and privately.”
In the draft memo, UCF says it won’t ask for any more state money for downtown until 2018. The school will not use state money to build dorms, and will only offer degrees in demand by local employers.
The document must be approved by the UCF board.
