University of South Florida Polytechnic
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Other name
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Florida Poly |
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| Type | Public, state university, Semester |
| Established | April 20, 2012 |
| Chairman | Frank T. Martin |
| President | Randy K. Avent |
| Provost | Terry Parker |
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Academic staff
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63 |
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Administrative staff
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105 |
| Students | 1,236 (Spring 2017) |
| Location | Lakeland, Florida, United States |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Colors | Royal Purple |
| Affiliations | State University System of Florida |
| Mascot | Phoenix |
| Website | https://floridapoly.edu |
Coordinates: 28°08′41.2″N 81°51′03.1″W / 28.144778°N 81.850861°W
Florida Polytechnic University (Florida Poly) is a public university in Lakeland, Florida, United States. Created as an independent university in 2012, it is the newest of the twelve institutions in the State University System of Florida. It is the state's only public polytechnic university, and focuses heavily on STEM education.
The institution originated as a branch campus of the University of South Florida, University of South Florida Lakeland, which opened in 1988. The State of Florida authorized a new campus in 2008, and renamed the school University of South Florida Polytechnic. In 2012, the Florida Legislature initiated plans to dissolve the USF branch campus and reform the Lakeland institution into an independent school. Florida Poly opened for classes on August 25, 2014 with an inaugural class of 554 students.
Florida Poly resides on a 170-acre campus designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. The university's Innovation, Science and Technology (IST) Building is home to a supercomputer, 3-D printing lab, cyber gaming and media lab, cyber security lab, robotics lab, big data lab, and digital library. Florida Poly is the first university whose main library is completely digital.
The University of South Florida opened a satellite campus in Lakeland – University of South Florida Lakeland – in 1988. The branch shared its grounds with the Lakeland campus of Polk Community College (now Polk State College). By the 2000s it had grown to enroll around 4,000 students, and the local business owners secured state funding for a separate campus in 2008. The same year, USF's trustees renamed the campus University of South Florida Polytechnic, reflecting a new focus on STEM education. A site near Interstate 4 was chosen for the new campus. In 2009 Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava was selected to design the campus' first building.
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