A FUTURE SO
THROUGH THE
LENS OF
PROGRESS:
AN INTERVIEW
WITH PRESIDENT
TIM COST '81
The amount of progress created on the
Jacksonville University campus over the
past five years has accrued at a rate that
should leave those watching breathless
about future possibilities.
Cultivating a private university in a vibrant city,
located in one of the fastest growing regions
in the world, and during one of the most
explosive periods in history, is exactly the role
Jacksonville University President Tim Cost
envisioned from the beginning. And he doesn’t
intend to back down from that. Instead, he
fully expects the University community to lean
in with an energy that matches his own.
“What you’re seeing on this campus is ten
years of progress happening in just five,”
Cost says. “We’re a university that had never
raised $25 million, but together reached five
times that, in less time than expected. And
we aren’t finished yet.”
As the University celebrates the
unprecedented success of its ASPIRE
campaign, President Cost sat down with
WAVE to talk about his first five years as
President, and to take a look at what’s coming
for Jacksonville University in the next decade.
BRIGHT
Q: With so many improvements and investments
defining your tenure, how would you describe
Jacksonville University today?
A: This is what could be considered a turn-around start-
up, and when you’ve got an 84-year old institution with
so much promise, that’s a thrilling venture. We believe in
innovation that leads to growth, not status quo. We don’t
shoot down great ideas from talented leaders. We’re
always asking, “Where will the world take these students
next?” Then, we work to market-back.
Q: As President, how do you approach decisions
concerning the University’s trajectory?
A: Our leadership regularly talks about how a 14-year-old
today will prefer to live and study five years down the
road, when that student is a sophomore on this campus.
In my first weeks as president, we met with students,
in small and large groups, and said, “Tell us about your
lifestyle. How do you learn best? Where are you from?
What do you want to do next?” And the more they shared,
the more we identified key points for our decision making.
Then we poured capital improvements into this campus.
We started new majors, minors and degrees. We provided
access to everything from drones to simulation labs. We
embarked on a comprehensive strategy of partnerships,
dozens of them. We decided that our University would
be a partnership-driven, economically based, liberal arts
informed and student-centric institution.
Q: What’s your take on how to foster pre-enrollment
affinity with prospective students?
A: If you assess cohorts across this campus, there are
several groups that do this well. These students step
onto campus already connected, already feeling a part of
our DNA. Let’s take student-athletes as an example. This
group, like many others, exhibits those core qualities we
most care about: thriving, serving, graduating, giving back
and building meaningful, rewarding careers.
Quick story. Several years ago in a Board of Trustees
presentation, I shared some data—diversity, retention
rates, graduation rates, GPAs and so on. Before I
could identify the cohort, the Board emphatically said,
“We want more just like them.” That cohort numbered
roughly 500 students. They are your Jacksonville
University NCAA Division I athletes.
Like other natural cohorts—Greek organizations,
Honors students, NROTC, Keigwin School of Nursing,
international, etc.—they are standouts. Our student-
athletes are excelling in the classroom and on the field.
Artis Gilmore, Daniel Murphy, Russell Knox—these
alumni are a part of our legacy of excellence.
Regardless of the cohort, we continue recruiting the best
and brightest. That JU brand of DNA is already present.
Continued on next page.
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