RUSKIN - Gannon University is experiencing some serious growing pains and as a result, SouthShore is going to see a big change in the landscape.
When it opened its doors in 2015 as a satellite campus for its home school in Erie, Pa., Gannon occupied the west wing of the spacious sales center leased by Minto Construction on Commercial Drive in Ruskin. With an enrollment of only 22 students and a faculty of four professors, the school offered a doctorate degree in occupational therapy, one of only six universities in the country to do so.
But with an increasing demand for higher levels of medical related fields, Gannon added a doctoral degree in physical therapy and a master's degree in athletic training to the curriculum in Ruskin. That meant a need for more classrooms, more teachers, more labs for hands-on training and more parking spaces for the additional students.
The timing was nearly perfect. With only one more year left on their lease, Minto was on its way out and Gannon jumped on the opportunity to purchase the entire facility.
The renovation began in 2017 to create additional classrooms and lab space.
"We also wanted more space for the students, to give them space to hang out and socialize, a place to study, and to eat," said Rick Johnson, Director of Operations for the Ruskin campus.
But the university wasn't finished with its plans for more growth. To accommodate the two additional health profession programs it plans to add - speech and language pathology and a physician assistant degree - Gannon will build a three-story, 80,000 square foot, $21-million dollar building.
This structure will rise out of the parking lot area in front of its current location and will provide more classroom space, student space, state of the art lab facilities, as well as a fitness center for hands-on application of their skills. The new addition is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2019.
So the tiny campus now has grown to its current enrollment of 118 students and 18 professors in just three short years. Its curriculum has also expanded from offering only one degree to five.
"Our overall vision for the future we hope that over the next five or six years to grow to between 450 to 500 students," said Steven Mauro, vice president of Academic Administration at the Erie campus. "It will be great for the area which has a real need for health care professionals. It will bring in a faculty of over 30 professionals and will provide employment opportunities as well. We're very excited about this new plan. We've seen a lot of major milestones."
Contact Kathy Straub at hillsnews@tampabay.com.