CIRT Mission and History

The mission of the Center for Instruction & Research Technology (CIRT) is to offer expertise, resources, and training to assist faculty in ways that enable them to develop greater capacities for using technology for teaching and research. CIRT also disseminates ideas, frameworks, and materials that apply pedagogical knowledge to the teaching and learning process.

The Center for Instruction and Research Technology began as a software testing facility within Computing Services in the early 1990s. By October, 1995, CIRT was launched as a more diversified faculty support facility, and in that year UNF faculty and administration decided to house CIRT under the Office of Faculty Enhancement and locate it within a newly proposed faculty center. As a result, in the 1999-2000 academic year CIRT moved to Honors Hall, Building 10. In April of 2000 CIRT hired its first full-time employee and emerged as an educational technology center where faculty could go to explore software, check out equipment, work on course development and much more.

In 2007, CIRT became an independent unit, reporting to Academic Affairs, and in 2010, CIRT expanded its facilities and moved to a larger location in J.J. Daniel Hall, Building 1, Room 1801. Today, CIRT has nearly 20 full-time employees and houses a collection of technologically advanced software, computers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, digital camcorders, laptops, and other equipment.

The start of the university’s distance learning initiative in 2011 prompted an accelerated growth of staff to meet faculty needs and to develop and provide new types of support to the faculty and departments engaged in the development of online courses and degree programs. CIRT's Creative Team, Video Studio, and equipment services are housed in Building 1, Room 1801, while the Online Learning Support and Instructional Design teams, as well as the Online Learning Lab are located in Building 10, Suite 1701.