Community First Credit Union reopens on UNF campus with new look and plans for increased student engagement

The Community First Credit Union branch, located in the John A. Delaney Student Union, has officially reopened its doors with a refurbished look. The new décor, floor plan design and furnishings are all part of a spring renovation undertaken to modernize the branch.

Students enrolled in a special Consumer Behavior class led by Leslie Gordon, adjunct professor in the Marketing and Logistics Department of the Coggin College of Business, participated in an class project as part of the course. Gordon designed the spring course around the branch renovation as a community-engagement project. The credit union tasked students with three challenges: finding ways to raise awareness, raising retention once students graduate and offering suggestions for the redesign.

When the pandemic made in-person meetings impossible, the students primarily focused on the marketing questions, rather than décor. Gordon said that her students worked virtually in teams in order to review consumer-attitude research, create marketing strategies and then present their final recommendations, which Gordon submitted to Community First. 

“They really took quite a few of the students’ marketing program ideas to put into practice,” Gordon said. From increasing engagement during campus events to expanding student perks to creating internship opportunities, Community First plans to incorporate student suggestions in about eight areas of operations.

The commitment to renovate was part of the credit union’s agreement last fall to renew its 10-year lease with the University for the current location in the Student Union, which opened in 2009. Prior to that, the credit union served the campus from another location since the early 2000s. As a longtime corporate partner, Community First provides scholarships and supports numerous UNF initiatives, including the UNF Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Student Emergency Relief Fund, the Alumni Association's Third Thursdays events, orientation programming and Market Days.

For more information on the UNF branch including hours of operation and student and staff benefits, visit the Community First website.