The Openwater Scuba Diving class at UF has resurfaced this fall.
The class was canceled in May 2009 because it no longer fit the direction of the College of Heath and Human Performance, said Cheryl Thacker, the course's former director.
"The program itself was well-attended and highly desired," Thacker said. "It has been restored in a new light and new direction."
The class was reopened as part of the School of Forest Resources and Conservation by professor Douglas Marcinek, who said he saw the opportunity to propose a new series of courses that focused on the development of scientific research divers.
The diving class works in collaboration with the UF Gator Scuba Club, which educates students on diver safety.
UF also offers Advanced Scuba Diving, Scuba Diving Leadership 1 and Scuba Diving Leadership 2. Each course introduces divers to new methods and dive locations and prepares students for Divemaster Certification tests.
"Our focus is on offering our students the highest level of training available anywhere," Marcinek said, "and, in turn, demanding from them the effort required so that we are producing the safest and most competent divers of any program on the planet."
