Gentry Sutton, President, Warner University

August 2026 —In an interview with Invest:, Gentry Sutton, president of Warner University, discussed the university’s clarified mission, growing partnerships, and commitment to preparing students for Central Florida’s workforce needs. “We want to continue to offer academic programs that are responsive to the needs of Central Florida and Central Florida’s economy,” Sutton said.

What key changes over the past year have most impacted Warner University?

We are in the process of strategic planning this year. We started in August, and we are almost finished. Our spring board meeting is next week,  and we are seeking the board’s direction about a couple of major initiatives  before we move forward.

We updated our mission with board support this year. We did not change our mission, but we changed the wording. We have really solidified institutional identity and vision for who we want to be.

We are in the tradition of a more conservative, evangelical Christian university, and we have really leaned into that identity. We are going to hold a traditional view of Scripture and what Christianity has taught for 2,000 years. We are going to wear that identity on our sleeve.

What recent initiatives or partnerships are you most excited about?

A few years ago, we developed a pre-physical therapy program that is doing very well. Through our faith-based connection, we also recently partnered with AdventHealth University in Orlando on some articulation agreements. 

 Students may attend years 1 and 2 at Warner and years 3 and 4 at AHU to earn a B.S. in Nuclear Medicine Technology, or Medical Laboratory Sciences. They may also start at Warner and then pursue the Associate of Science in Nursing or the B.S in Nursing at AHU.We have also tried to rekindle relationships with churches and have been very intentional about developing relationships with Christian schools across the state.

Additionally, we have partnered with Lake Wales High School to offer some dual-credit courses. We offer some online, and we also have high-school teachers who are qualified to teach college-level credits. We  have a strong partnership with Winter Haven Christian School as well.

What key trends are you seeing in higher education?

Students are shopping more and applying to more universities. We are also getting more business majors. Traditional majors like history, English, and communication are dwindling, and more students are going to professional programs.

That is an important part of our strategic planning process — recognizing that students are moving toward professional programs. We are evaluating which programs we need to develop to serve our constituency, which is largely Central Florida. 

About 90% of our students are from Florida. We get students from Tampa, Bradenton, Miami, and Jacksonville, but we are heavily Central Florida. We are looking at which new programs will best serve the Florida economy and our local economy.

How are you approaching workforce development?

Business is our largest major. We have accounting, finance, management, marketing, general business administration, international business, sport management, an MBA, and a Master of Science in Management.

All of our senior business students, through their capstone class, partner with the Small Business Development Center, with which we started partnering in 2017. Through that program, our students provide consultative work for area businesses, approaching businesses with real needs and doing research to help address them. Our senior business majors have helped 17 Lake Wales businesses since we launched that partnership.

We have had four student teams win the Regional Student Undergraduate Project of the Year and one student win Project of the Year. We compete against the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa, so we are very proud of those achievements.

We also have an agricultural program that is about 14 or 15 years old. We are one of only three institutions in Florida with an ag program. We developed that program by working with local agricultural experts. We are now revisiting that process to update the curriculum.

Our agricultural majors complete 500 hours of hands-on experience before graduating. They do three practicums and a capstone. Those students typically have jobs immediately when they graduate because of those experiences. Agriculture is a key program for us.

How does Warner engage with the local community?

Community engagement has always been important to us. A number of nonprofits have formed out of Warner. One example is the Lake Wales Care Center, founded by a Warner alumnus over 40 years ago. It provides clothing, food, and many other services. It has grown into thrift stores, a Meals on Wheels program, a bike repair shop, transitional housing, and other initiatives.

We have a strong partnership with that organization. There is not a square inch of Lake Wales that it does not touch, and because of our involvement, there is not a square inch that Warner does not touch either.

We promote service among our students and have strong social work and ministry programs connected to the community.

Teacher education has also been a major program. In the Lake Wales area alone, we have 127 teacher education alumni, so we impac pretty much every student in the district.

What distinguishes Warner’s academic experience?

We are known for student-faculty interaction. We do not have graduate teaching assistants. All classes are taught by professors with advanced degrees, and their doors are open. We emphasize teaching over research.

We also have a large number of professors with real-world experience in their disciplines. We have a criminal justice instructor who was a U.S. Marshal. We have professors with backgrounds in Major League Baseball, medicine, and global economics.

That experience makes classroom instruction more engaging and helps facilitate job connections.

What are your key priorities for the next two to three years?

We want to grow our scholarship endowment so students have less loan burden when they graduate. We also want to be recognized as a Christian institution in Florida that maintains a commitment to biblical orthodoxy.

We want to continue to offer academic programs that are responsive to the needs of Central Florida and Central Florida’s economy.

Is there anything else you would like to highlight?

We have a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and a concentration within our Master of Science in Management. We have a strong relationship with the Polk County Sheriff’s Department..

We also participate in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. In the five sports that we participated in this past fall, three of our students won the Champions of Character Award for their sport. That means that we won 60% of the Champions of Character Awards that we could win against nine other schools in our conference.