From the OGCS Executive Director

   As the new academic year begins, I am pleased to share with the university community exciting news from the Office of Graduate and Continuing Studies in our inaugural quarterly newsletter.

   First, I want to extend my thanks and appreciation to Don Morrill who led OGCS prior to my appointment as the new executive director. His leadership and the solid foundation he established will allow the university to continue to expand programs and services for future OGCS students. I envision Don relaxing on a boat with his fishing pole smiling peacefully upon the water.

   One of my top priorities moving forward is to communicate to the university, not only the good things that have been happening in OGCS, but also the new initiatives and programs we will be adding. In this first issue we will provide updates from our area over the past few months.

   Moving forward, I look forward to hopefully sharing successful results of new programs such as the recently launched stackable graduate certificates and the cutting-edge technology certificates. I am confident we will be able to expand on the continued growth of our online courses and related strategic initiatives. And I am excited about pulling together our advising experts as a resource for how we can improve graduate student services.

   Our mission statement underscores the university’s commitment to being “a comprehensive, independent university that delivers challenging and high-quality educational experience to a diverse group of learners.” OGCS will support that commitment by extending educational experiences to graduate students, adult learners, and non-traditional education seekers.

   In future newsletters I hope to be able to announce new partnerships with key stakeholders including HBCUs, regional school districts, military servicemembers, and local organizations. I look forward to launching new innovative educational opportunities to grow enrollments. We will continue to prepare our students for “careers, graduate and professional education, and lifelong learning.”

And through our efforts we will reinforce the reputation of The University of Tampa as a vibrant, high-quality university that vigorously pursues continued growth through a “culture of constant improvement” for the “broader community and for many generations to come.”

   I am looking forward to an exciting and successful Fall semester!

ART GOON

Assistant Vice President/Executive Director of Graduate and Continuing Studies

OGCS Administrative Team

Art Goon

Assistant Vice President/Executive Director of Graduate and Continuing Studies

Angela Ward

Assistant Director of the Office of Graduate and Continuing Studies Operations 

Sue RiCharde

 Staff Assistant II

UTampa Online

   As part of the Office of Graduate and Continuing Studies (OGCS), UTampa Online (UTO) was established in November 2019 to meet the growing and changing needs of students as well as faculty. As UT continues to emphasize a face-to-face experiential learning environment for its student population, it also recognizes the increased interest in distance education. Thus, UTO focuses the attention on providing instructional design services to faculty for online and hybrid course design and development of courses.

   In Summer 22, the number of online courses offered increased by approximately 60% in comparison to Summer 21. This increase was based on the initiative in Fall 2021 of the UTO Online Course Design and Development Consultations which promoted the collaboration between faculty and the UTO team to develop online courses.

   In addition to this initiative, the New Teaching Institute (NTI) certification continues to be supported by the UTO team. UTO also partners closely with other units at UT such as the Information Technology and Security (ITS) Academic Solutions team in regard to reviewing the various instructional technologies within the UT digital ecosystem. In the upcoming year, UTO will continue to grow its’ training portfolio for faculty and provide further pathways to provide continuos support to teaching and learning in distance education at UT.

Adult and Summer Academic Programs (ASAP)

     Administration of the Adult and Summer Academic Programs (ASAP) is under the purview of the OGCS. This portfolio includes a variety of summer programs including May term and Winter Intersession. ASAP provides students with the opportunity to “Catch up, get ahead or explore something entirely new this summer.”

     Students can choose from among 500+ course offerings across these programs every year. In Summer, courses are offered in a variety of delivery modes, such as Online, Zoom, Hybrid, and In-person. For 2023, Winter Intersession and summer schedules are already being planned. Students can choose from 50+ sections being offered in the Winter Intersession 2023. Students will be able to register for Winter 2023 at the end of October.

     For questions regarding ASAP - contact Dr. Oma B. Singh, Director of Adult and Summer Academic Programs and Distance Learning.

Oma B. Singh

Director of Adult and Summer Academic Programs and Distance Learning 

Beth Jordan 

Instructional Designer

Graduate Admissions Updates

   Recruitment for the Fall 2022 semester was very successful. On the first day of classes 449 new graduate students were registered compared to 348 the previous Fall semester.

   The university saw record new student enrollments in the Master’s of Science in Business Analytics, Information Technology Management, Cybersecurity, and Criminology and Criminal Justice programs. 

   Additionally, enrolment caps were reached in the Master’s of Arts in Professional Communications, Social and Emerging Media programs as well as the Master of Science in Exercise and Nutrition Science and Instructional Design and Technology programs. 

Maria Popel, Director of Graduate and Continuing Studies,

International Graduate Admissions Counselor

Nancy Phillips

Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions, Graduate Admissions Counselor

Jason Melton

Graduate Admissions Counselor

Tina Gutierrez-Brewster Graduate Admissions Counselor 

Gillian Tiralla

Graduate Admissions Counselor

Alyssa Goodreau

Graduate Admissions Counselor

Graduate Advising Updates - 1,000 Total Graduate Students Registered! 

   For the first time in the history of the university more than 1,000 total graduate students were enrolled at the start of the new academic year. On the first day of classes 1,024 total continuing and new graduate students were registered for the Fall 2022 semester.

   Kudos to all the graduate academic advisors who worked closely with the admissions counselors, program directors and faculty to achieve this record enrollment.

   A new Graduate Advising Task Force has been established that will be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive student success plan that includes consistent student course selection and registration processes, as well as support for all aspects of the retention and successful graduation of all graduate students.

   The task force will be comprised of academic advisors in the Office of Graduate and Continuing Studies and the Sykes College of Business. Representatives from other student services areas will be invited to participate as appropriate for special topics. These areas may include the Registrar, Bursar, Financial Aid, Veteran Services. etc.

Graduate Advising Task Force

Fernando Nolasco

Sykes College of Business Coordinator of Graduate Business Programs, Academic Advisor

Carina De Armas

Sykes College of Business Academic Advisor

Michael Green

Sykes College of Business Coordinator of College of Business Graduate Business Program Operations

Jana Kreger

Office of Graduate and Continuing Studies Academic Advisor

Deborah Gonzalez

Office of Graduate and Continuing Studies Academic Advisor

   UT2UT was developed in recognition of the high quality and academic rigor of our undergraduate programs. The university produces exceptional bachelor’s degree earners who are ideal candidates for our graduate programs. Through the UT2UT outreach efforts, students are introduced to the graduate education opportunities throughout their undergraduate experience.

   To promote seamless pathways into our graduate degree programs, UT undergraduate receive certain preferred admissions considerations. In addition to receiving an application fee waiver and special considerations for graduate assistant positions, there are guaranteed admission established into nine of the graduate degree program. There are six “accelerated” programs that allow qualified students to take graduate courses as undergraduates, which allow students to then complete their master’s degree in one extra year.

   Tina Gutierrez-Brewster is the coordinator of the UT2UT program and has been proactively interacting with key areas on campus to promote our graduate degree programs to current undergraduates. An example of this effort is the recent new Graduate Student-Athlete Orientation developed by Jen Alger in the Athletic Department. There are 54 student-athletes enrolled in graduate programs this fall. A UT2UT information table was also displayed during Week of Welcome.

   This Fall, 116 of the 449 new graduate students are UT alumni.

• For more information about UT2UT visit https://www.ut.edu/graduate-degrees/stay-at-ut-to-earn-your-masters-degree.

Preparing New School Leaders - New School District Partnerships

   After several meetings with representatives from the Pasco School District, an agreement was signed between the university and the school district that will help prepare qualified teachers who aspire to become school administrators. UT representatives included Dr. Adrianne Wilson, program director for the M. Ed. in Educational Leadership program, and Colleen Beaudoin, Education Department Chair.

   Under the agreement UT will provide the required courses teacher need to fulfill requirements for the Florida Department of Education’s Level I Leadership certification by completing courses in the M.Ed. in Educational Leadership degree program. The DOL confirmed that the courses satisfied the standards for the certification.

   The program launched in the Spring 2022 semester with 18 Pasco teachers enrolling in UT courses. Six additional teachers enrolled in the Summer sessions. The success of the program has resulted in the university signing a similar agreement with Hillsborough School District. Plans are in place to offer similar opportunities to other school districts in the state of Florida.

Dr. Adrianne Wilson

Colleen Beaudoin

UT Adds Graduate Certificates to Expand Education Opportunities for Working Adults

     The University of Tampa will begin offering nine additional graduate certificates starting in Spring 2023. These graduate certificates will offer working adults a new opportunity to gain advanced, skill-based training in business, accounting, analytics, instructional design and health science disciplines in one year.

     This opportunity complements UT’s existing 200+ undergraduate and graduate academic programs, and the University’s mission to support continuing education and professional growth. These new graduate certificates are an addition to UT’s existing graduate certificates in cybersecurity and nonprofit management.

     Each of the nine new graduate certificates can be earned in three to four courses and are stackable. This means that certificate courses can count toward a UT master’s degree, creating a clear path for obtaining specific skills, plus the potential to earn a graduate degree. 

     For more information about Graduate Certificates visit https://www.ut.edu/certificates.

UT Expands Access to Advanced Technology Education

     The University of Tampa has entered into a partnership with SkillStorm, a tech talent accelerator that hires, trains, certifies and deploys IT talent in the most in-demand technology fields. The partnership will provide customized training to students to meet the specific hiring needs of technology companies across the greater Tampa region and throughout the country.

     The partnership compliments UT’s increased focus on technology education for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education students, and will strengthen the University’s bond with local and national technology companies.

    The program will provides online, asynchronous and instructor-led training courses to help students gain certification in high-demand enterprise technologies like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Salesforce, Pega and CompTIA. The program launched in Fall 2022 with 29 students enrolled in courses.

     For more information about Technology Certificates visit https://www.ut.edu/skillstorm.