SEPTEMBER 2022 | HARBOR NOTES NEWS | USF ST. PETERSBURG CAMPUS
ONWARD & UPWARD
University of South Florida rises to its highest position ever in U.S. News & World Report rankings
The University of South Florida has hit an all-time high on U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of the best colleges in America. In the new rankings released today, USF sits at No. 42 among all public universities and No. 97 among all universities public or private. This marks the fourth consecutive year that USF has ranked in the top 50 public universities and the first time USF has broken into the top 100 among all universities. 
SYSTEMIC CHANGE
Higher education consortium announces second class of Racial Justice Student Fellows
A consortium of higher education institutions focused on racial justice in Pinellas County has selected its second class of college students to be Racial Justice Student Fellows. The St. Petersburg/Pinellas Higher Education for Racial Equity (SPHERE) Consortium chose eight students, two each from four Pinellas County universities and colleges, for the year-long fellowship.
BREAKING RECORDS
Campus sets record with eight National Merit Scholars
Last year, USF’s St. Petersburg campus welcomed a National Merit Scholar to its incoming class for the first time in school history. In fact, it welcomed five of them. This year, the campus exceeded those numbers with eight National Merit Scholars in the 2022-23 incoming class. Overall, the University of South Florida enrolled 79 National Merit Scholars for the fall 2022 semester, the highest number ever for an incoming class and a more than 25 percent increase from the previous record of 62 last year. 
EXPANDING PROGRAMS
New majors related to hospitality and the environment now offered on campus
Current and incoming students at the USF St. Petersburg campus can take advantage of several new academic majors as fields of study. The campus now offers majors in Environmental Chemistry and Hospitality and Tourism Management, with plans to bring bachelor’s degrees in General Studies, Applied Science and Public Health in the near future.
RESEARCH EXCELLENCE
Erin Stewart Mauldin named John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History
An associate history professor who uses the lens of the environmental sciences to examine the major issues of the 19th century in the American South has been named the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History at the USF St. Petersburg campus. This distinguished professorship is named after one of the most important scholars of American history, was established in 1998 by John and Rosemary Galbraith to support scholarship into southern history and first held by the decorated civil rights historian Ray Arsenault.
REACHING OUT
New mental health initiative encourages students to ask for help
A new initiative called I Asked 4 Help is providing a unique approach to mental health services on the USF St. Petersburg campus and focuses on students who don’t know how or when to reach out for help. The potentially life-saving project includes an I Asked 4 Help website dedicated to university students of all ages dealing with life stressors and includes information on how to find crisis and emergency services, a section to submit referrals and testimonials from students who sought help