View email in browser.

Inside USF: The Newsletter email header

Week of October 5, 2022

From the President

As we resume classes and return to our normal operating procedures following Hurricane Ian, I continue to reflect on last week’s events. While USF campuses did not suffer significant damage, our thoughts are with the members of our community and their loved ones who may not have been as fortunate, including those in parts of the state that were hit the hardest by the storm. Some of you may still be dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane, and it’s important that we continue to prioritize your health and well-being. USF HR offers resources for anyone who needs extra support, as well as guidance for supervisors and employees.


I would like to give a special shout-out to our dedicated employees who helped the university prepare for and respond to the hurricane. Many people worked long hours and were pulled away from their families to keep us safe and I truly appreciate their commitment.


I visited our emergency operations center on the Tampa campus to thank them personally and to get a closer look at everything that goes into our response. I also spent some time in the residence halls and saw the caring support our staff provided students during the storm, including for the small group of students from the St. Petersburg campus who were transported to the Tampa campus until the storm passed.


It was wonderful to see our faculty and staff come together – regardless of campus, department or unit – in pursuit of a shared goal. In times like these, I am reminded that it is our supportive Bulls community that makes USF a great place to learn, work and grow.

Updates

• Prior to Hurricane Ian, we celebrated a major milestone for USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus. The Florida Board of Governors approved the building of a new housing and student center complex on the campus.


This project is crucial to supporting USF's growth in Sarasota-Manatee and will transform the college experience for our students. The construction is happening at the same time as the planning and design process continues for a 75,000-square-foot Nursing and STEM building, which will double the size of the campus’s nursing program, allow the campus to offer new majors, and help meet the need for more teaching and clinical labs and research facilities. It is certainly an exciting time of growth on the campus and it is another reason to be excited about our path forward as One USF.

I was honored to serve as the keynote speaker at the 75th Tampa Air Force Ball and to thank members of the Air Force for all they do to protect our country and support the Tampa Bay community. That same evening, I also shared that USF is joining forces with MacDill Air Force Base to strengthen our collaborations and provide enhanced educational opportunities in support of both organizations. This expanded partnership will create a symbiotic relationship between the two groups in support of the Tampa Bay area’s students, researchers and the greater military community.

The USF St. Petersburg campus and the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership hosted a luncheon to celebrate the one-year anniversary since I became USF president. We had great conversations about USF’s major accomplishments and our university's future with the larger downtown St. Petersburg community. Later that day, I had the pleasure of providing an update about the university and introducing Regional Chancellor Christian Hardigree to the St. Petersburg City Council. We are grateful to the St. Petersburg community for their partnership and support of our campus and its momentum.

• I also enjoyed having the opportunity to introduce Regional Chancellor Hardigree to our supporters and stakeholders in North Pinellas County recently at the Island Way Grill. She has hit the ground running since arriving in July and we appreciate her leadership!

I always find it uplifting to be part of the Latino Scholarship Program Awards Ceremony, where we welcome our new class of students and honor our generous mentors and donors. The program has been transforming lives at USF – and beyond – for more than three decades now. Since its inception, the program has awarded more than $4.2 million to over 700 graduates! And with nearly 70 endowed and annual scholarships, LSP currently supports more than 150 students.

• I enjoyed retracing my roots with the Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, which I had the honor of chairing earlier in my career. It was wonderful having the chance to reinforce the tremendous synergy that exists today between USF and the business community, which is critical to our university's future. The event also gave me the opportunity to introduce USF head football coach Jeff Scott and our executive director of the Office of Corporate Partnerships, Morgan Holmes.

• As a proud alumna of Leadership Tampa, I was delighted to serve as the featured speaker at the Leadership Tampa Alumni 2022 Conversations with Influence luncheon two weeks ago at CAMLS. This group of talented leaders is making a tremendous impact in the Tampa Bay community, and I enjoyed sharing about my career, my journey with USF, and all of the ways in which our great university continues to rise.

• I hope all of you will participate in some of our many upcoming Homecoming activities between Oct. 9-15, including supporting the Bulls when they host Tulane on Saturday, Oct. 15, at Raymond James Stadium. Click here for a full roundup of events on our three campuses.

Boundless Bulls

Clara Buie


As director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Clara Buie focuses on inclusive excellence to support the university community and promote the value of multiple perspectives.





Boundless Bulls is a collection of stories about what truly makes USF great – the people. It is a focus on our community footprint, our impact and the trajectory of where we can go together.

Around One USF

Inside USF: The Podcast


While Homecoming – scheduled this year for Oct. 9-15 – may be its most visible event, the USF Alumni Association sponsors more than 250 events annually to provide alumni with relevant, meaningful experiences. Bill McCausland, vice president and executive director of the association, discusses the extensive planning that goes into the Homecoming celebration.

USF volunteers serve nearly 1,500 hours to assist evacuation shelters during Hurricane Ian

USF expands mental health services with new digital platform


USF in the News

The Conversation published a story by Deby Cassill, USF associate professor of integrative biology, explaining how ants crawl on walls. 


Several USF faculty were quoted in major publications about hurricanes, including Jennifer Collins in NBC News national, Mark Luther in the Washington Post and Taryn Sabia in the Wall Street Journal.


CNN quoted Aisha Durham, a USF professor of communication who studies Black popular culture, on a story about why TV is finally focusing on the Black South.

More USF In the News

Did you Know?

With homecoming on the horizon, we thought you'd like to know that USF boasts a global network of more than 385,000 former students! Of those, some 5,000 are USF employees, approximately 4,900 live overseas – and over 246,000 reside in Florida. But here are a few numbers that may surprise you: The youngest Bulls alumni age is 19 and the oldest is …drumroll, please … 107!


Upcoming Events


Sept. 15 - Oct. 15: Hispanic Heritage Month

Oct. 5: Working Bulls Alumni Luncheon

Oct. 9-15: USF Homecoming


Featured Content


Facebook      Twitter      YouTube      LinkedIn      Instagram      Snapchat

Inside USF: The Newsletter is published every other week.

This email address is used for distribution only and is not monitored for responses.


For reasonable disability accommodations requests pertaining to this announcement, please contact one of our offices.