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Week of March 11, 2022

This morning the University of South Florida community is celebrating a highly successful legislative session by thanking the state legislators who have proposed hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding across our campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee. 

As of today, the state budget for 2022-23 includes historic funding for higher education and for USF. In the coming days, we expect the Legislature to vote to approve this budget and send it to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his review. In case you missed our message yesterday, it details the investments proposed for USF that will help us continue our momentum and have a lasting impact on the Tampa Bay region for generations to come.

I cannot overstate how grateful we are to our state lawmakers for their transformational support and their recognition of USF’s significant role in driving the state’s economy forward. I especially wish to thank USF alum and Speaker of the House Chris Sprowls, Senate President Wilton Simpson and the entire Tampa Bay Legislative Delegation. 

I am also deeply grateful to you, our stakeholders and champions, for all that you do to positively impact our communities and make USF such a great institution.

Updates

I’m thrilled that our vision for an on-campus stadium at USF has taken a significant step forward. The recommendation of our planning committee to build the facility at the Sycamore Fields site on the Tampa campus – coupled with a generous gift of $5 million from longtime donors Carol and Frank Morsani – brings our stadium dream closer to reality. The Sycamore site on the east side of campus is ideally situated – positioned close to the USF Athletics district, student housing and parking. The impact of this on-campus stadium will be transformational in ways that extend well beyond football. It will connect our university community in important ways for generations to come.

• I was very pleased to join five other presidents from the Florida College System at the recent Black, Brown and College Bound Summit at the Tampa Convention Center. The focus of our roundtable discussion was on access and success for African American and Hispanic male students in higher education. Our institutions are working together to ensure there are a variety of pathways for students to earn a degree, which is critical for the advancement of the Tampa Bay region. At USF, our leadership team is committed to continuing to develop and apply new strategies to recruit, enroll and graduate more students of color from across the state, the nation and the globe.

• So many USF staff members toil outside the spotlight, always going the extra mile in all they do, never having an expectation of a reward in a return. That’s why I was especially happy to attend the Quiet Quality Awards this past week – recognizing a special group of USF staff members for going above and beyond, always performing in a conscientious, team-oriented and positive manner. I also was proud to congratulate our distinguished and invaluable group of USF scholars and faculty members at the Faculty Honors & Awards Reception earlier this week. USF would not be the great institution it is without them!

• My congratulations to the USF Medical Response Unit for taking home first- and third- place medals at a recent national competition that tests CPR skills. The unit formed two years ago as a collaboration between Student Health Services, the University Emergency Medicine Student Association and the USF Student Government. It provides basic life support medical interventions for students, staff, faculty and guests on our Tampa campus. We are fortunate to have this group of emergency medical providers available to respond quickly and provide support to keep our community safe.

Inside USF: The Podcast

AUDIO PREVIEW: The growth of USF research

Positive trends across the country suggest we have entered a new phase in the pandemic. Donna Petersen, dean of the College of Public Health and chair of USF’s COVID-19 Task Force, shares her perspective on where we stand two years after COVID-19 swept across the region, the state, the nation and the world. You can listen to the full podcast here.

Additional University News Sources

• USF
• St. Petersburg Campus
• Sarasota-Manatee Campus
• USF Health
• USF Athletics

The Washington Post featured an in-depth story by Soomi Lee, an assistant professor of Aging Studies at USF, on how Americans experience midlife crisis.

The Wall Street Journal interviewed Dr. Carina Rodriguez, chief of infectious diseases at USF, in a story about Novavax Inc.'s long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal wrote about last week's major announcement that USF's Florida Center for Cybersecurity has been awarded a $20 million state grant for cybersecurity education.

USF's Dance Marathon has been raising significant amounts of money over its 17 years of existence to benefit children in need. In fact, the 2022 Dance Marathon ­– part of the student-run charity, Bulls for Kids – raised $60,254 throughout this school year. The grand reveal at the Marshall Center on March 5 pushed the event’s overall total to nearly $1.2 million generated during its history. The money has been helping the life-saving work of Shriners Children’s Hospital, located on the USF campus. Bravo to the Bulls for Kids Committee for its passion, commitment and hard work.

Inside USF: The Newsletter is published every other week.

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