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September 18, 2024

It filled me with immense pride to see so many of you last week at the university fall address, where we celebrated recent successes and I shared our vision for USF's future.

It's undeniable that our university has had much to celebrate over the past few years. In our continued pursuit of excellence, we remain focused on bold goals for the future, such as recruiting hundreds of new scholars to join the world-class faculty we have at USF, reaching $1 billion in research funding by 2030, enhancing and expanding our community partnerships, transforming the campus experience for students, alumni and others with a new stadium and becoming a top-25 public university.

Following the event, I joined our team for an episode of Inside USF: The Podcast, where we talked more about some of the goals and initiatives discussed in my address. As a reminder, we want your feedback on the event, and I encourage you to complete this brief survey. Your commitment and hard work are the foundation of our university's success, and for that, I am truly grateful.

Updates

• We are pleased to host the Florida Board of Governors for their meetings today on the Tampa campus. Welcoming the BOG provides an opportunity to showcase our university, share our recent achievements with them and highlight the incredible work of our students, faculty and staff.

• We are excited to share with you a new rendering of the on-campus stadium we unveiled this morning that provides a better view of what the game day experience will look like in the student section and where the band will be positioned. I hope you will join us this Saturday night as our Bulls football team hosts the top-10 ranked Miami Hurricanes in a nationally televised game on ESPN. Also a big congratulations to the USF volleyball team, which has some impressive wins early in their season, including over Ohio State and the No. 10 Florida Gators — the highest-ranked opponent they have ever defeated!

• We were proud to celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of our faculty yesterday at USF Research and Innovation's annual awards luncheon, where we recognized 27 recipients of the Outstanding Research Achievement Award and three recipients of the Excellence in Innovation Award. These researchers play a vital role in advancing new knowledge, enhancing student success and positively impacting our communities, and I extend my gratitude to each of them for their significant contributions.

• Approximately 680 students have joined the Judy Genshaft Honors College this fall, and I was delighted to personally welcome them to USF at Honors Convocation. These high-achieving students represent nearly every major our university offers, and we look forward to following their exciting journeys as they become an integral part of our USF community.

• I was pleased to join the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council for a panel discussion on how our region’s colleges and universities help drive economic growth. Alongside fellow presidents from the University of Tampa, Florida Polytechnic University and Hillsborough Community College, we explored the vital role that partnerships between higher education and the business community play in developing local talent. As a former chair of the EDC, I greatly enjoyed this conversation and the opportunity to highlight how USF is helping drive the future prosperity of our region.

Great-grandmother inspires USF student to conduct dementia research

While Dana Smith had a close relationship with her great-grandmother growing up, she mostly knew her as a family member who suffered from dementia. That experience inspired Smith as a USF student to get involved with the Preventing Alzheimer's with Cognitive Training study.

Additional University News Sources

• USF Newsroom

• St. Petersburg campus

• Sarasota-Manatee campus

• USF Health

• USF Athletics

Bay News 9 published a story about a group of USF engineering students who worked alongside astronauts this summer as part of NASA's Tech Leap Challenge.

Popular Science published a story about a USF-led research study that found working while sick can negatively impact workplace productivity.

The St. Pete Catalyst published an op-ed written by Regional Chancellor Christian Hardigree about the Eileen Hoffman Hafer UMatter program and the opportunities it provides to students with different intellectual abilities.

All USF faculty, staff and students can now access the Tampa Bay Business Journal for free through the USF Libraries. Visit the Libraries A-Z database, search for "Tampa Bay Business Journal" and create an account with the Business Journal using an @usf.edu email address. Anyone who has trouble activating an account can contact the Libraries using this form.

Inside USF: The Newsletter is published approximately every other week in the fall and spring and once per month in the summer.

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.