USF President Judy Genshaft gave her fall address Wednesday, Sept. 7, highlighting several USF Tampa partnerships with institutions, the Tampa Bay community, and the other schools in the USF system—USF St. Petersburg, USF Manatee, and USF Polytechnic.
Genshaft briefly touched on a few points about USFSP—the continued construction of the Multipurpose Student Center and the sailing team.
“We’ve seen USF St. Petersburg thrive under the USF system,” Genshaft said. “Its enrollment is larger than ever.
She said the partnership between the campuses under the USF umbrella is one of the strengths of the USF system.
“To succeed, universities need to link up, for cost efficiency and to share strengths, and that’s what we did,” she said. “Our USF system is an innovative linked system of partners. It saves the state money, it provides greater access to students and it creates the value proposition of the unique strengths and reputations of each of its partners.”
Genshaft touched on the debate about whether to make USF Polytechnic an independent university. She said the USF Board of Governors would take up the discussion and, along with the legislature, make the decision.
“We will either continue to develop that campus under the USF umbrella, or we will be great neighbors and friends,” Genshaft said. “We want what’s best for the students.”
Genshaft started her address with a focus on the slow economy and the benefit of USF’s public-private partnerships.
“We have to be global in our thoughts, and we believe that we will find enormous power in unexpected alliances,” Genshaft said.
Ten years ago, public universities were receiving about 70 percent of their budgets from state funds, she said, and in recent years, that number has dropped to around 30 percent.
“When I look at the key partnerships of the USF system, I see great opportunities for excellence,” she said. “I see repeated opportunities to fulfill aspirations, hopes and dreams of our students.”
Genshaft highlighted several of these partnerships in areas like science and health, such as grants to fund USF scientists’ research about the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and partnerships with hospitals and other health agencies.
Photo courtesy of USF
