By Anna Bryson
When Steven Currall becomes president of USF on July 1, he will take over a three-campus system for the third time in his academic career.
“I’ve seen (a multi-campus system) work very well,” he said in an appearance in St. Petersburg on March 21, the day before he was unanimously selected by the Board of Trustees.
“I’ve seen those campuses still retain their own unique footprint and their identity,” he said.
“I want you all to know that I’m very mindful of that, that I’m aware that this campus has its own identity and its own culture. And so we want to honor that. I look forward to learning about that.”
The presidential search committee narrowed a field of 33 applicants down to four on March 18. After a public interview process last week with each of the four candidates, the BOT made a unanimous decision to select Currall, 60.
“I’m looking forward to learning more,” Currall said in a speech on March 22, shortly after getting the job. “There’s much more to learn about the USF community and the Tampa Bay region, and getting to know each of our distinctive campus communities so we can continue moving forward as one university.”
Florida’s Board of Governors, which oversees the State University System, must ratify the decision and will vote on Currall’s nomination on March 28.
“I’m looking forward to meeting with the Board of Governors next week in Tallahassee, and then taking their approval,” Currall said. “I’m looking forward to rolling my sleeves up and hitting the ground running and getting started doing the good work for the University of South Florida.”
The four final candidates were directed by the university not to speak to the press and had little public exposure beyond carefully staged appearances.
A Tampa Bay Times editorial published March 22 referred to the candidates as a “shallow, uninspiring field” and criticized the secrecy surrounding the search, which “did not well serve the university, the region, taxpayers or the candidates.”
“It gives Currall a pinched view of his obligations as a public employee in a state with constitutional guarantees of open government,” the editorial said.
Since 2006, Currall has worked as provost and vice president at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, a private research university that enrolls less than 12,000 students. Almost 50,800 students enrolled at USF last fall. He has also worked at larger universities, like the University of California-Davis and University College London, United Kingdom.
Throughout the interview process, BOT members talked repeatedly about their goal of USF becoming a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities.
Search consultant Jan Greenwood read information from each of the four candidates before the trustees made their decision. She said Currall has worked in AAUs and non-AAUs, so he sees “where you are and where you’re headed.”
After the decision was made, current USF President Judy Genshaft welcomed Currall and his wife, Cheyenne.
Currall will succeed Genshaft, the longest serving president in USF history. She gifted the Curralls with a green tie and green scarf after a welcoming speech.
Since Genshaft became president in 2000, USF has grown in enrollment and stature as a research institution and powerful player in the state and Tampa Bay region.
In July 2018, USF Tampa joined Florida State University and the University of Florida as “a preeminent state university.”
The designation brings an additional $6.15 million to the university this year and puts pressure on the St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses to raise their admission requirements and retention and graduation rates ahead of consolidation in 2020.
“Big shoes, amazing legacy President Genshaft has created here and lots of momentum, and I just hope that we can continue that and maybe even increase the upward slope of that trajectory as well, to take the university to even greater heights,” Currall said.
Although the end vote was unanimous, two members initially dissented.
Trustee Charles Tokarz said his first choice was Jeffrey Vitter, but Currall was his second choice and he would not oppose that decision. Trustee Moneer Kheireddine, the student body president of USF Tampa, voted for Debasish Dutta, but later changed his vote to Currall after all other board members voted.
“You can’t be disappointed,” Moneer said after the meeting. “I think we all made informed decisions best that we could… It’s a team effort, you’ve got to recognize at the end of the day, it’s to the betterment of everyone, not just yourself.”
Martin Tadlock, regional chancellor of USF St. Petersburg, was in attendance March 22 at the interviews and BOT meeting where the decision was made.
“I think he is a very good choice,” Tadlock said. “I think all four candidates were strong. I heard feedback from around campus… No one seemed to have any real concerns or red flags about any of the candidates.”
