Taking classes across campuses has never been easier due to consolidation.
Courtesy of Gavin Hadro | The Crow’s Nest
By Molly Ryan
Under consolidation of all three USF campuses as “OneUSF,” broadened class offerings have impacted the lives of students for better and for worse.
Previously made complex by the campuses’ separate accreditations, students can now sign up for classes across all three campuses with ease.
But with new opportunities come new issues.
“Not everyone has the time, money, or even the car to commute [across campuses],” said Yoanna Shurdha, a St. Petersburg double major in management and business analytics and information systems.
The management and business analytics and information systems majors are both part of the Muma College of Business, located in Tampa.
“Had I not had a car, I would have had to skip out on some of the classes I wanted/needed to take and instead taken another one,” Shurdha said.
When consolidation was proposed in 2018 through the Florida Excellence in Higher Education Act, leaders across all three campuses convened for a plan to expand resources for all USF students.
In devising a smooth shift into “OneUSF,” the consolidation task force recommended campus leaders to “promote student mobility for FCS [Florida College System] students (and across the three USF campuses) by expanding access to a broader array of courses and degree programs.”
However, when consolidation began taking effect in summer 2020, COVID-19 forced most classes online without any clear end.
Now more than a year after the initial lockdown, many classes have shifted to an in-person interface making the once conceptual “OneUSF” a visceral reality for students having to commute from their home campus to another.
With each campus holding strengths in individual areas of study, students like Shurdha found both beneficial and harmful aspects to making the commute.
“It’s beneficial if there isn’t a professor that’s teaching a class you want in St. Pete,” Shurdha said. “However, we wouldn’t have a need to go to other campuses if they provided at least one section of each class on the campuses.”
While many classes are offered at both the St. Petersburg and Tampa campuses, student schedules can be subjected to registration and scheduling conflicts.
“I believe it’s the university’s responsibility to make sure students have access to the education they applied to and pay for rather than having students bend over backwards to get to these classes and/or simply figuring out how to fit them in their schedules,” Shurdha said.
However, not all students perceive the commute as an inconvenience.
Edward Lasek is an integrated public relations junior, a program unique to the Tampa campus, and felt he made the right decision when he chose to take his first in-person class at the St. Petersburg campus.
After transferring from Hillsborough Community College in 2020, Lasek has only taken online courses at USF up to this point.
Lasek told The Crow’s Nest that his overall experience commuting from his home in Tampa has been made less difficult due to working and spending leisure time in St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock said he has not received any negative feedback from students who are required to commute to fulfill class requirements.
“There is a big difference between wanting and needing to take a course on a different campus. It’s not acceptable to ask students to commute to Tampa or Sarasota for a required course because it’s not offered on our campus,” Tadlock said. “However, I have not heard of that happening and we go to great lengths to ensure students can get the courses they need here in St. Petersburg.”
Tadlock speculates that the amount of commuting will decrease in the coming years.
“Online course offerings are only expected to grow… Also, because of consolidation, we are in the process of bringing more programs and majors to the USF branch campuses. This will also cut down on any commuting.”
