University of South Florida Informations

The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university in Tampa, Florida. It is a member institution of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1956, USF is the fourth-largest public university in the state of Florida, with an enrollment of 50,755 as of the 2018–2019 academic year. The USF system has three institutions: USF Tampa, USF St. Petersburg and USF Sarasota-Manatee. Each institution is separately accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university is home to 14 colleges, offering more than 80 undergraduate majors and more than 130 graduate, specialist, and doctoral-level degree programs.

USF is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". In its 2011 ranking, the Intellectual Property Owners Association placed USF 10th among all universities worldwide in the number of US patents granted. The university has an annual budget of $1.5 billion and an annual economic impact of over $3.7 billion. In a ranking compiled by the National Science Foundation, USF ranks 43rd in the United States for total research spending among all universities, public and private.

USF was the first independent state university conceived, planned, and built during the 20th century. Former U.S. representative Samuel Gibbons was instrumental in the school's creation when he was a state representative and is considered by many to be the "Father of USF." Although founded in 1956, the university was not officially named until the following year, and classes did not begin until 1960. The university was built off Fowler Avenue on the site of Henderson Air Field, a World War II airstrip. Before Henderson Field, the area was part of the 1920s 5,000-acre temple orange grove, the largest citrus grove in the world at the time, which gave the nearby City of Temple Terrace its name. In 1957, the Florida Cabinet approved the name "University of South Florida." At the time, USF was the southernmost university in the state university system. In 1962, the official USF mascot was unveiled as the "Golden Brahman." In the late 1980s, the mascot evolved into the "Bulls."

The university grew under the leadership of John S. Allen, who served as its first president from 1956 until his retirement in 1971. During this time, the university expanded rapidly, due in part to the first master's degree programs commencing in 1964. Allen was known for his opposition to college sports in favor of an environment more academically-centered. Allen's ultimate legacy was to be the first person to build a modern state university from scratch: "As a completely new and separate institution, the University of South Florida became the first new institution of its kind to be conceived, planned and built in the United States in the 20th century." Today the John and Grace Allen Administration Building, named after the university's founding president and his wife, houses vital Tampa campus departments including Student Affairs, the Admissions Welcome Center, and the Controller's Office.

In 1970, M. Cecil Mackey became the university's second president. During his time at USF, Mackey opened the university's medical school, School of Nursing, and first-ever Ph.D. program. Additionally, Mackey worked to strengthen the St. Petersburg campus, while opening new satellite campuses in Sarasota and Fort Myers. While serving as university president, Mackey continued to teach economics courses in a conference room across from his office. Mackey first coined a new descriptor for USF: "a metropolitan university." The term is still used to describe USF today.

USF emerged as a major research institution during the 1980s under the leadership of the university's third president John Lott Brown. During his tenure, the USF Graduate School was established in 1980. In 1986, Brown oversaw the opening of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute on the USF Tampa campus. USF became the first university in the nation to offer a Ph.D. in applied anthropology and the first in the State University System of Florida to offer a degree program in women's studies. In January 1988, USF Lakeland opened.

On February 15, 1988, Francis T. Borkowski was inaugurated as the university's fourth president. He served as president for five years, laying the groundwork for the university's football program, establishing on-campus housing for the USF president at the Lifsey House, and merging several colleges into the College of Arts and Sciences.

Betty Castor became the university's fifth president and first female president when she was inaugurated in January 1994. She served as USF president for six years until 1999. During this time, USF grew to be one of the largest universities in the nation in terms of enrollment. The Florida Board of Regents named USF a "Research 1" University in 1998. In 1997, the university began its inaugural season of NCAA football. Two years later, the Herd of Thunder marching band debuted. In 2006, Castor returned to USF to lead the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions. Castor stepped down from her position as director in 2009.

Under previous president Judy Genshaft's leadership, the university has emerged as a top research university (achieving preeminence in June 2018,) and major economic engine with an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion. The university has expanded its global reach, with the opening of the first Confucius Institute in Florida in 2008 and the creation of the Genshaft/Greenbaum Passport Scholarship Fund in 2011, which provides financial support to USF students who want to study abroad. Under Genshaft, USF has continuously been ranked among the top veteran friendly universities in the country. In 2009, USF became the first university in the nation to partner with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to offer specialized services for veterans taking advantage of the new G.I. Bill. USF continues to improve academically, being ranked among the best colleges in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. In 2012, USF was recognized as one of the nation's largest producers of Fulbright Program scholars. In 2018, Genshaft announced her retirement from position as president of USF

The university is currently led by its seventh president, Dr. Steven C. Currall, who took office on July 1, 2019. He also serves as the president of the USF System.

The University of South Florida System includes three member institutions: USF Tampa, USF St. Petersburg, and USF Sarasota-Manatee. Each institution is separately accredited, has a distinct mission, and its own strategic plans. The USF System once included two other satellite campuses, one in Fort Myers and the other in Lakeland. The Fort Myers campus opened in 1974 and closed in 1997, with the debut of Florida Gulf Coast University. The Lakeland campus opened in 1988 and split off from the USF System in 2012 to become the independent Florida Polytechnic University.

The USF System is a member institution of the State University System of Florida (SUS), which is overseen by the Florida Board of Governors. Each SUS member institution, including USF, has a 13-member decision-making body called the Board of Trustees (BOT). The USF BOT appoints the USF System President, who in turn appoints the Regional Chancellors of the member institutions. The USF System is currently led by President and Chief Executive Officer Steven C. Currall, who was appointed by the USF Board of Trustees in 2019.

In 2019, USF was classified as a "Preeminent" university by the state university system. For a public institution to achieve a status of preeminence, they must meet or surpass benchmarks in at least 11 of 12 metrics set forth by Florida lawmakers. Some of these metrics include, student quality, student success (freshman and graduation retention), faculty quality, post-doctoral support, research productivity, and endowment/private funding. When Florida lawmakers first introduced the 12 metrics that would be used in assessing if a university would be designated preeminent, USF only surpassed benchmarks for half of the metrics, earning them the designation "emerging preeminence." Changes in the higher education bill threatened to delay USF in attaining preeminent status for at least 3 more years, however, the bill was later vetoed by Governor Rick Scott. Starting with the 2018-2019 school year, the University of South Florida is designated as a preeminent research university, having met or surpassed benchmarks for 11 of the 12 metrics. The metric that USF did not meet the benchmark for was endowment, which for the University of South Florida, is currently $442 million - below the benchmark of $500 million, and trailing behind FSU with $639 million and UF at $1.6 billion.

Established in 1956, the USF Tampa campus serves more than 41,000 students. It is composed of the larger campus in Tampa, USF Health, and the College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg. The institution houses 14 colleges and is the doctoral granting campus of the USF System.The University of South Florida Office of Graduate Studies serves as the center of leadership for graduate education at the University of South Florida. The USF Tampa Campus is also a tobacco and smoke-free campus as of 4 January 2016[update], referring to the campus as "Proudly Breathe-A-BULL!".

USF first occupied the site of the USF St. Petersburg in 1965. In 2006, USFSP was accredited as a separate entity within the University of South Florida System by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools starting with the 2006–07 academic year. USFSP serves approximately 4,500 students and offers 33 undergraduate and graduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and education.

When USF Sarasota-Manatee was established in 1975, it originally shared a campus with the New College of Florida. New College and USFSM continued to share campuses until a new campus was built for USFSM in 2006. Nearly 2,000 students take classes at USFSM each year. The university offers 43 academic programs and certificates in arts and sciences, business, education, and hospitality and technology leadership.

The USF Tampa campus offers more than 80 undergraduate majors and 130 graduate, specialist, and doctoral degree programs under 14 colleges. Based on a semester system, the USF academic calendar is composed of three academic semesters each year. The academic year begins in the fall, running from August to December. The spring semester generally begins in January and ends in late April or early May. The summer semester is broken down into three overlapping sessions – A, B, and C – that generally span either six or ten weeks.

For the 2017–18 academic year, tuition costs at the Tampa campus were:

More than 41,000 students were enrolled at the USF Tampa campus in the 2014–15 academic year, including approximately 30,000 undergraduate students, 9,100 graduate students, 650 doctor of medicine students, and 2,000 non-degree seeking students. USF is one of the 40 most diverse universities in the nation, with students representing every state, U.S. territory, and more than 130 countries. International students represent approximately seven percent of the USF student population. As of the Fall 2014 semester, the student diversity profile of the university consisted of: 55 percent White, 12 percent African American, 21 percent Hispanic, 7 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.16 percent American Indian, 4 percent two or more races, and 1 percent of students did not report.

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