Genshaft donates $1 million to boost USF study abroad

University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft and her husband, Steven Greenbaum, will donate $1 million of their own money during the next five years to help more students study abroad.

"From the bottom of our hearts, Steve and I believe in this university,'' Genshaft said Friday at a gathering of students and staff at USF's Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions. "We believe in our students and we believe in our global future.''

The gift is aimed, in part, at raising USF's profile in the research world. In addition, more companies are telling the university they need job candidates who have a global understanding and can communicate with other cultures.

"It's what employers want now,'' Genshaft said.

Boosting study abroad is part of USF's strategic plan. In an October update on the plan, USF noted that it has fewer students abroad than all but one of the universities in the prestigious American Association of Universities.

Genshaft has called membership in the invitation-only AAU a priority of hers.

Genshaft and Greenbaum are using the money to create an endowment eligible for matching funds from the state for a total of $1.75 million.

Some of the money will be available this summer, said Joel Momberg, chief executive officer of the USF Foundation.

Students will apply for the Genshaft/Greenbaum Passport Scholars Fund, perhaps through an essay process, through the USF Education Abroad office.

The scholarships will help students such as Amanda Torsey, who raised $12,000 to study for four months last year in Prague, the Czech Republic. Now a senior, Torsey, 21, hopes to earn a master's degree in education.

She landed a $2,000 scholarship through USF, took out a student loan, and spent three months working and saving to come up with the money.

Torsey said she teared up when she heard Genshaft make the announcement Friday morning.

"I am so excited for the students who will get to go abroad now,'' Torsey said. "It's learning beyond the textbook. It's an experience I could not have in Tampa.''

About 175 students already have applied to study abroad this summer but less than $20,000 in scholarships available, said Amanda Maurer, director of USF's Education Abroad.

Last year, Maurer's office oversaw 30 faculty-led programs in about 20 countries, including China, Bolivia and Panama. A total of 574 students participated - a 25 percent increase from the year before, according to the office's annual report.

That's up from a 9 percent increase the year before.

"We were really hit by the economy when it took a nosedive,'' Maurer said. "Students couldn't get money to go abroad even if they were willing to borrow money.''

Add in Fulbright scholars and independent studies programs and others, and about 810 students studied abroad, officials said.

That's nearly 2 percent of USF's 47,000 student population.

Genshaft's endowment comes as USF is trying to help more students study abroad by introducing a $10 per student per semester fee for scholarships, mostly for students who can't pay the costs on their own.

The state Board of Governors' budget and finance committee rejected the idea at a meeting earlier this month.

Some members said it wasn't fair to charge a fee to all students to help a handful. USF officials could make their pitch again next month before a meeting of the full Board of Governors.

Genshaft and Greenbaum committed to the endowment months before the student fee proposal was made, signing off on a $200,000 check in December, USF spokeswoman Vickie Chachere said.

About a week later, the 62-year-old university president accepted an extension on her employment contract that includes a raise and a half-million dollar incentive to stay for five more years.

Genshaft came to USF in 2000.

She will receive an annual salary of $470,000, up from her current $395,000; a one-year performance stipend of $175,000; plus $100,000 a year for staying all five years, payable at the end.

Only $225,000 a year comes from public dollars because of a state funding cap. The rest comes from the private, non-profit USF Foundation.

And while Genshaft would love to see USF become a member of the prestigious, invitation-only American Association of Universities - there are only 63 members in the nation with the honor and only one in Florida, University of Florida - her ultimate goal is to answer a call.

"We decided to help where students need it,'' Genshaft said in her announcement.

Added Greenbaum, "Clearly, Judy and I believe in education. Travel can expand your horizons.''

As parents, they said, they traveled as much as possible with their sons to introduce them to other cultures and ideas.

Their wish, Greenbaum said, is that "USF students can go wherever they dream.''

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