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USF Campuses Serve Bay Well
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Published: January 25, 2008
As the CEOs of the three University of South Florida regional campuses, we write to respond to the editorial, "USF Can't Achieve Greatness If Branch Campuses Run Amok," (Our Opinion, Jan. 11).
It is true that USF has immense potential. Part of that potential is the strong, AAU-eligible institution that is USF Tampa, which includes USF Health. Many AAU institutions have regional campuses extending educational opportunities to a broad population.
The mission of any public university is to provide access to excellent higher education. The USF family of institutions provides Tampa Bay's 4 million people access to quality education and world-class research, partnerships that strengthen community infrastructure, improve the quality of life, and fuel economic development.
Indeed, USF has a staggering $3.2 billion impact on the economy of Tampa Bay. We take very seriously our responsibility to the communities that we serve and engage.
The centralized organizational structure advocated by the Tribune reflects a model of education that inadequately addresses the university's need for decision-making authority closer to the point of service. USF embraces a visionary, decentralized model, which gives each campus the chance to efficiently align its programs with the needs of its local community and, in turn, gives our regional communities the chance to compete in the new economy.
We are proud to serve the state through our respective roles in the St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland regions, and we are proud to be integral parts of the vision of access and excellence that USF President Judy Genshaft and USF's Board of Trustees have articulated and repeatedly affirmed.
In fact, the regional campus strategic plans, which are updated annually, serve as the frameworks by which each campus defines how it will serve its distinctive local mission while also maintaining complementary relationships with one another, USF Tampa and USF Health.
USF's region includes roughly a quarter of the state's population and geography. Indeed, USF serves a population that is both larger and more diverse than either the states of Oregon or Kansas. Both of those states boast eight state university campuses - why should our region settle for just one?
USF's regional campuses are intellectual and cultural resources for their communities. Through lifelong learning and outreach, they are a resource for the improvement of primary and secondary education and health care, and they fuel regional economic development and job growth.
Students are attracted to regional campuses by program offerings that respond to local needs and our intimate, student-centered environments. Regional campuses are particularly important to place-bound, nontraditional students.
We hope legislators from throughout our region will collaborate this session as they have in years past to support the continued dynamic evolution of USF's distinctive regional campuses.
Marshall Goodman is Vice President/CEO of USF Lakeland; Arthur M. Guilford is Vice President/CEO of USF Sarasota-Manatee and Karen A. White is Regional Vice Chancellor of USF St. Petersburg.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( hatsoff ) on January 27, 2008 at 12:09 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Unfortunately, there is a duplication of effort and administative costs on these campuses as clearly noted by the fact that three CEO's signed this editorial. Bring them back in within the administrative umbrella and cut costs!!
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