The 'University of South Florida' ('USF'), known within its system as 'USF Tampa'
[1][2][3], is a public
university system located in
Tampa,
Florida,
USA, with an
autonomous campus in
St. Petersburg[4], and branch centers in
Sarasota and
Lakeland.
[5] The main campus is located in
North Tampa, near the City of
Temple Terrace. It is bordered on the south by Fowler Avenue and on the north by Fletcher Avenue with Bruce B. Downs Boulevard to the west and 50th Street on the east side. The university is in close proximity to the
Museum of Science and Industry as well as
Busch Gardens and the
University Mall shopping center.
The university is the third largest in the state of
Florida, with a total enrollment of 44,891 for the 2007 academic year.
[6] USF is currently ranked ninth in the country
in terms of enrolled students.
USF's mascot is the
Bull and its colors are
green and
gold. The university's sports teams participate at the
NCAA Division I-A level. In
2005, USF joined the
Big East Conference. USF previously belonged to
Conference USA, the
Metro Conference, and the
Sun Belt Conference.
USF is currently the national headquarters for
Phi Alpha Theta, a professional
history honor society which promotes the study of history.
[7]
History
USF's "Iconic Bull" logo was introduced in
2003, replacing the gold-colored "USF" script. Since then, sales of athletic merchandise have skyrocketed.
USF was founded in
1956, though it was not even named until the next year and classes didn't commence until
1960. Some of the original proposed names included "Citrus State University", "Sunshine State University" and "The University of Florida at Temple Terrace."
[8] Former US Representative
Sam Gibbons was instrumental in the school's creation when he was a state representative and is considered by many to essentially be the school's founder. It was built on the site of Henderson Air Field, a
World War II airstrip. Although located in west-central Florida, at the time of establishment USF was the southernmost public university in the State of Florida, a geographic situation that lent USF its sometimes confusing name.
The university first grew under the leadership of
John Allen, who was the president from
1957 until
1970. During this time, the university expanded rapidly, due in part to the first graduate degree programs commencing in
1964. Allen elected to resign and retire in 1970. Today, the main administration complex is called The John and Grace Allen Center, named after him and his wife.
[9]
USF is also one of three public universities in the State (with the
University of Florida and
Florida State University) to have received first-tier research university status by the
Carnegie Foundation, a mission first started by former USF president
Betty Castor in the
1990s.
[10] As such, the university takes great pride in advancing its position as a research university in promotional advertisements and brochures. USF emerged as a major research institution during the
1980s under the presidency of John Lott Brown, Ph.D.
[11] President Brown appointed scholarly administrators such as Jim Strange, Ph.D., Dean of Arts and Letters, and Andor Szentivanyi, Dean of Medicine. Two university hospitals, The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and USF Psychiatry Center, as well as the college of public health were built during Brown's presidency.
USF is considered one of the top universities in
Florida, being named a first-tier research university in
1998, and named a "research flagship school" along with the
University of Florida and
Florida State University by Governor
Charlie Crist in
2007.
[12] USF has surpassed the $300 million mark in research grant funding
[13]. In addition to a heightened emphasis on research and academia, the university played its first football game in
1997. Its marching band, the
Herd of Thunder formed in
1999.
[14]
USF's Fiftieth anniversary was in
2006. Part of the celebration year were numerous special events, announced plans for a bigger student union and famous guest lecturers such as Bishop
Desmond Tutu,
Fernando Chavez,
Judy Shepard (mother of
Matthew Shepard), and controversial conservative author
Ann Coulter, all part of the University Lecture Series. The Campus Activities Board (CAB) has brought comedians
Monique,
Dane Cook and
Bruce Bruce among others. CAB has continued and begun new traditions such as the Yacht Party, Winter Wonderland and Movies on the Lawn.
Presidents
Academics
Admissions
Students with an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree from a Florida public community college are automatically admitted into the University of South Florida.
[16] As of 2007, the University admitted 51 percent of all applicants. The average high school GPA of the incoming students was 3.61.
[17] For the 2005 enrolled freshmen, the average SAT score was 1125 and the ACT average was 24.
[18] U.S. News and World Report has ranked the University as "more selective."
[''America's Best Colleges'' [3]]
Organization and rankings
''
U.S. News & World Report'' has ranked the University as a "third tier" national university.
Collegeprowler.com has ranked the University as "B-" in academics, comparable with Arizona State, Loyola and Texas A&M University.
[19] The Princeton Review has ranked the University as one of the best Southeastern colleges and best value colleges.
[20]
USF has a total of over 18 colleges, schools and institutions.
[21] 7 colleges offer undergraduate degrees.
★ 'Colleges' (
★ denotes the offering of undergraduate degrees):
★
★ College of Arts & Sciences
★
★
★
★ Dean: John Skvoretz
[22]
★
★ College of Business
★
★
★
★ Dean: Robert Forsythe
[23]
★
★ College of Education
★
★
★
★ Dean: Colleen S. Kennedy, PhD
[24]
★
★ College of Engineering
★
★
★
★ Acting Dean: Dr Rafael Perez
[25]
★
★ College of Health Sciences
★
★
★ Vice President: Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA
[26]
★
★ Honors College
★
★
★
★ Dean: Dr. Stuart Silverman
[27]
★
★ College of Marine Science
★
★
★ Dean: Peter Betzer, PhD
[28]
★
★ College of Medicine
★
★
★ Dean: Stephen Klasko, MD
★
★ College of Nursing
★
★
★
★ Dean: Patricia Burns, PhD, FAAN
★
★ College of Public Health
★
★
★ Dean: Donna Petersen, ScD
★
★ College of Visual & Performing Arts
★
★
★
★ Dean: Ron Jones
[29]
★
★ 'Schools:'
★
★ School of Accountancy
★
★
★ Director: Robert M. Keith
[30]
★
★ School of Architecture & Community Design
★
★
★ Dean: Charles Hight
[31]
★
★ School of Art and Art History
★
★
★ Director: Wallace Wilson
[32]
★
★ School of Library and Information Science
★
★
★ Director: Vicki Gregory
[33]
★
★ School of Music
★
★
★ Director: Wade Weast
[34]
★
★ School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences
★
★
★ Associate Dean: William S. Quillen, PT, PhD, SCS, FACSM
[35]
★
★ School of Theatre and Dance Arts
★
★
★ Director: Marc Powers
[36]
★
★ 'Institute:'
★
★ The Louis de la Parte Institute (FMHI)
★
★
★ Interim Dean: Bob Friedman, PhD
[37]
Satellite campuses
The University of South Florida has three satellite campuses:
USF St. Petersburg ,
USF Sarasota-Manatee, and
USF Lakeland. There is also a downtown center in downtown
Tampa.
[38] A fourth satellite campus, in
Fort Myers, was in operation from
1974 until
1997 when campus operations were usurped into the new
Florida Gulf Coast University.
[39]
St. Petersburg Campus
'USF St. Petersburg' was established in 1965 in downtown
St. Petersburg, Florida as the "Bayboro Campus". In 2006, USF St. Petersburg was accredited as a separate entity within the University of South Florida system by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools starting with the 2006–2007 school year.
'USF Sarasota-Manatee' was established in 1975, since then it shared a campus with the
New College of Florida.
[40] New College and USF Sarasota-Manatee would continue to share campuses until a new campus was built for USF Sarasota Manatee. The new campus opened on
August 28 2006.
[41]
Lakeland Campus
'USF Lakeland' was established in 1988, it serves over 2,000 students offering over 20 complete undergraduate and graduate degrees through the areas of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Engineering, and Information Technology. The campus also supports a number of individual classes, electives, web-based courses, certificate programs and program partnerships with the main campus in Tampa.
[42]
Academic freedom
In 2003, the
American Association of University Professors released a report criticizing the University for its actions in connection with Dr. Sami Al-Arian, associate professor of computer science and engineering.
[''AAUP Report'' [8]] Dr. Al-Arian was accused of by the University of using his position to support terrorism.
[ ] After placing Dr. Al-Arian on paid administrative leave, Dr. Al-Arian and three other suspects were indicted on 51 charges relating to terrorism. The University then fired Dr. Al-Arian. The report found that the University had "acted in disregard of academic due process."
[ ] The AAUP also found that the University dismissed Dr. Al-Arian prior to granting him "any opportunity to defend himself against the administration's charges," and thus violating his "academic due process."
[ ]
Athletics
The
USF Sun Dome, where many sporting and live entertainment events are held.
The USF Athletic Facility, opened in May of 2004, totals over 103,000 square feet. The building contains locker areas for nine USF teams, a 10,900 square foot weight room, a sports medicine clinic, and an academic center.
Football
There has been unprecedented growth in the school's
football program. USF began football play as a 1-AA independent in
1997, moved to 1-A in
2001, then to
Conference USA in
2003, and now competes in the
Big East conference (as of
2005) with its Bowl Championship Series (BCS) tie-ins.
[43]
USF's rapid advancement to the Big East Conference and the associated gains in recruiting have been helped greatly by its facilities. The Bulls recently opened a $18 million athletic facility on campus, and the football team plays its home games in
Raymond James Stadium, also the home field of the
National Football League's
Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Coach
Jim Leavitt has enjoyed success in the first ten seasons, and the program is seen as a program on the rise, and a model for establishing a football program at other colleges. On
September 24,
2005, USF defeated ninth-ranked
University of Louisville, for its first victory over a Big East rival as well as a Top Ten opponent. As a result, USF received its first-ever votes in the AP college football poll. USF saw its second win over a ranked opponent by beating widely favored #7
West Virginia University on
November 25,
2006.
USF, which was passed up for bowls in
2001 and
2002, was extended an invitation to play in the
Meineke Car Care Bowl on
December 31,
2005 against
N.C. State from the
ACC. The bowl game was only the 100th football game in school history, a feat unmatched in NCAA Division 1-A history. In
2006, USF was invited to the
PapaJohns.com Bowl in
Birmingham,
Alabama defeating
East Carolina University for the first bowl victory in in program history.
University and student media
WUSF-TV
USF's first student newspaper was the Campus Edition of The Tampa Times, a now defunct local afternoon newspaper. It was succeeded by
The Oracle which was first published on
September 6,
1966 as a weekly.
[44] Today ''The Oracle'' is published five times a week and has a circulation of more than 12,000.
The student radio station,
WBUL (AM), is located in the Phyllis P. Marshall Center, the student union named for an administrator who spent 40 years at USF.
[45]
The school also operates
WUSF, an FM station which offers classical and jazz music and
National Public Radio (NPR) programming.
USF is home of the
WUSF-TV studios. The station is funded by local corporate and private contributors as well as the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and is affiliated with the
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). It has been serving the Tampa Bay area for nearly 50 years. Full-time employees as well as part-time student trainees and those seeking
Mass Communication course credit staff the state-of-the-art facility.
[46]
Art
USF's
Contemporary Art Museum features regular exhibitions of contemporary art, including a show of faculty work every three years and an annual juried student show. USF also operates
Graphicstudio, an art studio and printshop which has hosted artists like
Roy Lichtenstein,
Robert Rauschenberg, and
James Rosenquist. Regular exhibitions of student work are featured in the William and Nancy Oliver Gallery and the student-run
Centre Gallery in the Marshall Center. The art department puts on an event called "art house" that happens the same night as the annual juried student show where all of the studios are open with current work on display for people to walk through.
Music
USF's School of Music has been steadily growing since the university opened in 1956. The school now boasts some of the finest, world-renowned faculty who travel internationally as performers, clinicians and lecturers in their respective fields.
In 2005 the School of Music held the first annual Robert Helps Festival and Composition Competition. The festival and competition is named for the beloved late
Piano and
Composition professor
Robert Helps and is held the 2nd week in February. The international composition competition is for young adult composers and features a $10,000 prize and premieres of the winning work both during the festival at USF and in
New York City's
Merkin Hall. The festival includes clinicians and lectures from renowned musicians in addition to nightly concerts performed by students and faculty, including the traditional
Valentine's Day concert started by
Robert Helps featuring the USF faculty.
The School of Music will be moving to a new building in 2009, a project the students and faculty have been pursuing for years. The new building will feature two recital halls, state-of-the-art classrooms, large rehearsal rooms, chamber music rehearsal rooms, private studios and practice rooms.
Student housing
Beta Hall houses first-year "University Experience" students.
[47] Built in the early
1960s, it is the largest residence hall on the Tampa campus.
Most students live off-campus and commute to the campus. Despite the rise in demand for on-campus housing, thirteen percent of USF's student body, which is approximately 5,600 students, lives in a university residence hall. Many students find it more cost effective and desirable to live in area apartment complexes that cater to students. These "resident commuters" make up the majority of the student body.
In recent years, Residence Services acquired the houses of various fraternities and sororities on campus and relinquished control of Fontana Hall, a high rise residential hall located outside campus boundaries.
Most on-campus housing was built from
1960 to
1965, and each hall was named after a
Greek letter.
[48][49][50] During this period, an ambitious fundraising campaign called "Dollars for Dorms" was initiated and appealed to individual and business interests in the Tampa Bay area.
[51] Older residence halls, such as Beta Hall (which houses freshmen only),
Betty Castor Hall (formerly Gamma Hall, women-only)
[52], and Kosove Apartments (formerly Alpha Hall, upperclassmen)
[53] received extensive remodeling in the early
2000s. The other Greek letter residence halls (named in order from ''Delta'' to ''Mu'') are built in a confined community area known as the Andros Complex.
Newer housing subdivisions, such as the Cypress Suites and Apartments, Maple Hall, Holly Apartments, and the Magnolia Apartments, were built in the late
1990s. The last of them, the Cypress complex, was completed in the summer of
2004.
Greek life
USF has a very large community centered around
Greek life, comprising of a number of fraternities and sororities. Listed below are the fraternities and sororities sponsored by USF, and the years in which they were founded on the campus.
[54] [55]
Fraternities
Alpha Epsilon Pi 1985
Alpha Phi Alpha 1972
Beta Theta Pi 1992
Chi Phi 1983
Delta Chi 1998
Delta Epsilon Psi 2005
Delta Sigma Pi 1970
Iota Phi Theta 2003
Kappa Kappa Psi 2001
Kappa Sigma 1968
Lambda Chi Alpha 1968 (Suspended 2006)
Lambda Theta Phi 1998
Omega Psi Phi 1972
Phi Beta Sigma 1974
Phi Delta Theta 1967
Phi Mu Alpha 1968
Pi Kappa Alpha 1968
Sigma Alpha Epsilon 1968
Sigma Chi 1979
Sigma Beta Rho 2001
Sigma Lambda Beta 1995
Sigma Nu 1967
Sigma Phi Epsilon 1968
Zeta Beta Tau 2005
Sororities
Alpha Delta Pi 1967,
Alpha Kappa Alpha 1972,
Alpha Omicron Pi 1985,
Chi Omega 1968,
Delta Delta Delta 1966,
Delta Gamma 1969, [
Kappa Delta 1967,
Lambda Theta Alpha 1998,
Sigma Delta Tau 1988,
Sigma Sigma Rho 2002,
Zeta Phi Beta 1980 (Alpha Eta), and
Zeta Tau Alpha 2003.
Coed Service Fraternity
Alpha Phi Omega Founded
May 5,
1968, declared inactive in 1992, Rechartered
March 27,
2004 (Tau Mu)
Traditions
Alma Mater
:''Hail to Thee, our Alma Mater''
[56]
:''May thy name be told,''
:''Where above thy gleaming splendor,''
:''Waves the green and gold.''
:''Thou our guide in quest for knowledge.''
:''Where we all are free''
:''University of South Florida,''
:''Alma Mater, Hail to thee!''
:''Be our guide in truth and wisdom''
:''As we onward go,''
:''May thy glory, fame and honor''
:''Never cease to grow;''
:''May our thoughts and prayers''
:''be with thee through eternity,''
:''University of South Florida,''
:''Alma Mater, Hail to thee!''
Golden Brahman March (Fight Song)
:''USF Bulls are we,''
[57]
:''We hold our standard upright and free.''
:''For Green and Gold we stand united.''
:''Our beacon lighted and noble to see.''
:''USF Bulls are we,''
:''For USF will always be.''
:''With all our might we fight the battle''
:''here and now, and we will win the victory!''
:''(shout!) S-O-U-T-H F-L-O-R-I-D-A''
:''South Florida, South Florida''
:''Go Bulls!''
Band
Main articles: University of South Florida Herd of Thunder
The Herd of Thunder (often called HOT or the Pride of the Bay) is the athletic band of the
South Florida Bulls, including the show band,
pep band, and
marching band ensembles, although it is often used to refer simply to the marching band. It was founded in 1999, two years after USF fielded its first football team.
2007 bomb suspects
August 2007, two USF students,
Ahmed Abdellatif Sherf Mohamed and
Yousef Samir Megahed were arrested by police in
South Carolina after "explosives" were found in their vehicle. They were indicted four weeks later under a terrorism statute, but a federal spokesman said terrorism activity was not a focus of the case. The indictment accuses Mohamed of teaching how to make explosives between June and August 4 but does not say with whom he shared the information. Government officials have not provided specifics on the contents of the trunk or what they believe the students planned to do with the explosives they are accused of carrying across state lines.
[58]
Notable alumni
USF is the alma mater to many notable persons.
[59]
Graduates
★
Chucky Atkins, professional basketball player,
Memphis Grizzlies
★
Nicole Johnson,
Miss America 1999
★
William E. Brown, president,
Cedarville University
★ Kurt S. Browning, Florida Secretary of State
★ Eddie Carpenter, President, Disneyland International and CFO, Walt Disney Attractions
★
Mark Chung, Major League Soccer player
★
Mark Consuelos, actor (''
All My Children'')
★
Frank Davis, pro football guard,
Detroit Lions. First person of
Panama in an NFL game.
★
Tom Fitzgerald,
soccer coach
★
Leo Gallagher (better known as Gallagher), comedian
★
Emilio T. Gonzalez, director,
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
★
Anthony Henry, professional football cornerback,
Dallas Cowboys
★
Drake Hogestyn, actor (''
Days of our Lives'')
★
Melissa Howard, former MTV ''
The Real World'' cast member
★
Pam Iorio, current Tampa mayor (master's degree)
★
Kenyatta Jones, ex pro football tackle,
New England Patriots and
Washington Redskins
★
Joybubbles, early phreaker
★
Debra Lafave, teacher arrested in 2004 for having sex with a 14-yr-old student
★
Tony La Russa, manager
St. Louis Cardinals
★
Ann Ligouri, broadcaster on
WFAN and
The Golf Channel
★
Lobo, musician
★ Stephen Nicholas, professional football linebacker,
Atlanta Falcons
★
Kawika Mitchell, professional football linebacker,
New York Giants
★
John Patrick, former
IBM VP of Internet Technology, Opera Software Board of Directors
★
Mike Pride, editor of The
Concord Monitor
★
Michael Rao, president,
Central Michigan University
Kimberly Ross, Deputy CFO of Royal Ahold
★
Kerry Sanders, correspondent for
NBC News
★
Robert Stackhouse, artist
★
Ronda Storms,
Florida State Senator
★
Roy Wegerle, former professional soccer player,
Tampa Bay Mutiny
★
Kurt Wimmer, screenwriter and film director
★
Tony Zappone, broadcaster, journalist, photographer. Member, founding staff of
The Oracle, campus newspaper
Former students
★ Terry Bollea (better known as
Hulk Hogan), professional wrestler
★
Elayne Boosler, comedian
★
Lauren Hutton, supermodel and actress
★
Mark Keil, tennis player
Points of Interest
★
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
★
Raymond James Stadium (home stadium of the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, used by the
South Florida Bulls for football games)
★
University of South Florida Botanical Gardens
★
USF Sun Dome
★
WUSF
★
WBUL (AM)
Footnotes
1. Tampa Campus Services
2. Two local residents honored at USF Tampa fall 2001 commencement ceremonies
3. Distance Learning
4. About USF St. Petersburg
5. USF Campuses
6. Quick Facts About USF
7. Phi Alpha Theta - Faculty Advisor - National Headquarters
8. USF Site, Name Stirred Struggles
9. Reflections on the John Allen Legacy
10. Carnegie University-Community Engagement Classification
11. Honorary Committee Biographies
12. Orlando Sentinel - Tuition will jump at 3 universities
13. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBZ2HKF1RE.html
14. From the beginning...THE HISTORY OF THE HERD OF THUNDER ATHLETIC BANDS
15. Hall of Presidents
16. ''University of South Florida-Tampa'' [1]
17. ''Peterson's'' [2]
18. ''2006 Statistical Survey'' [www.ods.usf.edu/DSS/Resources/docs/USNews/USNews-Main-Survey-2006.pdf]
19. ''Prowler Rankings'' [4]
20. ''Princeton Review''[5]
21. Academics
22. Development and Alumni Affairs - About the College
23. Office of the Dean
24. Office of the Dean
25. College Administration
26. USF Health Leadership
27. USF Honors College
28. Dean's Welcome
29. Faculty & Staff
30. Director's Greeting
31. Faculty & Staff
32. Faculty
33. [6]
34. University of South Florida School of Music - Faculty & Staff
35. Message From The Director
36. USF College of Visual and Performing Arts - School of Theatre and Dance Faculty & Staff List
37. Dean's Message
38. Campuses
39. [7]
40. 2007 Quick Facts USF Sarasota-Manatee
41. About the new USF Sarasota-Manatee campus
42. http://www.lakeland.usf.edu/about_usf_lklnd.html
43. South Florida Historical Data
44. In the Beginning...
45. Phyllis Marshall slept here - 40 Years of Memories
46. About WUSF Public Broadcasting
47. Beta Hall
48. Suite-Style Residence Halls
49. Greek Village
50. Traditional-Style Residence Halls
51. University of South Florida: The First 50 Years
52. Castor hall
53. Kosove Apartments
54. USF Interfraternity Council
55. USF Panhellenic Council
56. History of the USF Alma Mater
57. Bulls’ Football Stands Spirit
58. Charges filed against USF pair September 1, 2007
59. Famous USF Graduates
External links
★
Official USF website
★
Official athletics website
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