USF Consolidation

It is the unification of the three USF campuses into one, singularly-accredited University, required by state law.

All information can be accessed on the Provost's website.

Because they are required to by state law. To provide USF students, and the communities we serve, with broader access to, and support from, a Preeminent State Research University, across the greater Tampa Bay Region. 

Our community and business partners will, over time, be more fully served through the coordinated strengths of a single Preeminent State Research University.

Preeminent State Research Universities are so designated by the state legislature and the Florida Board of Governors, and must achieve the highest performance standards associated with student success, research productivity, faculty and institutional rankings. A degree earned from a Preeminent State Research University carries high prestige as graduates continue their education in graduate or professional schools and/or enter and continue their career paths.  USF is one of just three universities to have earned the State of Florida Preeminent designation and is the only one located in an urban or metropolitan location. 

Yes, employees will be able to use their USF parking decal on all three campuses.

No, there is one application process and a single set of admissions standards at USF.

While admissions standards for freshmen (FTICs) have risen to meet the expectations of a top tier, national preeminent university, pathways to graduation (developed and delivered in collaboration with our Florida State College partners) provide students a transfer gateway to USF through the FUSE program. 

Yes. The USF Office of Admissions will have a presence on USF’s campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota-Manatee.

Yes. The USF Office of Admissions will continue to deliver campus tours on USF’s campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota-Manatee. 

Yes. The USF Office of Admissions will continue to host events on USF’s campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota-Manatee.

Yes. The USF Application allows prospective students the option of selecting their preferred campus. In some cases such options will be limited by capacity and/or the opportunity to complete all degree requirements in a preferred location. 

No.  However, while university-wide scholarships will be available to students on all campuses, some privately-funded scholarships may be restricted to students on one campus just as they may be limited to students enrolled in a particular college or academic program.

No. While we expect to deliver a broader array of programs to students across USF (especially those for which there is high student demand), including via online access, we do not expect to deliver all degree programs in all locations.

All diplomas for degrees conferred after July 1, 2020 will read the University of South Florida.

Yes.  After July 1, 2020, all students will be able to enroll in classes delivered at any USF campus, including online.

Students enrolled as of Spring 2020 will pay tuition and fees at current local rates through graduation (provided they are continually enrolled in subsequent semesters and graduate no later than December 2023), unless those rates are changed at any point by the state legislature or Florida Board of Governors. Students first enrolling in Summer 2020 will pay current local tuition and fees for that term and, beginning Fall 2020 will pay rates aligned with the Preeminent university.  Students first enrolling in Fall 2020 will pay tuition and fees aligned with the Preeminent university.  

Yes. A full and equitable array of student services will be provided on each campus.

Yes. Students will be able to participate in activities on any of USF’s campuses.

Degree curricula have been aligned across all three campuses, including the design of a single general education program. Students will be permitted to graduate based upon the catalog requirements under which they entered or any subsequent catalog at USF Tampa, USF St. Petersburg, or USF Sarasota-Manatee, or the current, consolidated catalog. In the event of a conflict, to the extent possible, the University will make every effort to apply the appropriate catalog that protects the interest of the student.  

Faculty members will be appointed to an academic department, school, and/or college at USF. A limited number of faculty members may request, on a limited, one-time basis (during a window of time beginning February 17, 2020 and ending April 3, 2020), appointment to a preferred department, school, and/or college based upon academic credentials and the needs of the University.

The Chair/Director of your Department/School will determine equitable assignments in consultation with faculty members. The Chair/Director (along with other evaluative bodies) will conduct annual evaluations consistent with approved Department/School governance documents. 

Yes, depending on student and/or programmatic needs there is a possibility that you could, following appropriate notice and consultation (consistent with provisions in the Collective Bargaining Agreement), be assigned to teach on a different campus, yet most faculty should expect to continue teaching at their current location.

Tenured faculty and Instructors will retain their current status. Tenure-earning faculty will retain that status (consistent with ongoing evaluation procedures) and will be considered for tenure in their appointed department, school, and/or college. Tenure-earning faculty, initially hired at USF St. Petersburg and USF Sarasota-Manatee with three years of tenure-earning credit on July 1, 2019 (i.e. generally those hired in Fall 2016 or earlier), will be considered for tenure consistent with local (i.e. USF St. Petersburg or USF Sarasota-Manatee) department, school, college, and institutional guidelines in place prior to consolidation.  All other tenure-earning faculty members will be evaluated for tenure and promotion following USF’s Guidelines (including those yet to be developed by academic departments, schools and colleges), effective July 1, 2020.

Yes, department chairs, school directors, college deans and university leaders will be responsible for assuring equity of access to faculty support on all USF campuses.

No. USF remains committed to the principle of equity in compensation consistent with assignment and performance. Any future compensation or benefit actions will be dependent upon consultation/negotiation with collective bargaining units and budget.

Yes. USF faculty members on all campuses will be provided equitable access to services aligned with their assignment.

Some USF colleges have academic programs and faculty on more than one campus.  These are “multi-campus” colleges. Each multi-campus college is led by a College Dean who is responsible to ensure that the College’s programs are successful on all campuses. Academic administrative leaders will have either college-wide responsibilities (e.g. Associate/Assistant Deans, School Directors, Department Chairs) or local campus responsibilities (e.g. campus deans, campus associate/assistant deans, campus chairs, campus associate/assistant chairs). College-wide administrative leaders report to the College Dean; local campus administrative leaders report to the College Dean (in all college-wide matters) and the Regional Chancellor or designee (on local branch campus matters).

Some USF colleges and faculty are on one campus only. They are “single-campus” colleges. In the case of a single-campus colleges physically located at a branch campus, the Dean reports to the Provost, and the Regional Chancellor as a campus dean (on local branch campus matters) and participates as a member of the branch campus leadership team.

USF’s accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) expects the consolidated USF to have one fiduciary Governing Board and one Chief Executive (President). SACSCOC also expects USF to have one Provost for the University and one College for each overarching disciplinary area with one College Dean who serves as chief executive officer of their College.

With consolidation, the branch campus Regional Chancellors will report to the University President, and collaborate with the University Provost in matters of Academic Affairs and Student Success.  The Regional Chancellor will serve, along with university Vice Presidents, on the USF President’s Cabinet.  The USF Academic Leadership team includes the Provost, Vice President for Student Success, Vice President for USF World, Vice Provosts, Associate Vice President for Innovative Education, Associate Vice President for Decision Support, and the regional vice chancellors (or associate vice chancellors) for academic affairs and/or student success on the branch campuses. 

The Regional Chancellors have local responsibilities and accountability (i.e., “authority”) for their branch campuses. A branch campus leadership team, led by the Regional Chancellor, includes their direct reports and those representatives of USF Vice President units and College Deans who are assigned primarily to fulfill local branch campus responsibilities. Regional vice chancellors, associate and assistant vice chancellors at branch campuses report to the Regional Chancellor or designee and to the appropriate USF Vice President.  

Campus deans or local department/college leaders report to the College Deans in matters of academic affairs and student success, and the Regional Chancellors or designee on local branch campus matters. The branch campus dean of the Poynter Library reports to the USF Dean of Libraries and to the Regional Chancellor or designee on local campus matters. 

In close partnership with local business, schools and economic development organizations, the Regional Chancellors will be responsible and accountable for serving as the local “eyes and ears” in curating information on local workforce and research needs as they impact curricular development, delivery, and faculty hiring plans on that campus.

In the branch campus annual budget planning process, the Regional Chancellors are responsible and accountable for obtaining and presenting information on student demand, community support, campus staffing, facility, equipment and other needs of the Colleges that are represented on the branch campus. 

The branch campus annual budget planning for new and expanded academic, research, and student success programs will be developed in partnership with College Deans, the Vice President for Student Success, and branch campus leaders (including campus deans).  The Regional Chancellor will collaborate with the Provost on a budget proposal.  These recommendations will be incorporated into the proposed academic and student success budget and the annual campus budget proposal, which will then be shared with local campus advisory boards for their input (including votes by the boards to recommend approval of the proposed budget and proposed PECO funding), incorporated into the branch campus’ annual budget plan and submitted to the President on behalf of the Board of Trustees. 

The USF Board of Trustees will approve and oversee a consolidated annual university budget with guaranteed transparency of resource allocation and expenditures by each campus. USF’s financial reporting system supports ongoing monitoring and reporting for each of the three campuses. 

The Regional Chancellors will have responsibility and accountability for implementing branch campus budgets approved by the USF President and USF Board of Trustees, recognizing that the consolidated budget for a multi-campus College (for which the College Dean has oversight and reliance) will include college allocations in campus budgets, where a multi-campus college has responsibility for program delivery and faculty/staff support; likewise, for consolidation of a student success budget from allocations in campus budgets.

Recommendations regarding current and future academic programs are developed collaboratively by the Regional Chancellors, the College Deans, campus deans, and faculty on all campuses, voted on by the campus boards, and presented to the Provost for consideration of approval, funding and implementation.

Regional Chancellors will have responsibility and accountability for assessing, with fully informed justifications, future faculty hiring needs at branch campuses.  Faculty and academic/student success personnel hiring plans are developed in joint collaboration with campus and College Deans, and/or the Vice President for Student Success, and presented to the Provost for consideration of approval, funding and implementation. 

The recruitment and hiring of academic and student success personnel will be conducted by the university-wide unit (i.e. department/school/college, admissions, counseling etc.) within which the employee will be appointed. College Deans and the Vice President for Student Success will delegate hiring responsibilities on branch campuses to chairs, directors, campus assistant/associate deans, or campus deans at any of USF’s campuses. Unit-wide search advisory committees will ordinarily include faculty members, other campus-wide academic/student success personnel, and stakeholders from the locally-served community.  The Regional Chancellor or their designee will serve as a voting member on all search committees for faculty hiring on branch campuses.  Faculty appointments are approved by the College Dean and student success personnel appointments are approved by the Vice President for Student Success.  If consensus is not reached, the Provost will adjudicate.

Academic advising, student advocacy, mental health counseling, financial aid, and career services will be delivered locally on all branch campuses following a set of equitable and consistent principles, practices and standards across all USF campuses, guided by USF’s Vice President for Student Success, strategic performance expectations and best practices.

The Regional Chancellor or their designee, in partnership with the Provost, the Vice President for Student Success, and College Deans, are responsible and accountable for assuring the delivery of equitable support services for students, faculty and other academic/student success personnel on branch campuses.  This will include, but will not be limited to, campus-based and college-based academic advising and counseling for students, local support for research, scholarly, and creative activity for faculty members, and access to faculty and professional staff development opportunities across all campuses.  The Vice President for Student Success, College Deans, School Directors, Department Chairs may delegate these responsibilities to campus chairs, campus directors, campus deans, and other personnel to ensure that students, faculty and staff are provided timely and consistent levels of local support for all USF’s campuses. 

Annual assignment and performance assessment of academic/student success staff personnel will be conducted in compliance with USF policies and procedures, and consistent with a common set of department/school, college, unit assignment and appraisal guidelines, following a single process. The Regional Chancellor or designee will collaborate with the College Deans, the Vice President for Student Success, and other Academic Affairs personnel (as appropriate) to reach decisions on assignment that are maximally aligned with the strategic priorities and goals of the University. 

Performance appraisal of academic/student success staff personnel on branch campuses will be conducted in compliance with USF policies and procedures, and consistent with a single set of department/school, college, unit assignment and appraisal guidelines, and will include formal written input by the Regional Chancellor or designee prior to a College Dean or Vice President or their designee completing the appraisal.  If consensus is not reached, the Provost will adjudicate 

Annual assignment and performance appraisal of all faculty on branch campuses (including academic leaders: campus-based chairs, campus directors, campus assistant/associate deans, and campus deans) will be conducted in compliance with USF policies and procedures, and consistent with a single set of department/school, college, unit assignment and appraisal guidelines, and will include formal written input by the Regional Chancellor or designee prior to a College Dean or Vice President completing their appraisal.

The USF-wide academic and student success leadership team, including the Provost, Vice President for Student Success, College Deans, and Regional Chancellors, fulfill a unified leadership role in assuring compliance with SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation, guided by the USF SACSCOC liaison.

College Deans, with the support of Regional Chancellors and the Provost, are directly responsible for academic quality assurance, decision-making and meeting specialized accrediting standards for their colleges across all campuses at USF (e.g. AACSB, ABET, CAEP, CCNE, and LCME etc).

College Deans, in consultation with the Provost, Vice President for Student Success, and Regional Chancellors, are directly responsible for strategic performance planning, decision-making, and performance outcomes across their colleges to enhance USF’s position and stature with regard to Preeminence, Performance-Based Funding, progress to US News & World Report Top 25, and AAU membership eligibility.  Performance standards and expectations are set by the University’s President.

Under the leadership of the USF Office of Decision Support (ODS), the RCs or their designees will be responsible and accountable for monitoring campus-level performance outcome data on the branch campus, which will be delivered to each College Dean who will compile college-level performance data.  Under the direction of the Provost, and ultimately the President, ODS remains responsible and accountable for collecting, verifying, archiving, and reporting the University’s performance outcomes (consolidated for all campuses) to both internal and external constituent groups in accordance with USF Policy.

Regional Chancellors will report to the President on all administrative matters and will assure branch campus alignment with USF’s mission and the President’s strategic priorities. The Regional Chancellors or their designees will also work closely with:

• The Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation to advance USF’s research profile,
• The Vice President for Student Success to help shape a strategic enrollment plan with a mind to optimizing student access for success, branch campus instructional capacity, and student housing occupancy,
• The Vice President for USF World to support USF’s global mission, vision, and goals,The Senior Vice President for Business and Financial Strategy (including CFO, VP Administration, VP for Information Technology, Audit and Compliance), and
• The Vice President for Diversity, Inclusion and Equity; Marketing and Communications; and the Office of General Counsel. Some of these responsibilities are managed on the branch campuses by an officer who has primary responsibility for the activity under the leadership of the RC.

Regional Chancellors will also be responsible for daily operations and safety, and will oversee emergency preparedness and emergency management of the branch campus.

The Regional Chancellors will have responsibility and accountability for external affairs including fundraising, alumni affairs, community government affairs (state and local), and regional partnerships for the branch campuses, and will work in close collaboration with the President, the Senior Vice President for Advancement, and other relevant university-wide leaders.  Branch campus government affairs staff will work in close alignment with University-wide government affairs.  The Regional Chancellors will:

• Develop and lead philanthropic strategy and operations in the local community.  In close collaboration with USF’s Senior Vice President for Advancement, and the Regional Vice Chancellor for Advancement, local fundraising numerical targets for identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of donors will be developed. Fundraising will focus on the primary goals of the branch campus, donor-advised goals as appropriate to University priorities (e.g. scholarships) and other university goals, which may include USF Athletics (in collaboration with the Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics),
• Regional Chancellors will serve as ex officio members of the USF Foundation Board, and
• Regional Chancellors will cultivate alumni engagement in the local community.

No. USF remains committed to the principle of equity in compensation consistent with assignment and performance. For staff, any future compensation or benefit actions will be dependent upon consultation/negotiation with collective bargaining units and budget. Administrative employees should expect to have the same salary and benefit opportunities based on available budget and as provided in USF Regulations and Policies.

The vast majority of staff and administration will not be affected by Consolidation.  However, in some cases staff and administrative duties may require reassignment of employees consistent with provisions in the Collective Bargaining Agreement or USF Regulations and Policies, as applicable.

Yes. USF staff and administration on all campuses will have access to services aligned with their assignment.

USF values the contributions and hard work of its staff and administrative employees and does not anticipate a reduction of positions as a result of Consolidation.

No. If you are a graduate of USF, USF St. Petersburg or USF Sarasota-Manatee prior to July 1, 2020, you will not be able to request a replacement diploma that reads differently to that earned earlier.

There will be no change in the way donors give and how we facilitate gifts.  The USF Foundation has always put donor interest and intent above all else.