Regional Chancellor Karen Holbrook leaves legacy of transformation at USF Sarasota-Manatee

By Marc R. Masferrer, University Communications and Marketing

The opening of the new Student Center and Atala Residence Hall was a fitting capstone to Karen Holbrook’s seven years as the regional chancellor of University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, reflecting some of her major priorities, and the impact she made, for the campus, its role in the community and most importantly, its students.

Holbrook, who is retiring as regional chancellor at the end of 2024, has led a campus that as it added and expanded academic programs to meet student and workforce demands, and faculty engaged in groundbreaking research, evolved to become an essential part of a consolidated University of South Florida.

And with the debut of the new building in August — the first major addition to the campus since it opened in 2006 — USF Sarasota-Manatee not only shed its status as a “commuter campus,” it further lifted the stature of USF, and of higher education in the region, by creating new opportunities for current and future students.

There were challenges during Holbrook’s time at USF Sarasota-Manatee, such as a global pandemic and changes brought about by the consolidation of USF’s three campuses. But through it all, Holbrook led with a steady hand and a focus on growing the campus, physically and academically. Whether in the campus’s classrooms and labs, the new student center / residence hall or in the larger region, or in the planning for continued growth, Holbrook will leave a legacy of transformation at USF Sarasota-Manatee.

Holbrook, who previously held senior posts on the Tampa campus and at other universities, said leading USF Sarasota-Manatee, has been a highlight of her career.

“This has been an amazing place, an amazing experience,” Holbrook said, as she announced her retirement as chancellor on Oct. 31. “I spent 14 years at the University of South Florida in several roles, and this campus has been more special than any place I've ever connected with."

Brett Kemker, vice provost and regional vice chancellor for academic affairs and student success at USF Sarasota-Manatee, will succeed Holbrook as interim regional chancellor.

“As regional chancellor at USF Sarasota-Manatee for the past seven years, Dr. Holbrook provided us with amazing leadership as we built and fostered a culture that puts student success at the forefront of everything that we do,” Kemker said.

“Dr. Holbrook also has been the driving force as we developed and expanded new academic programs, in nursing, the health sciences, cybersecurity, risk management and insurance and other fields, creating new opportunities not only for our students but for faculty and their research endeavors," Kemker said. "We will strive to build on that academic robustness as we make USF Sarasota-Manatee an even more attractive campus to study and work.”

USF President Rhea Law was in the audience for Holbrook’s announcement, which came near the end of a State of the Campus address.

"Throughout her highly decorated career in higher education, Dr. Holbrook has been a champion for student success, innovative research, global engagement and impactful community partnerships," Law said. "Under her leadership, USF Sarasota-Manatee has achieved several major milestones and undergone significant transformation that has positioned the campus to make an even greater impact in the years to come. We are truly grateful for Dr. Holbrook's many important contributions to the university in each of the key roles she’s held throughout her time at USF, and her unwavering dedication to the success of our students, faculty, staff and the community."

In her address, which was attended by students, faculty, staff and community members, Holbrook offered a detailed look at what USF Sarasota-Manatee has accomplished during her tenure as regional chancellor.

Consolidating into ‘One USF’

Holbrook said the consolidation of USF’s three campuses, which was completed in the summer of 2020, helped increase the number and quality of students enrolled at the Sarasota-Manatee campus, whether in person or online:

• The number of students served by the Sarasota-Manatee campus grew from about 6,800 in 2018-19 to 14,743 in 2023-2024, an increase of 117%.
• Between 2018-19 and 2022-23, total student credit hours increased by 23%, a statistic important because of it how affects funding for the campus. The campus’s budget went from $27 million in 2018 to almost $39 million for 2025, or by more than 44%.
• During the same period, the average high school grade point average for first-time students increased from 3.92 in 2018-19 to 4.33 this year. Also, many current high school students are also taking USF courses as part of a burgeoning dual enrollment program.

Holbrook, who has studied or worked at five universities that are members of the prestigious Association of American Universities, said the university’s admission into the AAU last year has helped attract new, distinguished faculty to the Sarasota-Manatee campus.

“But it is not just our honor, it belongs to the communities we serve, including here in Sarasota-Manatee where we are the only higher education institution with the resources and ability to bring from all three campuses so much knowledge and experience to address the most pressing challenges, like economic and workforce development, health care and cybersecurity,” Holbrook said. “Our research and other academic work, some of which is with the support of our donors, is making an impact every day in our community.”

New and expanded academic programs

Several USF colleges have vigorous presences on Sarasota-Manatee campus that have grown during Holbrook’s chancellorship.

The Judy Genshaft Honors College established itself on the campus in 2020. The College of Nursing now offers an accelerated degree program. The College of Education has established powerful partnerships with the Manatee and Sarasota school districts to improve the quality of the teaching in the community’s public schools and to create teaching opportunities for graduating students. And the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Public Health, the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences and the Muma College of Business have expanded the number and type of degree programs available for students on the Sarasota-Manatee campus.

Two Muma College of Business units based on the campus, the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and The Baldwin Group School of Risk Management and Insurance, have seen tremendous growth in their enrollments as they expanded their offerings to the Tampa and St. Petersburg campuses. The growth in the RMI program was sparked in 2022 by a $5.2 million gift from the program’s namesake – the largest philanthropic gift in the 50-year history of USF Sarasota-Manatee.

Holbrook, whether as regional chancellor or as chair this past year of the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp., has advocated for the campus, and all of USF, to be part of an emerging aviation ecosystem anchored by its neighbor immediately to the east, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. The USF College of Engineering is offering new undergraduate and graduate degrees in aerospace engineering, and other local educational institutions, such as the School District of Manatee County and Manatee Technical College, are developing programs in aviation mechanics (airframe and power plant) to prepare the workforce new and expanding aviation-related businesses will need.

“We fit in with those programs because we can add modules on cybersecurity, system sustainability, management, supply chain and other topics,” Holbrook said.

New facilities grow the campus

Towering over Sarasota Bay and other surrounding environs, the Student Center and Atala Residence Hall, which is home to 200 students, have forever changed the look and feel of the Sarasota-Manatee campus. There is a new bookstore, dining facilities, offices for student government and other organizations and a ballroom that can host a myriad campus and community events.

And reflecting Holbrook’s interest in international education, the building also is home to the campus’s office for USF World. The USF Foundation has opened the “Dr. Karen A. Holbrook Legacy of Leadership” fundraising campaign to name the space in Holbrook’s honor. 

“You walk in the building and the students are there pretty much all the time talking with each other, eating and doing what students do,” Holbrook said. “It’s absolutely great.”

Members of the USF and larger communities, including President Law, former USF President Judy Genshaft and Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown, who presented Holbrook with a key to the city, gathered in the Student Center Ballroom on Wednesday to honor Holbrook with for a celebration of her service to the university and the Sarasota-Manatee campus. 

During her address, Holbrook pointed to other physical additions to the campus, including an expanded health, wellness and exercise facilities; the conversion of a former Howard Johnson’s motel on U.S. 41 to a research annex hosting cybersecurity, audiology and other labs; and the Fish Bull study space for students off the rotunda in the campus’s academic building.

Holbrook said the campus is not done growing, noting that planning continues for a new Nursing/STEM building that would be stocked with much needed classrooms, labs and research space. The building would go up across the campus courtyard from the Student Center and Atala Residence Hall.

“Neither building has ever been more important than the other,” Holbrook said. “We have always seen them as a whole, as we worked to build both a fuller college experience for our students and a place where faculty could do more intensive research and we could prepare our graduates for the workforce.”

Accomplishments highlight USF Sarasota-Manatee's culture

Holbrook’s final State of the Campus presentation included dozens of Power Point slides, reflecting how much has been accomplished at USF Sarasota-Manatee since she joined the campus.

Other accomplishments noted by Holbrook in her address included:

• Since 2018, the campus has raised $14.5 million in philanthropic support, including a record $6.5 million in 2022, thanks to the gift from The Baldwin Group. Brunch on the Bay, which supports student scholarships and other programs, has continued to grow as a mainstay of the local social calendar.
• The campus, through the Office of Research, has cultivated a culture of research that continues to strengthen, through programs such as the Summer Grant Writing Workshops, and an undergraduate research conference. The office also designed and created a new Research Development Institute that will further elevate the research enterprise across USF.
• The campus-based Florida Center for Partnerships in Arts-Integrated Teaching (PAInT) has been awarded multi-million-dollar grants that have allowed it to establish partnerships with schools and arts organizations across the nation to improve teaching and increase cross-disciplinary learning.
• An annual 9/11 remembrance event at USF Sarasota-Manatee, organized by the campus’s Office of Veteran Success, has become one of the major ceremonies in the region commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The campus also has hosted public events that have examined topics ranging from Florida's climate and the war in Ukraine to the role of women in business and how the nearby Tallevast neighborhood is recovering from a massive contamination of its drinking water. The campus also has hosted the Perlman Music Program Winter Residency, which this year is being held in Holbrook’s honor, for her “unwavering dedication and all that you do to enrich the arts and our community.” 

Near the end of her State of the Campus address, Holbrook said the campus’s successes since she arrived in January 2018 were the result of a strong culture that she summarized on one of her final slides.

“Caring, connected and accessible.”

“Personalized and flexible learning.”

“Career readiness and local industry connections.”

“Holistic student support.”

“Leadership and engagement opportunities.”

“Strong connection to community.”

A steadfastness with those values, Holbrook said, will ensure the campus’s future growth and success.

“This is who we are. This is what our culture is,” she said. “This is the University of South Florida Sarasota Manatee.”