Welcome to the February edition of Campus Insider, a monthly newsletter from the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, featuring exciting university news, research and stories of impact. Highlights this month include a reintroduction to Interim Regional Chancellor Brett Kemker, interviews with past Brunch on the Bay chairs and co-chairs and research-related awards for three members of the USF Sarasota-Manatee faculty.
Interim Regional Chancellor Brett Kemker looks to build stronger community
Interim Regional Chancellor Brett Kemker is reintroducing himself to a campus community that already knows him well and laying out his vision and expectations for his tenure.
USF Future of Education Think Tank aims to ‘shift the paradigm'
The USF Future of Education Think Tank is part of an organic, faculty-driven effort to bring together dynamic, interdisciplinary teams to address key areas of emphasis.
Student Center and Atala Residence Hall is a place to live and learn
The six-story, 100,000-square-foot building enhances the campus’s unique personalized approach to learning and deepens connections among students.
Past chairs reflect on 30 years of Brunch on the Bay
The chairs and co-chairs of the organizing committee have been key to the event's success.
USF professor Dr. Seden Dogan honored for her work in hospitality and tourism management
Seden Dogan, assistant professor of instruction in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at USF, has received four awards for her work, including as a Best Paper at the 5th Global Conference on Education and Research recently hosted at USF Sarasota-Manatee.
Dreams empowered: USF awards over $1.2 million in scholarships to business students
College leaders announced that donor-funded financial awards reached another record-breaking year with about 350 business students from all three campuses from 140 different funds within the Muma College of Business.
$4.8M Mellon Foundation grant opens internship opportunities for USF humanities students
The foundation awarded USF a five-year, $4.8 million grant that will support up to 900 students each year in otherwise unpaid internships. The beneficiaries will be undergraduate students majoring in humanities.
cbcs announces Internal Grant Awards recipients
Six faculty members, including Laura Curran and Ji-Young Lee of the Sarasota-Manatee campus, have received a College of Behavioral and Community Sciences Internal Grant Award, which are awarded annually to support research that shows promise for externally sponsored research funding.
Honors Symposium Celebrates Graduates and New Beginnings
The Judy Genshaft Honors College celebrated its Sarasota-Manatee graduates, first-year Honors students, and faculty at the annual Honors Symposium. The event featured freshman thesis presentations and concluded with the traditional Honors graduation recognition ceremony.
911 emergency personnel from Saudi Arabia boost their skills
Sixteen first responders from Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, recently celebrated the completion of a USF Corporate Training Security Training Collaborative certificate program on Dec. 13 at USF Sarasota-Manatee, where they learned ways to improve their crisis response capabilities.
USF Housing is accepting applications for up to $4,000 in scholarships for students who plan to live in Atala Residence Hall during the 2025-2026 academic year. Apply for a scholarship.
Volunteers are needed in a variety of roles March 1 and 2 to support the 30th Brunch on the Bay in a variety of roles. More information and sign up.
Students from Booker High School in Sarasota recently received a behind-the-scenes look at life at USF Sarasota-Manatee. The students are participants in the Beeler Scholars Bridge Program.
USF Sarasota-Manatee recently welcomed several students from Booker High School in Sarasota as part of the Beeler Scholars Bridge Program. The students received immersive tours of several higher education options in Sarasota and Manatee counties, including USF Sarasota-Manatee where they heard about the university experience, created vision boards and participated in a “career pathway” exercise.
Cyber Florida has awarded a team headed by Tingting Zhang, an associate professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, a grant to develop an AI-driven educational platform designed to safeguard teenagers from human trafficking risks prevalent in online gaming, cyber dating, and social media environments. The platform will leverage advanced AI technologies for real-time behavior analysis and user education. The platform also will include a robust monitoring system that alerts users and relevant authorities, including parents and/or guardians, to potential risks, such as online grooming or suspicious activity. One of the team’s co-principal investigators is YongJei Lee, an assistant professor of criminology at USF Sarasota-Manatee.
The School of Social Work and the Duvall Initiative invite students to submit research abstracts for the 2025 Duvall Conference at USF Sarasota-Manatee on April 2. This year's conference theme is “Collaborating to Tackle Local Substance Misuse: Creating Connections and Building a Community Academic Partnership.” Students actively engaged in research related to substance misuse, addiction, public health, mental health, community partnerships or other relevant topics, are encouraged to contribute to this dynamic interdisciplinary event. The submission deadline is Feb. 21. Abstract submission form.
In recognition of former Regional Chancellor Karen Holbrook’s service to USF and her impact in the larger community, the USF Foundation has started a campaign to name the USF World Suite on the first floor of the campus Student Center in her honor. Holbrook was the campus’s leader from 2018 until she retired this past December. Donate toward the $100,000 goal.
USF Sarasota-Manatee's Support-A-Bull Food Pantry is available to students to address food insecurity by providing supplemental food
and toiletry items to students in need. Donations are accepted Monday through Friday
at the Main Rotunda desk. List of high demand items.