By Marc R. Masferrer, University Communications and Marketing
Students, faculty members and staff at USF Sarasota-Manatee were already familiar with Brett Kemker, a member of the campus’s leadership team for more than six years, before he was promoted to interim regional chancellor on Jan. 3. But his new role, and the start of a new calendar year and semester, gave Kemker the chance to reintroduce himself to the campus community and to lay out his vision and expectations for his tenure.
In a “Chancellor’s Corner” email delivered just before the start of the semester, Kemker said he hopes to continue the campus’s “growth trajectory” -- a path Kemker said, in part, reflects efforts he has led since his arrival on campus in July 2018.
“For instance, we now serve nearly one-third of all USF undergraduate students from our Sarasota-Manatee campus. We’ve attained a freshman retention rate of over 90% over the past three years, including an impressive 99.26% as of Jan. 23. That’s nearly unprecedented and can, in part, be attributed to our faculty and staff as well as to the concierge approach I introduced to USF in my early years,” Kemker wrote in his email. “No matter who you are -- faculty, staff, management or student -- you simply cannot walk down the halls and not be greeted by someone saying ‘hello’ or ‘good afternoon.’ It has become part of our campus DNA to be welcoming and engaging.”
Interim Regional Chancellor Brett Kemker hosts a monthly "Coffee with Kemker" event, giving students, faculty, staff and others a chance to ask him just about anything.
Kemker succeeded Karen Holbrook, who retired in December after almost seven years as regional chancellor.
Kemker, who has retained his role as regional vice chancellor for academic affairs and student success, already was familiar with campus operations that directly affect students – both in their classrooms and outside in places ranging from the career and fitness centers to the new Student Center and Atala Residence Hall.
“I have experience in both major facets of student life in higher education, the academics, as well as those other parts, in the student center and elsewhere, that are key to their success in college,” Kemker said. “The two dovetail perfectly. One doesn’t exist without the other.”
Kemker, who was key in establishing teaching internship programs within the College of Education at USF Sarasota-Manatee, said he would like to expand experiential learning opportunities for all Sarasota-Manatee students. He also wants to make sure students always feel safe and at home on the campus.
“Students are empowered with the support we offer them,” Kemker said. “Students need to feel they have a safe place to seek help from if they need it.”
Similarly, Kemker is familiar with the interests and needs of the faculty, many of
whom he has helped recruit to campus. He pledged to give them the support they need
for their professional development, whether it’s for their research endeavors or better
tools for online teaching.
"If faculty don’t succeed, neither will their students,” Kemker said. “It’s important
the faculty understand they have support.”
Another major constituency Kemker will work with as interim regional chancellor is a larger Sarasota-Manatee community that has grown rapidly over the past decade, just like the campus. Hoping to build on a tradition of the campus’s involvement with the community, Kemker already is meeting with local leaders, establishing and growing relationships he said should benefit USF Sarasota-Manatee students and grow the campus, and all of USF, as a resource for the area.
“If we make a promise we are going to do something in the community, we will follow through,” Kemker said.
Kemker pledged to always be approachable to anyone who wants to talk, whether it’s at either of his two offices on campus, at “Coffee with Kemker,” or out in the community. You also can expect to hear more from “the Chancellor’s Corner.”
After all, Kemker, and USF Sarasota-Manatee, have a great story to share. The campus, Kemker said, has the feel of a small private university — but now, with a residence hall! — where everyone might know your name and where freshmen, as part of the campus’s concierge services, get a personal escort to their first classes on their first day as a college student. But USF Sarasota-Manatee also packs the power of being part of the only preeminent research university in the region, complete with membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.
“We have a very unique, fabulous opportunity to build our community here,” Kemker said. “I don’t know that exists in any other place in higher education.”