10 minute read
Interview: Steven Currall
Student benefits
Consolidation of USF is expected to provide students with greater flexibility when taking courses offered at other campuses
Advertisement
What curriculum changes are you applying to maintain an edge in the face of a changing labor market? Florida state law passed in 2018 requires us to consolidate all three of our campuses into a single, accredited university. One aspect of this consolidation is integrating what we call general education. It is the core curriculum for undergraduates. One of the great advantages of consolidation is that it will facilitate students taking advantage of courses that are offered at other campuses. A student in Saint Petersburg will now have greater access to courses offered in Tampa and vice versa. The same applies to Sarasota. We think this will strengthen our region as a whole. We are investing in information technology resources that enable students to capitalize on online resources to connect to the courses electronically across all three campuses.
How is USF preparing students to enter the growing workforce in the Tampa Bay region? We tackle this issue through collaborations with our corporate partners. Mainly, the employers. We launched the Jabil Innovation Institute, which is a seven-figure commitment spearheaded by Jabil as an addition to the collaborative research we undertake with their engineers. There are also internship opportunities and input that Jabil will give us on curriculum requirements in terms of the qualifications they need from their present and future employees. It allows us to update our curriculums and maintain a solid spirit of improvement, staying fresh and current for our employers. The key to the future of USF and the region is the symbiotic relationship between the university and employers. Engagement with investors in Tampa Bay and other corporate partners, including the analytics that come from either nonprofit or forprofit consulting firms, also enables us to stay up-to
date on labor market trends. We continually engage in conversations surrounding evolving labor market dynamics and how we can continue to adjust to them as they change in the Tampa Bay region.
What is your near-term outlook for higher education in the state of Florida? The state of Florida has been quite generous to higher education in recent years. We are grateful for it but we are far from done. We still need to elevate our higher education sector to compete with other states, such as California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania and many others. We have great universities but there is still much work to do to develop an even more mature higher education market to fuel economic growth in the state.
Rebecca White Chair of Entrepreneurship & Director of the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center – University of Tampa
In any entrepreneurial ecosystem or any economic community, universities are critically important. Some of the most powerful entrepreneurial ecosystems exist because they are near great universities. We primarily bring talent to the region. The University of Tampa and the other great universities we have in Tampa Bay play a really important role in bringing talented individuals to the community. We are not trying to launch companies, even if we have many students launching their companies, but we are not an incubator. We are designed around creating talent. We also provide research that can help drive the economy.
( ) In the case of graduate degrees, men earn almost double the $55,200 earned by women to rake in $95,900.
In terms of race, education in Tampa is on the same level as state-wide trends. The largest population group without a high school diploma is Hispanic males, followed by Hispanic females, black males and black females. White males are the most likely population segment in Tampa to have a high school diploma, followed by white females.
College graduates per race are also widely on par with statewide indicators. The largest segment, just under 70% of Asian males have a college degree in Tampa followed by 53.4% of Asian females, 50% of white males and 48% of white females. Again, the least likely to have a degree are the black and Hispanic communities. Just under 14% of black men in Tampa are college graduates, followed by 17% of black females, 20% of Hispanic males and just over a fifth of Hispanic females.
The areas of highest academic attainment are in the central part of Tampa, namely Habour Island, the Channel District, Parkland Estates and Golf View, and to the north in Arbor Greene. The lowest levels of achievement are seen in the outskirts, such as the East Side Commercial Area, Palmetto Beach, Northview Hills, Highland Pines, Grant Park, Florence and Drew Park.
Higher education According to Polarlist, 65 people from Tampa Bay area high schools graduated from Harvard University, Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2015 to 2017. But Tampa has 25 colleges, educating over 75,000 full and part-time students. According to Universities.com, the top university in Tampa is the University of South Florida’s main campus followed by the University of Tampa. Eckerd College and the University of South Florida at St Petersburg come in fourth and fifth, with Pasco-Hernando State College rounding out the Top 5. Hillsborough and Pinellas counties sent the most undergraduate students to USF with 10,838 and 4,418, respectively. A further 4,000 students come from outside the country and 4,000 from outside the state.
Hillsborough Community College, offering 124
In 2019 U.S. News and World report named Florida’s higher education system the best in the nation.
degree-programs, is the No. 1 community college, followed by Galen College of Nursing Tampa Bay, Concorde Career Institute Tampa, Ultimate Medical Academy Clearwater and Central Florida Institute. It is worth noting that both USF and Hillsborough Community College are public institutes.
But USF is the region’s only research university, and despite generating dozens of patents in 2019 and generating around $1 billion for the regional economy, the other institutes in the region are falling behind. According to the Tampa Bay Partnership’s annual State of the Region regional competitiveness report, Tampa Bay is improving but it still has work to do in terms of innovation. The report ranks the region 13th in R&D expenditures, up one place on the year, 11th in University licensing technology, level on the year, 16th in patents, up one place and 19th in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards per capita, also flat on the year.
USF is Tampa’s beacon of elite education. In 2018, the university became one of only three universities in the state to receive “pre-eminence,” which is a status awarded based on meeting metrics that include graduation rates, research expenditures, student retention rates and patents awarded. Preeminence then means the university is eligible for additional funding from the Board of Governors, and in 2018 this extra funding came in at about $6.15 million, enabling the university to open the Morsani College of Medicine.
In July 2020, the USF Tampa Bay Campus’ metrics will be evaluated in conjunction with those of the St Petersburg campus and the Sarasota-Manatee campus, meaning Tampa Bay’s campus could be dragged out of pre-eminence status, a prospect former USF President Judy Genshaft called “earth-shattering.”
Funding As of October, Florida’s total student loan debt was at $75.9 billion, according to realtor.com, equating to 2.2 million borrowers who owe an average of $34,544 each, making it more difficult for graduates to get on the property ladder. Graduates burdened with debt are hurting the economic growth of the country, and legislators are starting to sit up and take note.
In January, DeSantis announced $500 million in cash refunds for those who used the Florida Prepaid program to fund tuition fees since 2008. As a result of the average payout of $4,700, around 108,000 accounts will now be paid in full out of the total 224,000 accounts affected. The remaining families will see decreases in monthly payments, the governor pledged, generating $1.3 billion in total savings for Florida families. The decision came after a yearly review by the board on whether to reduce prices based on current and future costs of tuition and projected return on investment.
And in an effort to tempt more high-school graduates into further education, Tampa’s public and private sector are attempting to increase additional funding options, including scholarships. In February, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Foundation announced it would award four $5,000 scholarships to female high school football players, in the first initiative by an NFL team to provide scholarships that benefit females. And in the same month the Florida Supervisors of Elections (FSE) announced it would be offering three $1,200 scholarships to those studying political science, public or business administration, or journalism/mass communication at a Florida university. The applicant must be registered to vote to be considered eligible.
But some funding scandals over the last year could weigh on this progress. Florida’s merit-based Bright Futures “Academic” scholarships cover full tuition and fees for students at state universities and colleges provided they achieve at least 1,290 on their SATs and “Medallion” scholarships fund 75% for those who obtain at least 1,170. But a move in April to increase minimum scores to 1,330 and 1,200, respectively was received with outcry at its potential to disproportionately affect students of color. In Pinellas County, 100 seniors would drop from the “Academic” to the “Medallion” level and about 70 12th graders would no longer qualify, based
Shane Smith Central Florida Director Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship
The younger demographic is being raised in a time where the big-box corporations are not as attractive as they once were. This demographic wants to have a bigger say in who they work for, they want to help mold the identity of a business and they are much more focused on work culture than previous generations. This generation entering the workforce is not afraid of learning from their failures, which is something I believe previous generations were apprehensive about. The identity of the business that this generation chooses to work in becomes a part of their identity and they take pride in this.
on SAT scores. In Hillsborough, 380 students would drop from “Academic” to “Medallion.”
Funds from the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program could also be in jeopardy for 100,000 students from low-income families, attending several schools in the Tampa Bay region. After the schools were accused of espousing anti-LGBT views, donors to the scholarship such as Fifth Third Bank and Wells Fargo withdrew support. But the voucher program is largely funded by taxpayer money. More than 2,700 students receive vouchers to attend these schools – 22 of which are located in the Tampa Bay area – with schools receiving more than $16.7 million.
It is not only students who need to be funded, but also institutions of learning. Late last year, Hernando County came up with an innovative way to add classroom funding through an increase in builder impact fees for schools. The premise is that commissioners will approve new housing developments in exchange for higher impact fees, an initiative that has been welcomed by builders, realtors and the county’s own Chamber of Commerce. The fee for a single-family home will increase from $2,133 to $3,176 and will apply from June 2020.
Workforce preparation In Hillsborough County in 2018, 56% of students enrolled in college for the following fall semester. Although a great achievement, that still leaves 46% of high-school graduates without a further education or vocational training trajectory. At the end of 2018, the Tampa Bay Partnership Foundation, JP Morgan Chase and TIP Strategies teamed up to form the Tampa Bay Works employer-led regional workforce initiative to try
Eight out of 10 firms have trouble finding skilled labor
to address the labor shortage that exists in the region.
“Tampa Bay produces enough degrees, but the choice of majors is not well-aligned with the job market, and the graduates do not necessarily stay in the region after graduation,” the report concluded. “For instance, there are more entry-level openings in finance, information technology, and marketing than there are completions or degrees awarded. In addition, employers in the manufacturing and construction industries noted the lack of awareness of and interest in careers in these two economic drivers and therefore a lack of students in manufacturing and construction-related training programs, many of which are nondegree programs. This was highlighted as one of the primary workforce challenges of these two industries.”
Tampa’s talent pipeline is leaky and there are not enough resources available for high-school graduates who want to go onto further education but simply cannot access it. There are pockets of underused talent combined with a mismatch between degrees and actual business requirements. And an estimated 330,000 adults in Tampa Bay have earned some credits
