USF SP Harbor Notes News

USF St. Petersburg is moving forward with plans for a new 375-bed residence hall that will give students more affordable housing options downtown while increasing the number of residential students on campus by nearly 70 percent. The Florida Board of Governors on November 8 agreed to allow the USF System to issue $33-million in bonds to pay for the project, which is scheduled to open in July of 2020. Once completed, it will expand on-campus student housing from 541 beds to 975. READ MORE

The cost of domestic violence in Pinellas County is $132 million a year, or roughly $21,000 per victim. These are the findings from a new study out of USF St. Petersburg that sought to quantify the economic impact of rape, physical assault, stalking and other acts of domestic violence to individuals, families and the community. READ MORE

USF St. Petersburg received a $2 million legacy gift from the estate of Josephine Hall. Hall, a sweet and spunky lady who loved to travel the world, lived in a condo across the street from the University. As a senior citizen auditor she took history, art and psychology classes and attended events at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library. In honor of her passion for the arts, the University is allocating $1 million of the gift to support art programs at USFSP, and the other to support the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library. READ MORE

To celebrate Veterans Day and honor military service, the University of South Florida St. Petersburg hosted its 6th annual Veterans Expo on Friday, November 9. This year, U.S. Representative Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg), St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and University and local leaders welcomed around 600 veterans and their family members to campus to recognize veterans’ service and talk about major issues impacting the community in Tampa Bay. READ MORE

Florida mayors, first responders and others involved in storm preparation and recovery detailed their personal experiences and key lessons learned from Hurricane Irma and Maria at USF St. Petersburg’s Initiative on Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (iCAR) Workshop. The Workshop brought together elected officials, scientists, law enforcement officers, neighborhood association representatives and those working on coastal vulnerability and resilience issues to create a Tampa Bay better able to endure and bounce back better from disasters and extreme weather events. READ MORE

More than 240 scientists from around the globe gathered this month to share groundbreaking research and conservation issues related to an important and increasingly threatened category of marine life: squid, octopus and their relatives, otherwise known as cephalopods. USF St. Petersburg was proud to host the 2018 Cephalopod International Advisory Council Conference (CIAC), which only occurs once every three years and hasn’t been hosted in the United States since 1988. READ MORE

For the past four years, USF St. Petersburg has celebrated International Education Monthin November, using the opportunity to promote programs that prepare students for the global landscape, attract students and scholars from abroad and showcase the international initiatives undertaken at the University. This year, USFSP is hosting two international scholars this semester through one such initiative, the Fulbright Scholar Program, which seeks to boost mutual understanding between scholars around the globe. READ MORE

Veronica Matthews, a key member of the USFSP family and the local arts community, reinvigorated the love of Shakespeare in St. Petersburg by establishing the St. Petersburg Shakespeare Festival in 2014. Matthews, a USFSP alumna and assistant director of this year’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, shared with us the history of the St. Petersburg Shakespeare Festival and why it’s so important to her. READ MORE