USF St. Pete on probation

Accreditors put the University of South Florida St. Petersburg on probation for a year Thursday, citing noncompliance with two academic standards.

In an e-mail to staff, students and faculty, Regional Chancellor Karen A. White said the university will "refocus our efforts" and "show conclusively to SACS that we have mechanisms in place to provide continuous quality improvement for our institution."

In December, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges put USF St. Pete on warning status for failing to comply with the same two standards, which deal with college-level competencies and documentation of student achievement.

University spokeswoman Holly Kickliter told The Gradebook this morning that university officials don't know why they fell short. She said details from the SACS Commission won't be available for more than a week. "We don't have a whole lot we can share," she said.

"I've heard from faculty who are very concerned about this," said USF Professor Sherman Dorn, president of the faculty union. "I look at this and go, whoa. ... It's certainly not good."

"This action is not a criticism of the quality of education, the status of our programs, the validity of our degrees," White said in her e-mail. "I ask you to share with your students and concerned friends of USF St. Petersburg that the institution remains accredited by the SACS Commission on Colleges."

Ron Matus, Times staff writer

Comments

[K2]

We are SPUSF... We are all grown up... We don't need to be under USF - Tampa. Look we can do it on our own mommy, I will show you...

And SPUSF FALLS FLAT ON THEIR FACE.

[M]

Shut up, K2. You have no idea how great USFSP really is.

[VOR]

This is what happens when politicians become involved with education.

[Chuck Welch]

I worked for a hospital organization that passed a few accreditations. It's not as easy as you might think. Some times all the paperwork is correct, but you've missed a rule.

Did this have something to do with USF St. Pete moving out on their own? Sure, accreditation bodies are especially hard on new organizations.

I think it is always wrong for accreditation bodies to release the probation notice without detailed explanation reports. I do hope the reporter asks SACS about that point.

[Joke]

This school is a "Joke". Tear it down and build the Rays a new stadium on the property. At least then the land would be put to good use.....

[ABC]

Talk about getting a useless degree. Good luck trying to get a good job with a USFSP degree besides McDonald's or Burger King.

[M]

Who do you think you are Joke? Have you ever visited the campus? I am a highly successful person because of USFSP.

[Joke]

Does "M" stand for McDonald's..... You want fries with your hamburger????

just the BEGINNING......florida's 'leadership" does NOT WANT an intelligent, educated electorate, rather prefering alabama/mississip-like standards and systems so there are enough uneducated, ignorant dolts out there to oppose anything approaching rational thought and behavior

just the BEGINNING.........

[steve oneal]

I guess it should come as no surprise to me all the hateful posters on the internet. Not just this story but every article I read it seems there are those that delight in being mean and downright ignorant. These same people would never open their mouths if they didn't have their computer to hide behind. Way to go all you GUTLESS cowards. Get your paperwork together and get this resolved USFSP.

[Gilbert]

Just buckle down and get it up to standards,like FAMU did. The hell with the naysayers. We need institutions that is gonna teach for the future, every institution has had a hickup.
They can and will rebound!

[Burger King]

I work at burger king
making flame broiled whoppers
I wear paper hats
Would you like an apple pie with that?
Would you like an apple pie with that?

Ding fries are done
Ding fries are done
Ding fries are done
Ding fries are done

I gotta run
I gotta run
I gotta run
I gotta run

Don't bob for fries in hot fat
it really hurts bad
and so do skin grafts
Would you like an apple pie with that?
Would you like an apple pie with that?

Where is the bell?
Wait for the bell
Can't hear the bell
Where is the bell?

Ding fries are done
Ding fries are done
Ding fries are done
Ding fries are done

I work at burger king
making flame broiled whoppers
I wear paper hats
Would you like an apple pie with that?
Would you like an apple pie with that?

Ding fries are done
Ding fries are done
Ding fries are done
Diiiing friiiiies aaaaare dooooooone

[Tuck]

I just scored in the 90th percentile on the GMAT and have submitted my application to USF-SP. It's a great school that is just going through some growing pains. Plus, the campus is extraordinary.

[Travis]

Who cares? Like most of Florida's state universities, it's nothing more than a glorified community college - a dumping ground for the state's floundering public school system.

[CG]

Travis is correct. The entire State University System is a disgusting wreck. The gem, UF, is ranked 50th in the nation. That's garbage considering Florida is one of the largest states in the Union.

Florida,while a great place to wait for death with no state income tax and warm weather, is a HORRIBLE place for education on every single level. People who willingly raise their children in Florida and subject them to that backwater education should be prosecuted for endangerment.

[Huang Li]

Chef Wolfgang Puck's Cooking Class has higher academic standards than USFSP. The school has been flirting with academic probation for years.

Tear it down. BUILD THE STADIUM!!!

USFSP is terrible, but their diplomas do wonders if you run out of tp...

[Evan]

USF-St. Petersburg needs one thing and one thing alone. New Leadership. When a school is put on warning by SACS, which by the way is one of the most credible accreditation agencies, it is a chance for you to improve. The leadership failed to do this. Dr. White should have sent the E-Mail she did and in the closing it should have read, I regret to inform you that due to this failure I am sending my resignation in to Dr. Judy Genshaft today.

USF-SP has grown but this is an administration problem. It is a valuable member of the USF Community and to the education of many Pinellas County residents.

[KeRiCr]

ABC, as a graduate of USFSP with a degree in IS, I'll be glad to inform you that I have a job as a web developer. I do not work at Burger King or McDonalds, and I make plenty enough jack.

Enjoy your High school Diploma,
KeRiCr

[DJ]

Based on the observation that several of the critical comments are fraught with poor grammar and unsupported claims, I have to assume that the detractors themselves either attended subpar universities or, more likely, none at all. By the way, I graduated from a top-10 university and have no dog in this fight.

[K2]

I took a few courses at USFSP while completing my graduate degree, the profs were of the poorest quality and the student body seemed like they were in another galaxy.

USF TAMPA ROCKS - GO BULLS

SP SUX

[K2]

I find it funny that the most common rebuttal on any blog is to attack a person's grammar, DJ. GET A LIFE AND A DOG

[K2]

DJ.. Your Mom is a Top 10 in my book

[Mike]

My wife and I teach at a university in another state and I'm surprised to read some cheap shots about USFSP. You have an EXCELLENT school there, and a SACS glitch can happen to any school and is typically easy to address. It is often a simple administrative procedure that should be tweaked, and should not reflect poorly on the overall quality of the school.

[Jim Johnson]

I went to USF-SP. Its a joke and was a joke 20 years ago.

[Realist]

Let's be honest, most colleges are a joke. Only a select few will raise respected eyebrows. You go there and do what you have to do to get the piece of paper so you can have a more comfortable life than if you wouldn't have gone. And yes, I did it and have a very comfortable life because of the piece of paper. What I actually learned and where I went didn't make a bit of difference.

[Cathie]

USF St. Pete may have to get their paperwork together but it is a fine educational institution. I attended USFSP College of Education and got a wonderful education. It was a rigorous course of study that prepared me well for the real world. My degree is respected in the educational community and I have a good job as a technology specialist. Plus, I know how to spell!

[steve oneal]

K2, you obviously didn't learn any social interaction skills while attending school. Did you take all your classes online?

[Madull]

We wuold nevar let that hapen at the Universidy of Centril Flooraduh!

Go Bulls!

[James]

I guess their not brainwashing the students enough, and are in violation of the propaganda act. To get back into the good graces of the controlled centralized establishment propaganda apparatus they must teach:
1. Debt is good for you.
2. The Federal Reserve Bank is Constitutional, and NOT privatley owned.
3. Paper money is good, gold is bunk.
4. Flourinated water is good for you.
5. Mercury vaccines don't cause neurological disorders.
6. Globalization is great for America.
8. America never funds terrorism.
7. The Gulf of Tonkin attack really happened.
8. Pearl Harbor was a "surprise" attack.
9. The CIA doesn't traffic drugs into our country.
10. Government controlled education is great.
11. 401k plans are great investments.
12. They hate us for our freedom.
13. The media tells the truth.
14. Obama isn't a corporate puppet.
15. The CFR doesn't exist.
16. The U.N. is a great organization.
17. Global warming is real, it's not really about more control and increased taxes.
18. Guns are bad.
19. Free speech zones are constitutional.
20. Congress isn't corrupt.
21. Wallstreet bankers didn't fund Hitler.
22. Wallstreet bankers didn't fund communism.
23. We don't have Chinese spys stealing secrets out of our government labs.
24. Saddam Hussien wasn't a CIA puppet.
25. Safety is better than freedom.
26. TV doesn't brainwash you, but corporations spend billions trying too.
27. The Constitution is outdated.
28. America is a democracy, not a Republic. Mob rule is better than rule of law.
29. Public schools are great.
30. The government had no prior knowledge about the 911 attacks, just like pearl harbor.
31. Freemarkets are evil, socialism is good.
32. Being dumb is cool, being smart is stupid.
33. History taught at school is truth.
34. CNN really cares about black people and homosexuals, they aren't trying to divide the country on purpose.
35. Anit-depressents don't hurt you, never mind the high flouride content.
36. GMO foods are great for you.
37. The government didn't payoff the media with billions for propaganda leading us into the Iraq war.
38. FEMA is good for America.
39. Illegal aliens are good for America's economy, but you still must take off your shoes at the airport.
40. More police officers make you safe.

[K2]

Not all the classes, just a few. I just enjoy these blogs and how people take them sooooo seriously. WHO CARES! It doesn't matter one lil bit.

GO BULLS

BTW, USFSP COE is truly a joke. I had the opportunity to interview a few of the undergrads and they were incredibly unintelligent, woefully unqualified, and completely unprofessional.

[Senor T]

The campus must be saved because it allows blacks to get education degrees. Save the school.

[Mike]

USF SP is a wonderful campus with lots of potential. I am a graduate from there (1972). It was developed as a branch of USF Tampa and it should remain such. Once again political egos got in the way and the campus is suddenly a stand alone. The current leadership there is weak at best. It should go back to being an effective branch campus of the Tampa campus. Same goes for lakeland and Sarasota.

[don'tchaknow]

Burger King
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!

[jack]

You don't need an degree to be educated.

[Susie]

James, what's your point?
Maybe you should have your medication adjusted.

[USFSP Is a Hidden Gem]

I have a lot of respect for USFSP. I graduated in 2004 and immediately found a job in my field and now make $50,000 a year and I'm 26. I don't say that to brag but the school did prepare me well -- and even though it's a small, it put me in good networking circles.

[Fugilebrity]

Hey Tuck:

If you scored in the 90th percentile on the GMAT and chose USFSP; you should be automatically required to retest.

[Mary]

My coursework at USFSP were very challenging. If anything, they were more difficult than at the Tampa campus. Just like every job, someone messed up here. They obviously did not take this (very vitally important)serious enough. I hate to say it...that means someone needs to be fired.

[Sad Floridian]

Time for the press (St. Pete Times and others) to do its job. We need facts/answers other than execuses/denials from school officials.

It's frightening and heartbreaking to read in the same story that "university officials don't know why they fell short," while " the school has been "on warning status for failing to comply with the same two standards" since December.

You don't need a college degree to know something is VERY wrong at USFSP.

Let's hope the Times could do some independent fact-finding this time. Dig deeper, and you shall find more serious problems facing not only USFSP, USF-Tampa, but the entire Florida university system.

[annoyed by ignorance]

Beginning: Before you lump Alabama's educational standards with Mississippi's and then say that Florida is going to that.... maybe you should compare those standards with each other. I am from NW Alabama which has one of the highest numbers of doctorate degrees in one area.

I'm just saying... do your research before you speak...unless you are from there you really have no clue what you are talking about.

And as for this article, I'm sure it's just some minor point. Accrediations can be so picky... I wouldn't worry about it. Trust me an institution like USF will not allow SACS accrediation to slip. There would just be too big of a loss in revenue.

[vallarie]

This is a reply to these posts:

"Travis is correct. The entire State University System is a disgusting wreck. The gem, UF, is ranked 50th in the nation. That's garbage considering Florida is one of the largest states in the Union."

"Florida,while a great place to wait for death with no state income tax and warm weather, is a HORRIBLE place for education on every single level. People who willingly raise their children in Florida and subject them to that backwater education should be prosecuted for endangerment."

Maybe you should consider what you just said when you go to the doctor. He or she most likely graduated from UF or UM (both FLORIDA schools). Yes, they are both FLORIDA schools with medical programs that rank quite high in the nation.

So really, do you want to criticize the schools that are producing the majority of the nations cardiologists, neurosurgeons, and any other form of medical professional? So maybe you should insult them when your are on their operating table? Or maybe you should just keep your superficial ways and insult the people you depend on to live? Or better yet, you could just stop thinking you are this hardcore person that degrades people and establishments with a keyboard. Woo woo. You're cool.