Genshaft's annual address sticks to the high points

TAMPA -- University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft announced a new program Thursday to give pay raises to 100 top faculty members and a successful year of research that brought in record-breaking dollars last year.

In her annual address to the university community, Genshaft focused on USF's new and successful programs without mentioning two headline-grabbing controversies that have rocked the campus in recent months.

She merely alluded to the problems of suspended Palestinian professor Sami Al-Arian and racial discrimination charges in the athletic department, and the rough couple of years she has had.

"I've always said that big universities have big challenges; I just didn't know they would all come at once," she said. "The fact is, very few universities have ever undertaken a transformation as dramatic and rapid as USF's. This means we celebrate successes and take on challenges at a faster pace than other institutions."

Genshaft, speaking from the ballroom at the student union, told staff and students about a program she created to increase faculty salaries and remain competitive with other schools. One hundred tenured or tenure-track faculty will be given raises of 8 to 10 percent.

She also stressed that faculty received $207-million in external research funding, an increase of 20 percent in two years and the first time the university passed the $200-million mark.

"Our competitiveness in the national arena is an important gauge of USF's rising academic stature," she said. "More significant, research funds enable USF to improve the quality of life for the people of Florida in ways that would not be possible otherwise."

Genshaft also outlined other achievements, including a retention task force to examine factors such as academic advising and class loads and developing autonomous campuses in St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Lakeland.

USF has a record 39,170 students this year, a 5 percent increase over last year.

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