ST. PETERSBURG - More than 300 students graduated from the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg on Sunday, the first group to receive diplomas from St. Petersburg-based deans as part of the campus' move toward total autonomy.
There was no commencement speaker for the ceremony. Instead, USF president Judy Genshaft and Karen White, vice president and campus executive officer, briefly spoke to the graduates.
Genshaft and White have been part of a group pushing for full independent accreditation of USF St. Petersburg. A decision on the campus' fate could come in June 2004.
The campus, which is financially independent of USF Tampa, has undergone a transformation during the past year to help gain full independence. It has added colleges of business, education and arts and sciences as well as hired 61 faculty members and administrators.
The new deans from the campus' colleges presented diplomas to Sunday's 325 graduates at a 2 p.m. ceremony at the Mahaffey Theater.
