St. Petersburg emphasize small classes, a waterfront campus and room to grow.
By MONIQUE FIELDS
Published October 26, 2004
[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
John Vassel, director of Prospective Student Outreach with University of South Florida St. Petersburg, works to recruit students at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg.
[Times photo: Joe Walles
RECRUITER'S TASK USF St. Petersburg expects to spend $120,000 this year to recruit students. Here are some of the issues the school's first recruiter must handle:
• ENROLLMENT: Current enrollment at USF St. Petersburg is 5,000 students; Vassel has 300
freshmen seats to fill next fall. USF Tampa has 35,000 students.
• CAMPUS LIFE: No dorms currently exist at USF St. Petersburg. New residence halls for 300 students are expected to open in 2006.
• ATHLETICS: USF Tampa has 18 athletic teams. On the waterfront St. Petersburg campus, sailing is the biggest draw.
[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
Jennifer Guerra, a junior at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg, listens to John Vassel,
a recruiter for the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.
ST. PETERSBURG - John Vassel is meeting with five Shorecrest Preparatory School seniors, making his best pitch for the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.
He talks about its honors college, the 300 student organizations, the soon-to-come residence halls and the joys of smaller classes in a waterfront setting.
The students pepper him with questions.
What about sports? What about nightlife?
"There's never a shortage of things to do," Vassel assures them.
Khana Riley, 17, is skeptical. She and her Shorecrest classmates are looking for a college close to home but not too close and not too small. Riley says she is leaning toward USF's Tampa campus because "it seems more lively."
Such is life for recruitment officers at USF St. Petersburg, a 5,000-student campus that has spent much of its history in the shadow of its older, better-known namesake across Tampa Bay.
Vassel, 35, must tout buildings that don't exist and explain, yet again, why bigger isn't necessarily better. The job takes him to 50 or 60 high schools each year as he canvasses prospective applicants in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Sarasota, Manatee and Pasco counties.
Vassel says he enjoys the challenge.
"I'm motivated to see this campus thrive because I spent two of the best years of my life here," says the 1991 alum.
When Vassel was hired in 2000 as the school's first recruiter, USF St. Petersburg was just beginning its move toward greater independence from the main Tampa campus. The school now has more authority over its hiring, spending and tenure decisions, and is in the midst of a dramatic expansion.
It issues its own diplomas. It expects soon to have separate accreditation.
But the campus still must build enrollment. Vassel has 300 freshmen seats to fill next fall - no easy task when some of the high school seniors he pitches don't even know the campus exists.
He tells prospective applicants that a good education can be had in either Tampa or St. Petersburg.
Both campuses have many of the same majors, he says, and starting in 2006, both will have residence halls. The primary difference: USF Tampa has 35,000 students, which is about seven times as many as in St. Petersburg.
Vassel sees that as a selling point.
At a smaller campus, he says, students can be more directly involved in student government and other activities.
"You can attend one of the largest universities in the southeast and still go to a small campus," he recently told about 20 juniors and seniors at Northeast High School.
"I like the waterfront idea," said Heather Lipowski, a Northeast High junior.
Others said they preferred the hustle and bustle of a bigger school.
"I would like to meet more people and have larger classes," said Svjetlana Damjanovic, a junior who is leaning toward USF Tampa.
One big problem for Vassel: sports. USF Tampa has a big-time sports program, with 18 athletic teams and about 400 student athletes.
The most popular sport at USF St. Petersburg is sailing.
That could make a big difference in Ashley Davis' decision.
"It would be nice to have that option," said Davis, who participated in cheerleading, soccer and softball at Shorecrest.
Vassel doesn't worry about what he can't change. He's just glad USF St. Petersburg is ramping up its recruitment efforts.
The school expects to spend $120,000 this year to attract students. That pays for salaries and an array of materials, including brochures and compact discs that tout the school's virtues.
In 2006, when the new residence halls for 300 students are expected to open, recruiters will expand their horizons. They will use the dorms as a selling point to potential applicants in Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami. They may even go outside Florida's borders.
"We're starting to get out of state inquiries, more from the Northeast," he says. "It's amazing what technology can do four you."
School officials say the long-term goal is to double campus enrollment, to 10,000 students.
Vassel ends his pitch at Shorecrest by reminding students to fill out the white cards that says they want more information.
But he won't know whether his efforts were successful for months.
