Model Program Receives 10th Year of Funding

Special education teachers throughout the state, such as Gulfport Elementary’s Tinsley Will, have a lot to celebrate. As a second-generation special educator in Pinellas County, Will benefited from “classroom calls” and in-the-classroom mentoring offered by CSPD, a behind-the-scenes program at USF St. Petersburg specially designed to support teachers for students with exceptionalities.

Initiated by Principal Investigator William “Bill” Heller in 1994 and directed by Lee Sherry, PhD, for the last eight years, the Florida CSPD has been awarded $765,000 from the Florida Department of Education’s Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services for 2004-05. This grant is the largest continuously operating sponsored program at USF St. Petersburg and has made a difference throughout the state.

Will heard the calling “for students who need you the most” after she was out in the workforce and enrolled in the special education master’s program at USF St. Petersburg. Almost immediately, Will said she didn’t feel like her classroom was working.

A call to Comprehensive System for Personnel Development, known as CSPD, prompted a classroom visit from a Pinellas County mentor supported by one of CSPD’s nine partnerships. Her mentor taught her different ways to interact with students and connected her with a peer teacher using a complementary behavior system. Perhaps most importantly, she offered ideas, but let Will develop the strategies that would work best.

“After she visited my class, my students were happier and able to learn more because more of my time was focused on teaching than on behavior,” Will said. "I had more time for reading groups and one-on-one teaching.”

>> Read: Full Article

Faculty: New Honor Society Needs Your Support

To showcase USF St. Petersburg’s student excellence, Steve Ritch, PhD, and students in his Leadership Fundamentals course are establishing a chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society that will recognize exemplary students.

In coordination with Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, the new ODK chapter is asking for nominations of qualified upper-division students.

A nominee's GPA must rank in the upper 35 percent of their class and students must demonstrate leadership in one of the following five areas: Scholarship; Athletics; Campus or Community Service, Social, Religious Activities and Campus Government; Journalism, Speech and the Mass Media; and Creative and Performing Arts.

Members of this prestigious organization will gain leadership experience through chapter activities and community service.

To nominate a student, please have them complete and send the nomination form to Ritch at COQ201 by Friday, March 11 at 5 pm.  For more information, contact Ritch at ritch@stpt.usf.edu or 553-4985.

>> See: Student Application (.pdf)

Indonesian Legislators Visit for Leadership Guidance

A delegation of female Indonesian legislative candidates will visit USF St. Petersburg this spring for a series of workshops hosted by the American Council of Young Political Leaders and professor Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, PhD, of the department of Government and International Affairs.

During this cultural exchange April 2 to 6, delegates will attend workshops and seminars to develop their leadership skills. Specific events include campaign training workshops on Sunday, with academic forums studying women in politics on Monday and Tuesday.

"Of all the universities in the country, ACYPL has selected USF St. Petersburg to host the academic forums, offering our campus a tremendous opportunity to showcase our faculty expertise," McLauchlan said. "My hope is that we will have faculty from all colleges and from a variety of disciplines participating in this exchange program."

McLauchlan invites faculty to serve as presenters on panels on Monday, April 4 and Tuesday afternoon, April 5 to discuss women and politics and women and leadership from a variety of perspectives including psychological, sociological, anthropological, historical business and education.  

If you are interested in participating, please contact McLauchlan as soon as possible at jsm2@stpt.usf.edu or 553-4956.

Ranked Sailing Teams Compete Against Bulls

Nationally ranked sailing teams from around the country have sailed against the Bulls in major competitions in Tampa Bay. Although it is still too cold to race at many northern schools, USF St. Petersburg’s climate is perfect for spring sailing.

In February, teams from top-ranked College of Charleston as well as Stanford, University of Washington, University of Florida and University of California-Irvine have all competed here in regattas hosted by USF.

USF Women’s and Co-ed sailing teams are consistently ranked in the Top 15 and the Women's team just won last week's U.S. Women's invitational at USF St. Petersburg.

“The best part of sailing is the way that it combines physical conditioning with mental skills,” said Women's Coach Allison Jolly, who made history at the 1988 Olympics when, along with her teammate Lynne Jewell, she won a gold medal in the 470 Women's Dinghy – the first-ever Olympic sailing event for women “You need agility, balance and endurance but you also need fine-tuned strategies and tactics.”

Jolly and Co-Ed Coach Garth Reynolds, a USF sailing team alumnus, said they are always looking for new team members and no experience is necessary. Members practice drills, starts and listen to lectures about practice situations Monday through Thursday from 3 to 7 pm. The team often travels to competitions during the weekend including trips to northern schools in the late spring and fall. Members must be undergraduate USF students and participation is free, including travel to competitions.

>> For more information, see: USF Sailing Web site

Talk Up Tomorrow’s Leaders Symposium

Tell your undergraduate students to apply for the second annual Tomorrow’s Leaders Research Symposium, a spring celebration of undergraduate research and creative activity. Proposals will be collected through March 24 and the program is sponsored by the USF St. Petersburg Psychology Program and the Honors Program.

Last year’s inaugural program featured more than 25 presentations from students in all three colleges, and served as a launching pad for undergraduates to present their work at national peer-reviewed conferences. This year's symposium, during the campus' first Honors Week, is Tuesday, April 19 from 11 am to 1 pm in Davis Hall Lobby.

All USF St. Petersburg students are encouraged to apply and faculty are encouraged to motivate our active and creative undergraduate scholars to participate. In preparing posters and other submissions, all work should contour to the expectations of leading scientific conferences or other scholarly venues of the submitters’ respective fields.

For more information, please contact Sudsy Tschiderer at tschider@stpt.usf.edu; James McHale at jmchale@stpt.usf.edu; or Ray Arsenault at rarsenau@stpt.usf.edu.

Hitler's Soldiers in the Sunshine State Library Exhibit

Visit the eye-opening exhibition Humanity Beyond Barbed Wire: Hitler's Soldiers in the Sunshine State at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library running March 7-31. This exhibit is on a generous loan from the Florida Holocaust Museum to complement the March 7 lecture by author Robert Billinger.

The Florida Holocaust Museum created this exhibition based on Billinger’s book, Hitler’s Soldiers in the Sunshine State, to inform the community about Florida history regarding this barely known wartime episode. The exhibit attempts to illustrate the principals of a democratic nation that translated into the humane treatment of enemy combatants during WWII.

Although there were millions of deaths during the Holocaust, the treatment of German POWs in the US and Florida during WWII provides an obvious contrast.

A September 1944 Palm Beach Post-Times headline about German POWs said, “Army Treats Prisoners Different Way than Goebbels.” The Army said German POWs should absorb as much American culture through books, radio, movies and work interactions because these were the best tool for re-education. Many former German POWs look back on their experience in the U.S. as a positive one.

This exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library at 727-553-4401.

Spring Fling Week Has Bulls Spirit on High

More than 300 prospective students visited campus Monday to help kick-off Spring Fling, a week-long celebration that continues through Friday. Guests got an inside look at campus life by speaking to students, faculty and recruiters at booths set-up along the waterfront that included various academic departments and student organizations.

Highlights included jousting and basketball contests, students dancing on the lawn, a barbecue lunch and ice cream sundaes.

The campus community is invited to the final Spring Fling events:

Thursday - Fun in the Sun

Take in the rays as you enjoy a free pizza lunch. Make wax hands and record a five-minute CD. 

Friday - Casino Night

Test your luck at roulette, craps and poker from 7 to 11 pm at the CAC.  Games and prizes will be available to participants. Volunteers are needed to staff gaming tables for the event.

For more information or to volunteer, please contact Jenn Quinn, Student Life coordinator, at 553-4181 or jquinn3@stpt.usf.edu.

Partners in Our Progress

More than 100 partners in our progress - community and campus members - came to campus last week to hear recent accomplishments and contributions USF St. Petersburg offers our community.

"As a university, we attempt to establish a creative climate where learning, understanding, innovation, and creativity thrive," Regional Chancellor Karen A. White said. "What makes us even more special is that our students and our research are uniquely rooted in our city and the metropolitan region. USF St. Petersburg is university with a distinctive identity that students and citizens can view with pride."

White discussed USF St. Petersburg's $100 million Campus Master Plan including new residence halls and parking garage as well as legislative priorities for this season.

Other speakers included deans V. Mark Durand, PhD, Ron P. Hill, PhD, and Steve Micklo, PhD, who highlighted recent accomplishments in their respective colleges. Student Government President Thomas Piccolo also shared his vision and efforts for a campus student center.

Anthropologist Discusses Matriarchal Societies

Campus organizations are joining forces to welcome noted scholar, Peggy Sanday, PhD, anthropologist and R. Jean Brownlee Endowed Chair from the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss Rape Prone versus Rape Free Cultures: US College Campuses and the Minangkabau of West Sumatra on Wednesday, March 23 at 6:30 pm in DAV130.

Sanday has been recognized for her work on male dominant societies and in this lecture she will discuss Minangkabau, a matriarchal society of four million people in West Sumatra. The lecture, coordinated by the Anthropology and Criminology Clubs in affiliation with the Campus Women’s Collective, Multicultural Center, International Affairs and the Crosswinds Program present, is free and open to the public.

Two of Sanday’s books are currently used in USF St. Petersburg classes this semester. Her latest book is Women at the Center: Life in a Modern Matriarchy.

>> For more information, see: Flier (.pdf)

Beloved Scholar Celebrates 90th in St. Petersburg

As he has done almost every year since 1983, John Hope Franklin, the James B. Duke Professor of History and Law Emeritus at Duke University, spent February in St. Petersburg, renting a condominium at the Beacon, just north of campus. 

Franklin, who turned 90 on January 2, had a busy month. After Duke University held a week-long celebration in his honor in January, USF St. Petersburg co-hosted a birthday luncheon with Eckerd College in Eckerd’s President's Dining Room. At the luncheon, Franklin received two rare orchids because of his love for orchids; in fact, he has a greenhouse with more than 400 orchids at his home in Durham. 

During his time in St. Petersburg, Florida Studies Co-Director Ray Arsenault, PhD, interviewed him on behalf of the journal Public Historian, which plans to publish the interview and a brief introduction by Arsenault later this year to detail his distinguished career as a public historian. The interview will include Franklin's involvement with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Fulbright Commission, various museums and as the chairman of President Clinton's National Advisory Committee on Race in 1997-1998. 

He also spent time revising the epilogue of his forthcoming autobiography Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin that will be published in October. 

Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Speeds Closer

As the race dates Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg near, the Office of Public Safety is working to minimize the impact this event could have on our campus.

The Grand Prix is Friday, April 1 through Sunday, April 3. During these dates, the City of St. Petersburg might reroute traffic in areas causing additional delays. Because of its proximity of the event to USF St. Petersburg, please allow additional travel and parking time if you are visiting campus.

Only Lot 12, located at the corner of First Street and Sixth Avenue South will be unavailable, all other lots can be used by faculty, students and staff. Parking will be controlled by Central Parking, so please bring your USF hangtag or previously purchased daily permit.

If you have any questions, please contact John Spicuglia at 553-4140 or spicugli@stpt.usf.edu.

Keep Pinellas Beautiful Beach Cleanup

Invite your friends and family and join Volunteer Services for the Keep Pinellas Beautiful Beach Cleanup Saturday, March 19 from 9 to 11 am in the Tierra Verde Bridge area. Gloves and water will be provided. Please contact Barry McDowell at 553-4990 or mcdowell@stpt.usf.edu to volunteer.