Cover Feature

Changing Lives: Building Excitement

Judy Genshaft Honors College

Shalini Subramanian, a junior majoring in biomedical sciences, looks forward to spontaneous chats with fellow honors students in a wide variety of disciplines – from engineering to music — as well as faculty and advisors.

Conversation, collaboration and new friendships tend to occur more easily, she knows, when people share space. USF’s 2,100-plus honors college students will soon have that. The state-of-the-art, five-story building will include classrooms, study areas, studios, open areas and a café in a free-flowing design that encourages interaction.

“It’s going to be a great space to foster involvement,” says Subramanian, 2021-22 president of the college’s student council. “I can’t wait to build new connections.’’

Anticipated opening: Spring 2023
Size: 85,000 square feet
Cost: $56 million, funded with $8.1 million from the state, $3.4 million from USF, and the remainder from private gifts, including a historic lead gift of $20 million from USF President Emerita and Professor Judy Genshaft and her husband, Steve Greenbaum
New features: In addition to providing a home for honors college students, the building will include spaces to engage the Tampa Bay community with lectures, shows, meetings and events.

USF Research Park Building

USF’s new state-of-the-art research center will deepen the connection between university innovation and the business community and help advance the Tampa Bay region’s growing startup ecosystem.

The first new building in the Research Park since 2005, the three-story facility will bring together leading researchers, entrepreneurs, financial investors and corporations. The building significantly expands the Research Park, located on the Tampa campus and home to more than 65 companies and dozens of student-led startups. It has been consistently at full capacity in recent years. 

“The USF Research Park has long been a thriving community bridging research and innovation for our faculty, students and partners,” says Sylvia Wilson Thomas, interim vice president for USF Research & Innovation. “Bold, ambitious new technologies have always found a home here. This incredible new building is going to be a catalyst for our inventors and partners, helping them flourish in a modern marketplace and contribute to an innovation ecosystem to change the world.”

Opened: March 2022
Size: 120,000 square feet
Cost: $42 million, financed through the USF Financing Corp. with $27 million in debt and $15 million cash equity contribution from the USF Research Foundation.
New features: Laboratory facilities, office and meeting space for innovators and both established and startup companies, retail and dining options

Student Wellness Center

Halfway through any given semester, business peaks at the Student Health Services center on USF’s Tampa campus. Anxious about midterm exams, students pull all-nighters, eat whatever whenever, and generally run their immune systems ragged.

“They’re more susceptible to colds, viruses, illness,” says Dr. Joseph Puccio, executive and medical director. The stress can take a toll on their mental health, too.

Despite 21 health-care providers, wait times stretch. Space is a precious commodity in the center, built in 1980 when the campus had 25,000 students. Enrollment is double that today.

When the new center opens, “we’ll be able to take care of students the way we really want to,” Puccio says. If someone needs to talk or requires observation, they won’t occupy an exam room.

And, he notes, “The students built this. Please include that. They’ve sacrificed to make this happen.”

Anticipated opening: Spring 2023
Size: 47,000 square feet (existing center is 12,500 square feet)
Cost: $27.4 million, funded by the student Capital Improvement Trust Fund fee
New features: Include but not limited to — a separate suite for sexual health services; confidential psychological services suite; comprehensive rehabilitative care

Indoor Performance Facility

In 2017, USF announced plans for an indoor training facility to benefit all its athletic teams. Almost immediately, longtime USF benefactors Les, ’66, and Pam Muma, ’64-67, donated $5 million. By 2019, nearly all the funding had been raised.

Anticipated opening: Fall 2022
Size: 88,000 square feet
Cost: $22 million, funded by private donations
Amenities: 100-yard turf field; strength and conditioning center; locker room; auditorium with tiered seating

Proposed On-Campus Stadium

An on-campus stadium is projected to open by 2026 or 2027, envisioned as a year-round gathering place, that will enhance the university’s culture and spirit.

“A stadium is someplace that everybody can come and enjoy,” says longtime USF supporter Frank Morsani who, with his wife, Carol, kicked off fundraising with a $5 million gift. “College football is one of the best values for your buck that anybody can have.”

The Morsanis’ donation was quickly followed by $5 million from Jeff Vinik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and his wife, Penny, also dedicated USF benefactors.

“An on-campus stadium will be a game-changer, literally and figuratively, for the university and our entire Tampa Bay community,” says Jeff Vinik.

Potential opening: 2026 or 2027
Location: Recommended site is Sycamore fields, near other athletic facilities
Estimated cost: $250 million-$400 million
Size: Targeted seating capacity of 35,000