Dear USF community,
I’m delighted to welcome everyone to the fall 2021 semester at the University of South Florida.
To our new and returning students, we are here to support your successful transition to the fall semester at USF. And to my faculty and staff colleagues, I’m grateful for your ongoing commitment and hard work to ensure the success and safety of our students.
It’s an honor to begin the semester with you as interim president. Since my start in the role on August 4, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many members of our USF community, and I look forward to meeting many more of you during USF’s Week of Welcome activities scheduled for August 21-29. In the meantime, I invite you to learn more about my longtime connections with USF and the Tampa Bay region in this brief video and in the latest episode of the Inside USF podcast.
We are excited for our return to activity across our beautiful campuses. At the same time, it’s critical that we take steps to prioritize the health and safety of our community. We can only do this with your help and compliance with the guidelines issued by our state leaders and the CDC.
We reviewed USF’s current COVID-19 guidelines during this morning’s community town hall. Our guidelines include the expectation that all members of our community will wear a mask on our campuses, regardless of vaccination status. We also urge everyone to get fully vaccinated. Vaccines are available for free for any student, faculty and staff member at USF. If you missed this morning’s town hall discussion with faculty and staff, which included Provost Ralph Wilcox and Dean Donna Petersen as chair of the COVID-19 Task Force, we have posted a recording online. A recording of Tuesday’s COVID-19 town hall update with students and families can be found here. You can also access essential information to begin the semester on USF’s Return to Campus website.
By doing our part, we can ensure a healthy and productive semester for all. We are rising, and we are ready!
President Rhea Law