USF consolidation plan advances
June 13, 2020 - The executive council of the regional accrediting agency that oversees higher education in the southern United States approved University of South Florida’s plan to consolidate its three campuses. The decision by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) authorizes a single accreditation for the Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota campuses, a news release said. It allows USF to comply with a Florida law that mandates consolidation effective July 1, 2020. It's an historic milestone, said USF President Steven Currall. “Consolidation will provide USF students and faculty on all of our campuses with access to a broader array of opportunities and now every USF student will earn their degree from a Preeminent State Research University," Currall said. Still ahead is a site visit by a SACSCOC committee later this year or early next year to all three campuses, the Morsani College of Medicine in downtown Tampa and possibly other off-campus instructional sites.