2 min read July 2023 — Dean of USF College of Nursing Usha Menon sat down with Invest: to discuss what has been keeping her the busiest in the past year, the state of higher education in Tampa Bay and the region’s inviting characteristics. “What’s not to like? We have great beaches and weather, which is so important to attracting people to the region,” she said.
What have been some of the biggest milestones for the College of Nursing in the past year?
We recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of USF’s College of Nursing. We have made very good use of our huge legislative budget award from last year – we were awarded almost $40 million. We are just a few months away from beginning our demolition work on the south end of the building that will then become a state-of-the-art simulation center. We committed to a 200% increase in our enrollment to the State, so the simulation center is a huge part of fulfilling that. We plan on being at full-occupancy by 2025. We also hired about 42 people in the past year, which has been extremely exciting to see.
The biggest thing that has happened recently was USF’s invitation to be a part of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the pinnacle of higher education. We are one of only 71 universities to join and are among the youngest in the group. It is an amazing opportunity for each one of us at the college because 63% of all federal funds distributed go to these AAU schools. That opens a whole new world and allows us to attract even brighter faculty, staff and students.
What is the current state of higher education in the Tampa Bay area?
These are clearly some challenging times with legislation that not everyone agrees with. From our standpoint, we have seen the State make an intentional investment in nursing education. Last year, USF received its highest recurring support from the State in its history. Recurring money is what helps us grow. The state government really does care about the nursing shortage, whereas previously it felt like no one was listening. Now, legislatures and communities are fully understanding how critical this is. There is now a collective mission to resolve this issue instead of putting a Band-Aid on it. We are certainly better off because of it.
To what would you account for the College of Nursing’s success?
First and foremost, I am so proud of our graduates. We see the best and brightest graduate from USF’s nursing programs. This year, we took up to 34% of eligible applicants, so we continue to be highly competitive. Area hospitals tell us over and over again that they want our graduates. I know that I want a USF graduate to take care of me in the hospital, and that is the biggest testimony to our quality I can think of. That greatly contributes to our reputation to employers.
Our faculty are doing cutting-edge research and publishing. This year, we doubled our goal for national publishing. It shows the sheer number and talent of our faculty and staff who support these initiatives. Another differentiator for us is our community engagement, which we have made one of our pillars. Personally coming from a public health and nursing background, I know this is exactly what nurses do. Our students must understand how to care for every type of person and family member. Our mobile van is a great example and a milestone of ours. We got a $3.85 million federal grant, which will allow us to take the van into six Tampa Bay communities providing free medical care. Our students will be on-site observing and learning about social determinants of health. If someone has lost their job, they don’t have money to buy medications; you can’t just tell them to take their medication. What if a “non-compliant” person was only taking their medication every other day because they can’t afford to refill their prescription? It teaches our students to understand how life impacts our health, and figure out how to integrate those factors into the plan of care. At the port, we will be opening our new clinic. It will be the first nursing clinic at a port in the world.
How have the demands of incoming students affected the courses offered at USF?
We do not generally change our curriculum, as we are nationally accredited. We do not have that luxury. However, we have brought almost all of our classes that were moved online during the pandemic back to an in-person format, which allows for faculty to feel more integrated with their classes. We have also added more faculty in order to accommodate more sections as we welcome more students. We are looking at adding electives if students are interested in vulnerable populations, hospice and palliative care and more.
What strategies have you been employing to hire the most desirable talent?
Florida is a great place to live, especially Tampa Bay. We played on that quite a bit. What’s not to like? We have great beaches and weather, which is so important to attracting people to the region. We are also very open – our tagline is that we are trailblazing nurses. We want people who are innovative and looking for something different. We want energy and support for ideas that operate outside the box. We have had to do some negotiations more recently for some of our executive-level people with packages that include corporate housing and assistance with moving. We have also been more open to a flexible start time. That was not done before.
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