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The 2021-2022 school year will be filled with “firsts” for more USF students than a typical year. Not only will freshmen experience campus life for the first time, but thousands of returning students will too. This is the first semester of the USF Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses to be fully operational since August 2019.
This follows on from the first tradition beginning since the start of the pandemic. The USF conferred about 3,000 degrees during seven ceremonies at the Yuengling Center over the weekend, which included about 1,200 graduates whose commencement ceremonies were affected by COVID-19. Spring 2021 the debut was held at Tropicana Field with limited attendance and the three previous ceremonies were held virtually.
These are the first ceremonies chaired by USF Acting President Rhea Law. The USF board confirmed his appointment in early August and is expected to hire a research firm soon to find the university’s next president. Law had previously announced that she would not be running for the post of permanent president.
The Residential homes are at full capacity for the first time in 18 months, including Osprey Suites, which opened on the St. Petersburg campus in August 2020. As throughout the pandemic, USF Housing & Residential Education continues to reserve a dedicated space for students needing to self-isolate due to the coronavirus.
Many of the health and safety precautions initiated at the onset of the pandemic remain in place. Automatic hand sanitizer dispensers continue to be available at several locations on USF campuses. These machines will provide two free 4-ounce bottles of spray hand sanitizer every 30 days by swiping a valid USF ID. Almost 1,000 manual towel dispensers have been replaced with low-contact dispensers in public washrooms. More than 900 plexiglass partitions (half a kilometer long) have been installed at reception desks, checkout locations and other service points. Automatic doors have been installed wherever possible, including in buildings within the USF research park.
The USF has also set up cleaning and disinfection protocols in accordance with CDC guidelines and public health recommendations. These include additional emphasis on high contact points / surfaces, using products and / or materials that have been shown to be effective for COVID-19. Electrostatic sprayers are also deployed to kill bacteria in the Marshall Student Center, athletic facilities, and on Bull Runner buses. In addition, Bull Runner pilots will have masks to offer to runners who need them.
Face masks should be worn inside university facilities and in crowded outdoor locations, regardless of immunization status. USF Student Health Services continues to offer free vaccines and COVID-19 testing to all students, faculty and staff.
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