NOVEMBER 2021 | HARBOR NOTES NEWS | USF ST. PETERSBURG CAMPUS
INVESTING IN STARTUPS
Partnership between USF and Tampa Bay Wave aims to make region major fintech hub with new St. Petersburg-based accelerator
An innovative multi-year partnership between the University of South Florida Muma College of Business and Tampa Bay Wave is launching the FinTech|X Accelerator, with its first cohort to be selected in 2022.

This accelerator is designed to assist high-potential, high-growth startups in the fintech, or financial technology, industry through mentoring, pitch coaching and investment training. The bulk of the in-person programming and signature events will take place on USF’s St. Petersburg campus and other venues around the region, with the goal of transitioning startups to sustainable, scalable and profitable businesses. READ MORE
SYSTEMATIC CHANGE
Higher Education Consortium announces inaugural Racial Justice Student Fellows
A consortium of higher education institutions focused on racial justice in Pinellas County has selected its inaugural cohort of Racial Justice Student Fellows.

The St. Pete/Pinellas Higher Education for Race Equity consortium chose eight students, two each from four Pinellas County universities and colleges, for the year-long fellowship. The fellowship will put college students at the center of creating systemic change by providing opportunities to shape policy and systems through a racial justice lens. READ MORE
A PRESTIGIOUS HONOR
USF History professor inducted into Spanish royal order for groundbreaking work on Florida's early history
A University of South Florida History professor who has devoted his career to uncovering the early Spanish roots of Florida’s history was honored for his work by being inducted into one of Spain’s most prestigious civil orders.

J. Michael Francis, the Hough Family Endowed Chair of Florida Studies at USF’s St. Petersburg campus, was presented with the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic at a ceremony at the official residence of Spain’s Ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C. on October 28. READ MORE
EDUCATION ROLE MODELS
Call Me MISTER program introduces its first cohort of future male teachers of color
On November 9, the USF College of Education officially welcomed its first group of students who have committed to becoming teachers at underperforming schools in Pinellas County.

The students are the first cohort for USF’s Call Me MISTER program, which stands for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models, and aims to increase the number of male teachers of color in elementary schools with large populations of poor or at-risk students.
ALUMNI PROFILE
Veteran alumnus uses political science background for better understanding of international security operations, foreign affairs work
Lance Guillory had a wealth of worldly experiences when he came to campus in the early 2000s. As a 17-year-old, he enrolled in the U.S. Army, and shortly thereafter found himself participating in strategic missions around the globe.

Participating in these massive undertakings on the world stage made Guillory fascinated with the political context behind them, and he would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Political Science at USF's St. Petersburg campus in 2004. READ MORE about Guillory's military and academic experience and how both impacted his career of today.
IN THE NEWS