The decision was made unanimously during the committee\u2019s Feb. 17 meeting, but the full board must present a final vote on March 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If approved,\u00a0the university\u2019s\u00a0bachelor\u2019s program in aging sciences and master\u2019s program in STEM education will end this fall, while the master\u2019s programs in mathematics education and social science education will end in fall 2027.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Additionally, the PhD program in social work will be suspended in fall 2026 for internal program improvements and\u00a0will\u00a0start enrolling students again as late as fall 2029.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the meeting, the committee claimed that data from the university\u2019s annual degree productivity report revealed 37 programs did not meet the Board of Governors\u2019 productivity threshold. A separate analysis from USF flagged 36 programs in need of review.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The final review\u00a0reportedly identified\u00a015 programs to consider for termination, composed of five bachelor\u2019s degrees, eight master\u2019s degrees, one PhD program and one specialist program.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bill Black, associate dean of graduate studies at USF\u2019s College of Education, said the extensive program terminations are part of an administrative restructuring within the college. The approval was meant to make way for a \u201csingle, unified Secondary Education M.A.T. major.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to implement the new major, we needed to terminate the old majors,\u201d Black told\u00a0The Crow\u2019s Nest. \u201cThis change does not close or\u00a0eliminate\u00a0secondary teacher preparation at USF. Instead, it streamlines multiple standalone majors into one coordinated program designed to simplify advising, scheduling and certification pathways.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Black-listed\u00a0numerous\u00a0benefits for both students and faculty\u00a0in light of\u00a0the restructuring, including flexible scheduling and a more convenient admission and\u00a0advising\u00a0structure with \u201cone coordinated entry point.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The committee clarified during the meeting that \u201cno departmental or faculty eliminations are expected in these cases\u201d and that students currently enrolled in the affected programs will be able to finish their current semester set-ups and transition seamlessly into the\u00a0remainder\u00a0of their education in the new model. Faculty and their courses would also be \u201cabsorbed\u201d into the\u00a0new programs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the same meeting, the committee discussed the College of Design,\u00a0Art\u00a0and Performance\u2019s proposal for a bachelor\u2019s degree in architecture, which would be implemented \u00a0fall\u00a02026\u00a0and would include various courses in architectural history, urban\u00a0design\u00a0and construction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUrban architecture and related topics are emphasized to take advantage of the diverse and growing metropolitan setting in Florida\u2019s Tampa Bay area,\u201d the executive summary for the proposal read.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ron Dulaney, director at the USF School of Architecture and Community Design, said the prospect of an undergraduate degree is exciting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dulaney believes the change is a major improvement from the\u00a0previous\u00a0\u201ctwo-plus-four\u201d model of the school\u2019s graduate program, which was previously the only program offered for architectural interests at USF since 1986\u00a0<\/p>\n
That two-plus-four model entailed pre-architecture education for two years followed by a four-year master\u2019s program, amounting to 168 credit hours. Switching to a traditional four-year undergraduate program with a pathway into a two-year master\u2019s degree allows for the same amount of time\u00a0\u2014 but with an opportunity to breathe, Dulaney explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some cases, students may get down the\u00a0path,\u00a0and they may be sort of halfway in, or more than halfway in and they\u2019re just not sure,\u201d Dulaney said. \u201cAnd sometimes they just want to finish. Sometimes they might decide to do something else. This kind of gives them a place where they can kind of pause.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Students in architecture would also receive the benefit of reduced tuition costs, given that they previously had to pay graduate tuition while\u00a0maintaining\u00a0an undergraduate status in their first academic years, Dulaney told\u00a0The Crow\u2019s Nest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRight\u00a0now,\u00a0we are pretty constrained in terms of space,\u201d Dulaney added. \u201cOur program is extremely competitive.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0hopeful\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a conversation just really beginning\u00a0that perhaps, in\u00a0the\u00a0not-too-distant\u00a0future, we can really begin to think concretely about a new building for the school.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The BOT committee also presented the Muma College of Business\u2019s proposal for a bachelor\u2019s degree in fintech, or financial technology, also to be implemented this fall. The master\u2019s fintech program\u00a0was introduced\u00a0in fall 2025.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The proposed four-year program\u00a0consists of coursework in subjects like\u00a0economics, business and managerial systems,\u00a0computing\u00a0and data analytics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The proposal presentation\u00a0stated\u00a0that the program \u201cresponds to the industry\u2019s strong demand for professionals skilled in financial technologies, including blockchain, AI, machine learning,\u00a0<\/p>\n
quantitative analysis and payment technologies\u201d \u2014 all industries\u00a0where\u00a0Tampa Bay area is\u00a0emerging<\/a>, especially with recurring Fintech | X accelerator\u00a0launches<\/a>\u00a0from USF and Tampa Bay Wave.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dulaney looks forward to the university\u2019s proposed changes, even as academic structures will shift and rearrange.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ll have a couple of years of transition where we\u2019ll have some challenges,\u201d Dulaney said. \u201cBut I think once we get to the other side of this, it\u2019s going to be really good for our students, and good for our school.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Written by: Jasmin Parrado<\/a> on March 11, 2026.
Last revised by: Julia Ferrara<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The committee clarified that students and faculty currently involved in the targeted programs will be able to finish…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-187603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-tampa","9":"tag-tampa-headlines","10":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}