About Us

Mission Statement

The AAPI Center supports AAPI students' educational and holistic development through strong partnerships with USF faculty, staff, leaders, students, and the surrounding community.

The AANAPISI Program

AANAPISI stands for Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, and is a U.S. Department of Education program that provides grants and related assistance to Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to enable them to improve and expand their capacity to serve AAPI students. Institutions of higher education, like USF, who have an undergraduate enrollment of at least 10 percent Asian American or Native American Pacific Islander are eligible to be designated as an AANAPISI by the U.S. Department of Education.

In October 2023, USF received its first AANAPISI grant in support of the following goals:

  1. Create the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Center: a centralized space for AAPI students that focuses on holistic educational support
  2. Strengthen faculty advisement, pedagogies, and curriculum that support AAPI academic success through the creation of Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs)
  3. Strengthen culturally tailored student support services for AAPI students through the creation of Staff and Leadership Learning Communities (SLLCs)
  4. Develop targeted AAPI student leadership development programs through the creation of the AAPI Student Leadership Fellows Program

AAPI Center Partners

  • Office of the Provost
  • School of Education
  • Asian Pacific American Studies
  • Cultural Centers
  • Office of Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Tracy Seeley Center for Teaching Excellence
  • Center for Research, Artistic, and Scholarly Excellence
  • Critical Diversity Studies
  • Gleeson Library | Geschke Center
  • Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good