Dear Members of the USF Community,
The newly formed Federal Updates Task Force is collaborating closely with USF leadership to monitor and respond to federal policy changes, agency directives, and executive orders. There are a number of sweeping proposals and actions from Washington that have the potential to impact how we learn, teach, and research. The task force is working diligently with key partners across campus to share relevant information with the president’s cabinet and with all of you.
We have created a new page on myUSF to serve as a central resource for USF students, faculty, and staff to access leadership messages, contact the task force, review relevant campus policies and procedures, and find higher education, federal, and state information.
We are monitoring the changes at the U.S. Department of Education as USF works to ensure that our current and incoming students receive the federal financial aid for which they qualify. We are also monitoring the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and other agencies as USF works to ensure that federally funded scholarly research continues. And we continue to monitor executive orders targeting DEI as the entire USF community works to advance our Jesuit Catholic mission and values, which affirm the equal dignity of every human being.
To reiterate what Interim President John Fitzgibbons, S.J., said in his message to the community: In the midst of uncertainty and dramatic changes, your academic and scholarly work and activities should continue as we monitor announcements, assess risk, and prepare for any policy changes that may survive legal challenges and eventually affect higher education institutions like ours. USF is following the law and there have been no changes in the law.
For questions about the work of the task force, contact federalupdates@usfca.edu and check back on the task force web page for updates on the topics outlined above. Thank you for your support of USF.
Sincerely,
USF Federal Updates Task Force
David Philpott (Chair)
Associate Vice President for Labor and Employee Relations and Compensation in the Office of General Counsel
Shawn Calhoun
University Library Dean
Angie Davis
Assistant Vice President for Content Strategy in the Office of Marketing Communications
Vanessa Gamache
Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Case Management in the Division of Student Life
Martha Peugh-Wade
Associate Vice President for Compliance in the Office of General Counsel
Anastasia Vrachnos
Vice Provost for Global Education, Immersions, and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the Provost