Who We Are

Somos USF was established in response to the recommendations of the Spring 2023 Latinx Excellence and Belonging Initiative (LE&BI) Report, with a focus on developing and sustaining community-centered spaces that explicitly support Latinx faculty and staff at the university. The group was formally appointed and began convening in Fall 2023.

• Group Membership & Structure
  • The committee will be co-chaired by one faculty member and one staff member
  • Committee membership will be 5-7 people, with a focus on representatives from all faculty and staff groups across the university (e.g., part-time faculty and staff positions, contract positions such as within food service, facilities, and housekeeping)
  • The group will meet regularly as a committee (i.e., monthly)
  • This is to be a permanent committee under ADEI focused on the engagement of the Latiné/x community at USF. Co-chairs meet quarterly with the AVP for ADEI.
• Immediate Tasks & Ongoing Roles
  • Outline bylaws for the committee, including roles, responsibilities, membership, and  term limits for membership
  • Create a launch event, inviting all Latiné/x-identified non-student USF community members
  • Specific engagement with new faculty and staff (consider new faculty and staff members from the past 3 years)
  • Review the LE&BI report and map out key efforts that are (1) immediate, short-term tasks and (2) annual, recurring tasks that are to be carried out by the committee
  • Consider collaboration opportunities with other campus entities (e.g., CRASE, ADEI, faculty and staff unions, etc). Determine specific budget requests for committee start-up efforts and ongoing events
• Budgetary Considerations
  • The committee will have an ongoing budget line each year for events to engage with the community for food, professional development, and other costs that align with the committee’s work