The Oracle THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2015 I VOL. 52 NO. 123
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
USF Federal Credit Union invests in students’ future after remodel
O PINIO N
Colleges favor out-of-state students in ranking competition. Page 6
New dean works for students
Montage
S PORTS Bulls’ run falls one day short in NCAA Championship. BACK
Dean Danielle McDonald By Grace Hoyte
The USF Federal Credit Union reopened recently in the Marshall Student Center and is scheduled to be run exclusively by students in the future via a partnership with the College of Business. ORACLE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU By Christopher Collier A S S T .
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Compound interest isn’t the only thing being gained at the newly reopened USF Federal Credit Union (FCU) located in the Marshall Student Center. Last week the renovated credit union was revealed to members and investors for the first time since the project began. The cosmopolitan design of the location was implemented in order to get away from the teller lines of traditional banks. “Our goal in this facility was actually to have that open-office concept and the idea is to encourage a higher level of dialogue between staff and credit union members — to have that experience like an Apple Store,” said FCU Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Clark. The MSC facility is one of five locations in the Tampa Bay Area
that service over 48,000 members and control about $500 million in assets. The renovations were done to physically open the location up to customers and to allow a new partnership between the credit union and the Muma College of Business. The program is unique in that the eventual goal is to have the credit union fully operated by the students. “First of all, it’s far more than an internship,” said Jackie Nelson, senior director of undergraduate programs for the Muma College of Business. “What we’re doing is putting together an academy … between the Muma College of Business and the USF Credit Union whereby four of our students will begin every year.” Nelson said each student accepted into the program will be engaged for three years in a paid position within the credit union. After their first year of working as a teller, the student will have a
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decision to work with a mentor in a section of the union. The sections include: accounting, finance, marketing or management depending on the student’s area of interest. The program is only available to freshmen and accepted candidates will begin working in their sophomore year. Of the 15 applicants, six were hired this summer to begin working in September. Eventually the number of workers will increase to 12 once those students reach their senior year. At that point, the credit union will be fully operated by the employed students. “They will be learning every part of the business over the next three years,” Nelson said. “It’s a three-year commitment basically — that’s what we would like to see the students do.” Nelson said not every student can be hired after graduation but that the focus of the program is to provide training and skills that
Many may recognize USF’s new dean of students, as she has been at the university for four years. Danielle McDonald was associate dean before the appointment, and in her new position, she said she intends to continue the efforts of previous deans. “I see the … dean’s office as being a place that helps to remove barriers,” she said. “Whether that be a student who needs help because they’ve had a personal crisis … (or) a student who is stuck in bureaucracy and is not getting some of the help that they need.” She said much of her office’s success in doing these things is due to partnerships with other offices. For instance, McDonald said her office works with Wellness USF to help develop methods for the university to help students. Wellness, she said, includes
n See FCU on PAGE 4
n See DEAN on PAGE 3