CAMPUS LIAISON NEW POSITION AIMS TO F O S T E R GREATER COLLABORATI ON BETWEEN RESEARCH-IN T E N S I V E UNIVERSITY AND DYNA M I C C I T Y
Matthew Cimitile
Back in July of 2021, an innovative partnership between the city, business and university communities created a new position to facilitate greater engagement and collaboration among each. Caryn Nesmith was appointed USF St. Petersburg campus’ first director of community relations, with funding for the role pooled between the campus, city of St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership and the St. Petersburg Innovation District. The driver for this partnership was the social and economic benefits from greater synergy between a research-intensive university and a dynamic, urban city. Nesmith comes to the job with a wealth of experience in community relations, having worked as a strategic communications consultant for more than a decade. Most recently, she served as the special assistant to the regional chancellor for strategic initiatives for the past four years. In that role, she was instrumental in facilitating and coordinating a number of key campus initiatives that have made an impact on students and the community – from a program that connects college students with senior citizens to reduce social isolation to a job-shadowing program that pairs first-year students with professionals to get a head start on exploring career paths.
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Those experiences are proving vital for this new position. As the director of community relations, Nesmith is coordinating campus efforts and faculty research to address community needs, while increasing student engagement with community organizations to enhance educational and workforce opportunities. “I hope this role will integrate the community more fully into the fabric of the USF St. Petersburg campus and vice versa, enhancing prosperity, entrepreneurship and expanding economic opportunities by enabling greater access and innovative ways to collaborate,” Nesmith said. Nesmith discussed a little bit more about her experience, what she has learned on the job so far and her vision for creating more “aha moments” of collaboration between campus and the community in the Q&A below.
WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS POSITION FOR THE CAMPUS AND THE ST. PETERSBURG COMMUNITY? I think having this position prioritizes community and shows that we are here to serve the surrounding region. What I have found being in this position for this short amount of time is that there are so many different ways we are engaging. Now to take that one step further, we can do better in coordinating all that engagement and having a centralized access point as well as a conduit for information both ways. That will make us more effective.
