ing and coaching experience to the USF student tutors, who learn what it takes to effectively motivate and engage with young learners. “With Tutor-a-Bull, we really do emphasize the relationship that the tutor has with the student and being able to give them that individualized, one-on-one support or work in a small group setting,” says Sasha Keighobadi, ’11 and MA ’16, a Tutor-a-Bull program coordinator and doctoral student in the College of Education. “By doing so, (the USF students) not only become just their tutor, but their mentor and their role model as well.” The program has seen tangible successes over the past decade. Since its inception, Tutor-a-Bull has provided more than 5,300 students with almost 95,000 hours of instruction. Students participating in the program say the USF tutors helped them better understand the subjects they’re learning about in the classroom, and that the personalized instruction helps them learn confusing topics and ask questions they may be too nervous to ask aloud in a larger group. In a 2019 survey conducted by the program, 97 percent of students who received tutoring agreed that the sessions were helpful in improving their knowledge of the material and that they would like to work with their tutor again in the future. The Tutor-a-Bull program is currently offered in 15 different schools across the Hillsborough County school district, including the Joshua House, where the program first began in 2007 when established by the late Olin Mott. A businessman and philanthropist who believed in the power of education, Mott passed away in 2013, but his legacy continues through the Tutor-a-Bull program. Today, the program is supported financially by the generosity of numerous community partners and sponsors. “Youngsters today have more opportunity than anyone ever in the history of this country has got,” Mott said in 2012 at the College of Education’s annual Education in Action Luncheon. “They can move forward, just get the education, that’s the main thing. Without that, there’s no hope.”
- Stories by ELIZABETH ENGASSER ’15 | College of Education
PATEL College of
GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY Solving real problems LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND BUSINESSES in the Tampa Bay region are benefiting from the expertise of faculty and students in the Patel College of Global Sustainability. This semester, George Philippidis, associate dean for research and director of renewable energy in the college, and Kebreab Ghebremichael, director of water sustainability, are leading their graduate students in developing a greenhouse gas inventory of Manatee County’s buildings, facilities and operations. Eric Caplan, manager of Manatee County’s energy and sustainability division, anticipates that the project “will allow us to look at ourselves in the mirror and discover the level of greenhouse gasses that we are emitting and how much environmental harm we are in control of as a county.” In another Manatee County initiative, Joseph Dorsey, director of Academic Capstone Experience internships and the food security program in the college, and his students are conducting a solar energy leadership project. The goal is to reduce the county’s dependency on typical sources of energy. “The project will allow students to have exposure and get a chance to learn about real problems,” Dorsey says. “It also gives them an opportunity for internships and future employment.” The project is designed to help county officials learn if their goal of having net-zero carbon public buildings is economically feasible. Students will evaluate the county’s electricity consumption, review potential locations for solar energy production and conduct an assessment of staff and funding. Another faculty member, Heather Rothrock, director of the college’s sustainability policy program, and her students will create an environmental review technical manual for Manatee County Building and Development Services. The manual will provide protocols for environmental reviews. In Pinellas County, a climate change project is ongoing with the city of Tarpon Springs. The partnership between Brooke Hansen, director of sustainable tourism, and her students, and the city started last fall. Teams worked to assess effects of flooding in Tarpon Springs. Surveys and interviews were conducted with local businesses, city departments and community members. The student teams compiled the survey results and presented the city council with recommendations. As part of the sustainability project, students were asked to create material for community outreach and education. The college also works with corporate partners to help develop new sustainability solutions. During the fall 2019 semester, a team of graduate students led by Sharon Hanna-West, director of sustainable business, partnered with Clearwater-based Tech Data. The corporation has helped distribute technologies for such companies as HP, Apple and Microsoft. Project components included a sustainability assessment, vision and plan for the company, as well as specific recommendations for solutions and next steps in seven sectors based on return-on-investment. Students performed an industry analysis as well as a sustainable investing performance analysis, and made the business case for adopting sustainable practices. In addition, the students included some internal and external marketing strategies to help Tech Data secure the buy-in of stakeholders. Recommendations presented to Tech Data in December 2019 were enthusiastically received. Other corporate partnerships and sustainability projects have been completed with the Tampa YMCA, Busch Gardens, Armature Works and Campus 1 Real Estate. - MARIA WHALEN | Patel College of Global Solutions
SPRING 2020 29