Universities across the country have been battling the effects of COVID-19 for over a year now but the University of South Florida has seen progress.
Student enrollment was quite the topic of discussion leading up to the 2020 fall semester with the rapid switch to online learning just months prior. Many faculty members stepped up, knowing that registration numbers risked falling sharply.
“We couldn’t get the students to call to come to it, they just were tired of it,” said MUMA College Senior Director of Undergraduate Programs Jackie Nelson. “They would get so frustrated because it wasn’t anything they could just go ask.”
Nelson and her team of academic advisors had seen what was going on and took the initiative to reach out to students individually to make sure they were comfortable with registration.
After the advisors stepped in, the undergraduate enrollment rate for the 2020 school year only dropped from 37,207 students to 37,350 students of the previous academic year.
Adam Freeman, the Director of Media Relations for USF, said he appreciates how the USF staff members remained resilient.
“The faculty members were tremendous,” Freeman said. “They realized this was a unique situation…and they have just been willing to adapt.”
This story is edited by Hannah Halili.
