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It is the Spring 2023 Graduation Season in Undergraduate Studies!

May 2023

Three times a year the ÅÝܽÊÓƵapp (USF) community celebrates our ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps as they receive their degrees. This weekend the 129th Commencement Convocation Spring 2023 ceremonies will be held on May 5th, 6th, and 7th in the USF Yuengling Center with 7,151 ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps graduating.  

In Undergraduate Studies (UGS), we support and guide ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps before, during, and after their collegiate journey. Commencement is not only exciting for the ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps and families but also for the staff who have watched ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps evolve and develop through their academic journey. They have increased their resiliency, developed the ability to navigate the world a little better, built interpersonal skills as well as developed an array of soft and occupation-related skills for their career growth.

In many UGS departments, there is an ongoing connection and relationship with ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps as part of the unit programming. This role offers an intimate sense of community within certain focused ÅÝܽÊÓƵapp areas such as pre-college, veteran, first-generation college ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps, athletes, and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).  

Many of the offices have events to celebrate ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps and the Army, Naval, and Air Force ROTC units will each have a ROTC Commissioning Ceremony where program graduates will be recognized and honored. Family and friends will watch as their ROTC ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps take the Commissioning Oath before receiving their new ranks as officers.

UGS is committed to every ÅÝܽÊÓƵapp’s success and these numbers represent the graduates in some of the focused ÅÝܽÊÓƵapp units.

• Academic Programs supports post-traditional ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps returning to college and select USF ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps in their senior year to complete their degree. The program has 69 ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps graduating with Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) degrees and 15 ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps graduating with Bachelor of Sciences in Applied Sciences (BSAS).
  
  
• provides academic support services for ÅÝܽÊÓƵapp-athletes and 52 ÅÝܽÊÓƵapp-athletes who will graduate this spring with a grade point average (GPA) over 3.0. This GPA is a program record of 16 consecutive semesters.
  
  
• Army ROTC will have 39 graduates, Naval ROTC will have 8 graduates, and Air Force ROTC will have 15 graduates from USF and 5 from other institutions. This is the greatest number of graduates the Army ROTC has had graduate in a semester.
  
  
• The College Reach-Out Program (CROP) is a statewide pre-college program designed to increase the number of ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps who successfully enter and complete a postsecondary institution. This year five ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps will be graduating high school and going on to college. Three of the graduates have been in CROP for at least five years.

• Student Support Services (SSS) is a federally funded program that provides academic and personal support for a diverse ÅÝܽÊÓƵapp population to increase the retention and graduation rates of its participants. This spring 33 ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps are graduating.

• The Office of Veteran Success (OVS) provides a wide scope of services for veterans and military-connected ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps on all three campuses. There are 133 Veteran graduates earning bachelor’s degrees, 72 master’s degrees, and six doctoral degrees. There are also the Veteran dependent graduates earning 464 bachelor’s degrees, 111 master’s degrees, and 14 doctoral degrees.

• The Upward Bound (UB) program is a federally funded college access program for ÅÝܽÊÓƵapps from five local high schools. There are 28 high school graduates going to 15 colleges and universities including USF and three out-of-state institutions.

Visit the Tampa campus on one of the commencement days to feel the energy and sense of accomplishment and pride in the air.