USF Sarasota-Manatee takes on the world

SARASOTA — USF Sarasota-Manatee, a regional campus of the University of South Florida system, has launched a global engagement office.

The office, connected to USF World, an international student program run out of the school's main facility in Tampa, will develop the global reach of the Sarasota-Manatee campus, according to a release. The USFSM office will support study abroad programs, special initiatives and collaborative agreements with foreign countries, school officials say. It will also target more international academic exchanges.

Cihan Cobanoglu, dean of the USF College of Hospitality & Technology Leadership on the Sarasota-Manatee campus, will run the global engagement office. “We are already supporting learning experiences that allow USFSM students to integrate successfully into international communities and work environments abroad,” Cobanoglu says in the release. “Now we will have the framework for working with USF's system-wide resources to host international visitors, scholars and conferences, increase faculty engagement and research opportunities abroad, and build robust and sustainable partnerships for innovative and cooperative solutions to global challenges.”

The office, according to the school, will also work with deans, recruiting officers and administrators to support recruitment and retention of international USF students. “We are delighted that there will be an office here at USFSM, because as a system, USF is deeply committed to graduating globally competent students,” USF Vice Provost and Associate Vice President Roger Brindley says in the release.