Student body president Mike Griffin will soon add more responsibilities to his plate as a member of the board of trustees, but Griffin will not be the only USF employee with a dual role after July 1.

The new governance structure also will add new duties for some administrators on the campus.

Genshaft, in addition to her role as CEO for the university, will serve as corporate secretary to the USF Board of Trustees. Jack Wheat will continue his role as special assistant to the president in addition to his new title as assistant corporate secretary to the board.

Cynthia Visot, special assistant to the provost, will now serve as the director for the board.

As the only administrator reassigned to work exclusively with the Board of Trustees, Visot said her responsibilities will include overseeing the objectives of the Board and coordinating meetings.For Visot, the challenges of her new position have not yet been revealed.

“It’s all so new,” Visot said. “I am honored and humbled by the confidence she (Genshaft) has in me.”

The USF administrative changes will begin on July 1, the same day the chain of command shifts from the Board of Regents that previously governed all the state universities, to the 11 state university’s individual Board of Trustees.

The Legislature eliminated the Board of Regents after Floridians voted on an amendment that changed state-level education administration jobs from elected to appointed positions.The amendment opened the door for Bush’s proposal for an appointed Board of Education. The recently appointed Board of Education will oversee the state’s educational system from kindergarten through graduate school.

With the new governing structure, the president of each university will now report to the university’s individual Board of Trustees. Bush named the new USF trustees Monday.

Other changes include a new governance model for the three regional campuses – USF St. Petersburg, USF Sarasota/Manatee and USF Lakeland.

In a letter from Genshaft to the Leadership Council dated June 18, 2000, Genshaft outlined the transition to the new governing structure at the university.

According to Genshaft’s letter, after the Board of Trustees begins operations, the regional campuses will each get a five-member board to “provide oversight on fiscal issues and assist in identifying opportunities to advance USF by enhancing regional campuses.”

According to Michael Riech, interim director for USF media relations, the autonomy of the regional campuses will help them focus on specific issues.

“In order to better serve its community, a regional campus can identify a need and fill it out on its own,” Reich said.Reich said one member of the USF Board of Trustees will also serve on a regional campus board.

Another change at the regional campus level is appointing a Campus Executive Officer for each campus.

“As a reflection of the autonomy, the Legislature created the position of Campus Executive Officer to head regional campuses,” Genshaft said in the letter.

Individuals familiar with the three regional campuses will fill the newly created CEO positions.

Laurey Stryker will continue as the CEO for the USF Sarasota/Manatee campus. William Heller, interim vice president for USF St. Petersburg will become the CEO for the St. Petersburg campus and Preston Mercer, dean for USF Lakeland, will become the CEO for that campus.