New USFSM regional chancellor named

USF President Judy Genshaft appointed Sandra Stone as regional chancellor of USF Sarasota-Manatee on Friday. 

Stone will begin Nov. 1 and will replace Arthur Guilford, who retired in July. 

Previously vice president for academic affairs at Dalton State College in Georgia, Stone will take on the responsibility of the principal leader of USFSM. 

Stone began her career as a medical social worker, and holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology and a master’s degree in psychology from the University of West Georgia (UWG). She earned her Ph.D. in sociology from Emory University and received a post-doctoral certification in organizational behavior from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business. 

Stone was director of planning and research at the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice from 1992 to 1996, and then moved to UWG in 1996 to become an assistant professor of sociology. In 2006, as UWG’s associate vice president for academic affairs, her $40 million budget provided leadership to the university’s honors program, distance learning, graduate school and more. 

She then served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at UWG before moving to Dalton State in 2010. Stone has also worked as a senior research associate for both Rollins School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease control. 

Her work at Dalton State included helping to create the college’s first online degree program, establishing their first Faculty Senate and implementing new programs in psychology and interdisciplinary studies. 

“USFSM is clearly a special place with an exciting future,” Stone said in a press release Friday. “I am grateful for the opportunity to help shape that future alongside our talented faculty, students and supporters in Sarasota-Manatee.” 

— Staff report