USF President Rhea Law has assembled a task force to promote “efficiency, transparency and strategic reinvestment” among university departments and staff.

The team will be responsible for managing Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency requests at USF, according to public records obtained by The Oracle. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis created the Florida DOGE in February to “identify and eliminate unnecessary spending, programs, courses, staff and any other inefficiencies” in state universities.

Each state agency — including public universities — must establish an Agency DOGE Team to give updates on carrying out Florida DOGE’s directives, according to Executive Order 25-44.

But Law said the USF team should seek “smart efficiencies” rather than “just cost-cutting,” according to a letter sent to task force members on April 11.

The USF task force will hold its first meeting this week, with 10 members being mostly university administrators based on the Tampa campus. There is one USF St. Pete representative and none from USF Sarasota-Manatee. 

Related: DOGE raises concerns, uncertainty among Florida university faculty 

Although the Florida DOGE focuses on tracking down “unnecessary spending,” Law asked the USF team to carry out initiatives with a “broader and forward-looking perspective.”

The outcomes that “matter most” are student success, faculty excellence, research innovation and institutional resilience, she said in the letter.

“Through bold and responsible efficiency management, we can deliver better outcomes without compromising quality or ambition,” Law said. 

Law also set some “principles” for the task force to follow.

“Every recommendation should reflect our commitment to transparency, purpose-driven efficiency and the student success and faculty excellence,” she said.

USF task force members were advised to “consider” creating a university-wide incentive program that would “reward” departments for achieving savings.

Members were also asked to “improve operational efficiencies” in the Research and Innovation department due to “anticipated changes in indirect cost recovery.”

The Florida DOGE requested that universities submit a list of every grant awarded to them and all research published by their staff over the last six years, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

DOGE teams will then identify “pending or funded federal grant awards that are inconsistent with the policies of this State and should be returned to the American taxpayer.”

The deadline for USF to submit a list of these grants and research to the Florida DOGE was April 18. The Oracle public records requested the list but has not received it at the time of publication.

Related: USF is deleting webpages with DEI content 

The USF task force will be co-managed by Paige Geers, USF vice president and chief of staff, and Gerard Solis, senior vice president for legal affairs and general counsel.

Geers and Solis will lead a team of nine other USF staff members. These are:

• Prasant Mohapatra- Provost and executive vice president of Academic Affairs
• Angie Sklenka- Senior vice president and chief administrative officer and chief human resources officer 
• Cindy Deluca- Vice president of Student Success 
• Jennifer Condon- Vice president of Business & Finance and chief financial officer 
• Tanya Vomacka- Chief of staff & associate vice provost of Strategic Initiatives & Communication 
• Renee Dubault- Senior associate vice president & chief of staff at USF Health
• Thomas Smith- Vice provost of Academic Affairs at USF St. Pete
• Darren Schumacher- Special advisor to the USF President and CEO of USF’s Institute of Applied Engineering
• Kerry Myers- Muma College of Business professor

USF spokesperson Althea Johnson said task force members were chosen “at the president’s discretion” and “each brings important perspectives to the group.”

Dubault and Myers were the only task force members who replied to The Oracle’s request for comment at the time of publication. 

Both confirmed the team hasn’t met yet. Because of that, Myers said he “cannot” address the process or how he anticipates it will unfold, and Dubault said she didn’t have any “useful” information yet.

Related: USF LGBTQ+ student ceremony carries on quietly amid DEI restrictions 

Johnson said the task force is “only in the early stages,” and updates will be shared with the university community “as the group’s work progresses.”

Information on the task force was shared in an email sent to the “university leadership council” on April 14 and in Law’s April 22 newsletter.

Final recommendations must be submitted to the Florida DOGE by September, but Law asked that updates be given to her “on a regular basis.” 

“Thank you for taking on this important responsibility,” Law said. “I look forward to the insights and recommendations that will emerge from your work.”