About
Mission Statement
The Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology is a comprehensive research and training department located in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Florida.
Our mission is to prepare students for professional careers in the areas of Cell Biology, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology. Pursue excellence in the following programmatic research areas through strategic hires, grant acquisitions and scholarly publications: Microbial Pathogenesis and Antibiotic Resistance, Structural and Computational Biology Molecular Cell Biology, Molecular basis of gene expression Mechanisms of genomic instability Biology of aging Serve the University, Scientific and greater community by providing intellectual resources and engaging in scholarly activities that are consistent with our education and research missions.
The Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology is a comprehensive research and training department located in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Florida. We support the mission statement of the College of Arts and Sciences which asserts that “We are a community of teachers and scholars united in the belief that broadly educated people are the basis of a just, free and prosperous society.” We are represented by a highly diverse and unified group of students, faculty, and staff. We are making a conscious effort to enhance diversity in our department as this enriches educational experiences, enhances research outcomes, and increases role models for underrepresented groups in STEM.
Current departmental policies will be highlighted, including:
- Annual reporting of departmental activities regarding diversity and inclusion.
- Having a “Diversity Liaison” in our department, who communicates with the CAS Diversity Committee to help promote diversity and inclusion policies.
- Advertising for faculty and staff positions in advertising venues that reach diverse applicants.
New policies and initiatives will be started, including:
- Inviting a seminar speaker from an underrepresented group each year to speak in our seminar series and mentor our graduate and undergraduate students.
- Making sure that new faculty from underrepresented groups not only join the department, but also succeed and thrive.
- Making efforts to highlight the work of underrepresented scientists in our STEM classrooms.
- Providing diversity training annually to faculty, teaching assistants and staff within our department.
- Giving diversity work proper merit across the categories of teaching, research and service in the departmental tenure and promotion process and in annual evaluations.
- Reviewing all policies, procedures, handbooks and practices to make sure that they support and do not hinder our diversity initiative.
We pledge to continue to strive to make diversity, equity, and inclusion a central tenet of our department.