Leadership Changes Coming to USF

June 24, 2022 – Sarasota

Leadership changes are coming to the University of South Florida Muma College of Business on the Sarasota-Manatee campus.

Among the appointees are Joni Jones, who will replace Jean Kabongo as campus dean, and Cihan Cobanoglu, who has been made permanent dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and will continue to serve as director for the M3 Center for Hospitality Technology & Innovation. The changes are part of a larger effort to ensure the college’s continued success as Lynn Pippenger Dean Moez Limayem prepares to leave the USF Muma College of Business to become president of the University of North Florida after a decade at the helm.

“These changes will be of great value not only to our campus and to the college, but also to the region as a whole,” said Karen Holbrook, regional chancellor for USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus. “We are fortunate, as a community, to have leaders like Drs. Kabongo, Jones and Cobanoglu who value student success above all else.”

Jean Kabongo heads to Tampa

Jean Kabongo, a professor of strategic management and entrepreneurship in the School of Marketing and Innovation, has been with USF for over 10 years. He has served as campus dean for the Muma College of Business on the Sarasota-Manatee campus since 2020. This summer, he will move to the Tampa campus to serve as associate dean for academic affairs and accreditation and chief diversity officer.

“My experience on the Sarasota-Manatee campus has been wonderful. USF has transformed me into the person I am today by giving me the opportunity to grow not only as a scholar but also as a person who is passionate about education and impactful research,” said Kabongo, who credits “wonderful” campus leadership, colleagues, students and staff for his success.

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Joni Jones joins Sarasota-Manatee campus

Replacing Kabongo as campus dean is Jones, an associate professor in the School of Information Systems and Management. Jones has been with USF for nearly 20 years and since 2019 has served as the academic director for the master’s in business analytics and information systems.

In her new position, Jones hopes to forge partnerships with local businesses, bolster enrollment and ensure all degree programs are represented on the Sarasota-Manatee campus.

“I have been excited to join the Sarasota-Manatee campus for a long time. I love the idea of the small, collegial campus. This is exactly where I want to be,” Jones said.

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Cihan Cobanoglu stays put, thinks big

Also on the Sarasota-Manatee campus is Cihan Cobanoglu. In the 12 years since arriving at USF, Cobanoglu has pivoted from faculty to administration and back again. Last year, he stepped back into his role as interim dean.

Under Cobanoglu’s leadership, the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management has experienced a 100% increase in enrollment, expanded to the Tampa and St. Petersburg campuses and forged three key business partnerships to provide students with hands-on field training.

The partnerships with Aramark, the on-campus food service and catering stalwart, and Mainsail Lodging and Development, a specialist in the tourism lodging sector, will provide as many as 130 student fellows on-the-job training over the course of eight years, for a combined value of $3.6 million. The school has also partnered with McKibbon Hospitality, which manages 98 hotels and 20 premier brands, including Marriott and Hilton, giving students the opportunity to shadow industry professionals and gain real-world experience in hotel operations, executive-level leadership and real estate and hotel development.

“No one else is doing what we’re doing,” said Cobanoglu. “Our next challenge will be to integrate our strategic partnerships into our four-year degree so all students will graduate with management training experience. Usually, students spend 12 to 18 months on management training after graduation so that they can secure higher salaries and higher positions in the hospitality industry.”

Cobanoglu also plans to initiate a “zero-based curriculum review” this summer to keep up with industry changes, which have accelerated rapidly since the beginning of the pandemic. “The plan is to invite as many stakeholders as possible – hotels, restaurants, theme parks, casinos, tourism destination organizations, vendors – to imagine we are creating a new school. What should the graduates of this school know?”

If all goes according to plan, Cobanoglu will be able to offer the required coursework on all three campuses. “As I always say,” Cobanoglu added, “‘Sarasota-Manatee is small enough to care and large enough to lead.’ The stars have aligned for us.”

Kabongo, Jones, and Cobanoglu will transition into their new roles this summer.

Read the full article on the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus website.