OUR MISSION & VISION

Our mission is to develop a world-class workforce by providing best-in-class, accessible, affordable, and professionally relevant upskilling and reskilling opportunities taught by industry experts to promote sustainable economic development in the Greater Tampa Bay area.

We aspire to be the upskilling and reskilling hub for rapidly evolving workforce demands powering the Greater Tampa Bay economy.

OUR VALUES

Excellence: Strive for the highest standards of quality in our programs and instructors. We only use real world instructors who are experts in their field because they understand teaching theory alone is not enough.

Collaboration: Partner with colleges, organizations, and individuals to collectively achieve our mission. We have the full support of the university to engage with our community to develop our programs.

Adaptability: Respond proactively to the changing needs of the workforce and our learners. We do so by staying informed of career and industry trends and moving at the speed of business.

Impact: Make a tangible difference in the lives of individuals and the community through our programs. When people finish one of our programs, they are equipped to start working in that field.

OUR STORY

Ten years ago, USF’s Continuing Education program was in trouble. It was losing $60,000 a year, and the directive was clear: assess the damage, recommend closure, and move on. That’s when Mark Koulianos, then the finance director for Innovative Education, stepped in. But instead of writing a post-mortem, he saw possibility. He proposed 15 bold changes – a complete transformation – and told leadership, “This could be the future of higher ed.”

Mark’s vision struck a chord with Cindy DeLuca, the new associate vice president overseeing the program. She’d seen firsthand that continuing education still had enormous value; it just needed to be reimagined. Together, they reshaped the unit from the ground up, focusing on programs that aligned with community needs, investing in smarter marketing, and making operations more efficient. Within six months, the once-struggling program was turning a profit, and with that momentum, Continuing Education was reborn as the Office of Corporate Training and Professional Education (CTPE).

Today, CTPE is a $6 million success story, entirely self-sustaining and deeply connected to Tampa Bay’s workforce. We partner with organizations like Amazon, Publix, and U.S. Special Operations Command, and we serve individuals looking to level up in their careers.

At our core, we’re about more than classes and certificates. We’re about possibility. We’re constantly asking how we can do things differently, how we can help people and businesses grow, and how we can serve our community in fresh, meaningful ways. What began as a unit on the brink of closure is now a thriving hub for lifelong learning, and we’re just getting started.