Throughout the fall and winter, Saint Leo faculty members shared their knowledge and insights with a variety of media outlets and audiences—from newspapers and television stations to group talks. Here are a few highlights of appearances and media reporting featuring our faculty.
In September, faculty member Dr. Tammy Zacchilli was quoted extensively in three articles on the digital feature news site FamilyMinded.com. As an associate professor of psychology, Zacchilli shared advice for parents on the art of disciplining children, typical fears of toddlers, and what to consider before expanding a family.
In November, faculty member Dr. Gianna Russo appeared on WEDU’s That’s All I’m Saying with Tampa Bay Times columnist Ernest Hooper. Russo talked about nurturing Tampa area authors during the 30-minute program on regional public television. The assistant professor of English and creative writing also will soon release her new book, One House Down, a collection of poems published by Madville Publishing.
Dr. Keith Jones, associate professor of marketing, shared insights on a Saint Leo University Polling Institute survey regarding holiday shopping on Thanksgiving Day and whether stores benefitted from being open (or closed) on the holiday. His commentary appeared in American City Business Journals’ publications across the nation. He also participated in a Facebook live interview for Saint Leo alumni on the same topic.
Dr. Jenenne Valentino-Bottaro, an adjunct faculty member at the Ocala Education Center, participated in a November television interview with WCJB-TV, ABC 20, in Ocala about animal-assisted therapy. Valentine-Bottaro teaches human services courses in the College of Education & Social Services and is the co-founder of the Human-Animal Interconnectedness Institute.
In January, social work faculty member Dr. Lisa Rapp-McCall was interviewed by Tampa Bay area television stations WTVT-TV, FOX 13, and WFLA-TV, NBC News Channel 8, about research conducted by the Saint Leo Polling Institute on human trafficking. That same month, Rapp-McCall and colleague Dr. Robert Lucio presented the polling institute’s survey data on human trafficking during a panel discussion hosted by the Tampa Downtown Partnership.
Dr. Mary Spoto
Dr. Jen Shaw
Dr. Robyn Parker
Note from the Alumni Association President
Celebrating the Class of 2019
2018 Benedictine Spirit Award
A team in Human Resources is finalizing a program that will help faculty and staff gain a better understanding of what it means to practice the university’s core values. Called Becoming a Lion, the program gives employees one-on-one coaching and provides real examples to help illustrate how the university’s values are important to building a student-centered culture.
A cross-functional committee of faculty and staff recently came together to define new, research-based standards of excellence for the university’s academic degree programs. It’s the first step in what will be an enhanced process for ensuring Saint Leo’s programs remain competitive and relevant to the needs of the job market. 
Growing the university’s student enrollment will require outreach efforts beyond U.S. borders. Today, Saint Leo students represent 94 nations, and there is an opportunity to expand this further beginning with the Fall 2019 Semester. 
Saint Leo was named as one of the best regional universities and best values in higher education in the 2019 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, which takes into account both academic quality and cost. The university was No. 14 among Best Value Schools in the South and 47th among Southern universities in the top 50 “Best Regional Universities.” Additionally, Saint Leo was named one of the Best Colleges for Veterans among regional universities in the South, ranking 31st. 
Once again, Saint Leo ranked among the top 100 degree-granting institutions for minority students. The university ranks 25th among the top 100-degree granting institutions for African-Americans earning bachelor’s degrees in all disciplines, 19th for master’s degrees in all disciplines, and 75th for associate degrees in all disciplines. This is according to a 2018 listing by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine. Additionally, the magazine ranked Saint Leo 21st among top producers of Hispanic graduates earning master’s degrees in business administration, management, and operations.
In January, Saint Leo was named as a Top 10 Gold-level Military Friendly® School Award recipient for 2019-2020 in the category of private institutions offering doctoral degrees by VIQTORY. Additionally, the university was selected as one of Military Times Best for Vets: Colleges 2019, ranking fourth in the country in the Online & Nontraditional Schools category.
Saint Leo University has become one of approximately 100 colleges across the country to offer two semesters of coursework in the biology major that puts students to work almost immediately in collecting viruses for a growing research database. The development is yielding multiple benefits. Students value having the chance as freshmen or sophomores to experience scientific discovery through a hands-on project, and they are making contributions to a huge repository of information that is valuable to other scientists near and far.
On December 5, Saint Leo celebrated its 20th anniversary of offering online education.Saint Leo was one of the first institutions to embrace online education through the creation and launch of the Center for Online Learning in December 1998. The university also was recently ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s list of 2019 Best Online Bachelor’s Programs and Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Veterans.
At the start of the new academic year, Saint Leo University re-imagined its three major academic units, and each is now a college rather than a school: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Social Services, and the Donald R. Tapia College of Business. This subtle, but strategic move was made to reflect the plurality of subject areas taught within each of Saint Leo’s academic divisions, as well as the current prominence of graduate degree programs among the mix. It also positions the university for future growth. Additional colleges will be added in the coming years to reflect Saint Leo’s focus on academic excellence in teaching and learning and to make explicit particular groupings of programs and new program areas.
In May, the new Doctor of Education: School Leadership and Doctor of Criminal Justice (specializations offered in homeland security and education) degree programs were approved by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The programs quickly met enrollment goals for their first classes.
During the summer, Saint Leo University Athletics announced it will add acrobatics and tumbling to its intercollegiate athletics program in 2020. Acrobatics and tumbling, a discipline of USA Gymnastics, is the evolution of different forms of gymnastics and involves tumbling, tosses, and acrobatic lifts and pyramids. Teams participate in head-to-head competition and are scored in six events.
The Saint Leo University College of Education and Social Services recently launched the Educator Preparation Institute, a program that provides an alternate route to teacher certification for mid-career professionals and college graduates who were not education majors. After passing the general knowledge and one subject area competence exam and securing a letter of eligibility from the state, individuals can enroll in the program to prepare to take the Florida Teacher Certification Exam. The Educator Preparation Institute program is available at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. For more information, visit 
Political science major Jeanine Ramirez ’20 and social work major/American politics minor MacKenzie Jones ’19, spent two months this summer in Washington, DC, in a selective internship program. It is called the Congressional Fellows Program and admits only 35 undergraduates for the eight-week summer program. The fellows work three days a week in the offices of members of Congress. Time is also spent each week on community service and leadership development. This fellowship placement is a first among Saint Leo students.
Dr. Senthil Kumar joined Saint Leo as vice president of University Campus Admissions and the newly created Center for Global Engagement. In his role, he will focus on growing the university’s enrollment and making Saint Leo one of the nation’s most internationally engaged universities. Prior to Saint Leo, Kumar served as vice president of enrollment management and dean of international programs at Bay State College and dean of enrollment management and director of institutional advancement at The National Graduate School of Quality Management in Massachusetts. He has also held several positions in university admissions at other institutions.
John Nisbet joined Saint Leo University as vice president of Business Affairs and chief financial officer. In his role at Saint Leo, Nisbet is responsible for the university’s financial staff, Human Resources, and University Technology Services. One of his major duties is to create a five-year fiscal plan, including operating and capital budgets, revenue, and strategic investments. Nisbet came to Saint Leo from Creighton University, in Omaha, where he served as vice president for finance.
