Media Relations
University of South Florida
Polytechnic
3433 Winter Lake Road
Lakeland, FL 33803
(863) 667-7077
Fax (863) 667-7097
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Contact:
Tom Hagerty
(863)
667-7077
Associate Professor
Kim Lersch, Ph.D.
LAKELAND,
FL (July 13, 2007) - The University of South Florida Lakeland announced that Kim Lersch, Ph.D., associate professor of criminology, has been promoted to professor. With this achievement, Dr. Lersch becomes the first faculty member to earn promotion to professor at USF Lakeland. (Other faculty members came to the Lakeland campus having already achieved the rank of professor.)
“Dr. Lersch has made significant contributions in teaching, scholarship and service, not only to USF Lakeland but also to the USF system,” said Judith Ponticell, Ph.D., associate vice president, Academic Affairs. “She demonstrates our commitment to academic excellence and applied research and learning. Her promotion to professor is an important step in the growth of USF Lakeland.”
Promotion is based on careful evaluation of a candidate’s acknowledged record of success in teaching; established record of productive research or creative work of at least national visibility; substantive contributions in the area of service; and unmistakable evidence of significant achievement among peers in one’s discipline at the national or international level.
The extensive process, which takes approximately one year to complete, involves evaluation reviews at a number of levels, both internal and external.
“The first step is to have your work reviewed by external reviewers who are recognized experts in your field,” said Dr. Lersch. “To review my work they had to be full professors employed at peer institutions. My external reviewers were from University of Miami, University of Cincinnati, Texas State University, Wichita State University, and University of Illinois.”
Following the external reviews, several internal committees and officials reviewed and approved Dr. Lersch’s application.
“The title of professor carries some weight, especially when it is earned at a research-extensive university like USF,” said Dr. Lersch. “I'm the first person in my family who ever went to college, so it just seems important to go as far as I can. It has always been important to me to try to achieve and advance.”
Dr. Lersch received a B.A. from USF St. Petersburg and earned an M.A. and a Ph.D., both in Sociology, from the University of Florida. She started her teaching career at the University of West Florida and joined USF in 1997 as an assistant professor at USF St. Petersburg. In 2001 she moved to the Tampa campus, received tenure and was promoted to associate professor. She joined the USF Lakeland faculty in 2005.
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