One of the hottest gifts this past holiday season - figuratively and literally - was hoverboards.
And while more than 30 colleges around the country have banned them in residence halls or otherwise restricted their use because of reports that the self-propelled devices caught fire while being charged, the University of South Florida is not one.
So far, no hoverboard-related fires have been reported on USF's three campuses.
School administrators met in Tampa this week to discuss the subject. Director for Environmental Health and Safety, Beverly Daly, said the university is going to hold off on a ban - for now.
"At this time, USF will continue to take an educational approach on the use of hoverboards on campus and will continue to monitor the national concerns to evaluate and assess if additional restrictions are necessary," Daly said.
Residence hall advisors shared information with students returning to school on safe charging methods for not just hoverboards, but for all electronic devices.
At the same time, Daly noticed something during the first days of the new semester.
"The number of hoverboards that I have seen on campus seems to be reduced from what we saw at the end of the fall," she said. "I don't have a reason for this, other than to wonder if people could not bring them back to campus based on the airline restrictions or if they have their own personal concerns about the devices and left them at home."
Almost all major U.S. airlines have banned hoverboards because of concerns about the stability of their batteries.
Daly said USF officials will continue monitoring the situation and take action if necessary.
