See how UCF academics and leaders intersect and collaborate with the community and others in making the world a better place.
Tue Oct 6
The Celeste Hotel, UCF’s first lodging for visitors, is ready for liftoff. The 179-room space-themed inn and conference center will open with a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. Oct. 13 at the campus’ main entrance, University Boulevard and Alafaya Trail. The $48 million, five-story hotel under the Marriott banner is decked out in all things…
Mon Oct 5
When the call for volunteer tracers went out to UCF students over the summer, Anthony DePaz knew he wanted to be involved. In the past year, someone very close to him had become ill from the virus, and he wanted to help others who had been affected by the pandemic. Since the spring, UCF Student Health Services has worked with…
Fri Oct 2
Several people with UCF ties have been named to Florida Trend magazine’s 2020 Florida 500 list, which recognizes the state’s most influential business leaders. The selections — chosen from 60 business categories — were based on their contacts in regional business circles, “culminating in a highly selective biographical guide to the people who really run…
Thu Oct 1
Should you be wearing gloves in public and at work to protect yourself against COVID-19? For answers, we turn this week to Erica Hoyt, a College of Nursing faculty member who teaches the fundamentals of nursing, including gloving. As part of this tip, she had her Community Nursing students research the effectiveness of gloves in…
Thu Oct 1
Pronouns are some of the smallest words in any language, but their frequent use makes them powerful identity markers — especially for trans and non-binary individuals. After coming out as transgender when he was 14, UCF psychology and political science student Andrew Adams says being referred to as “he” for the first time felt euphoric…
Thu Oct 1
Ihave always believed that the best way to experience culture and get to know people is through food. That’s part of the reason why we started UCF’s cooking show Bite Knights earlier this year with my fellow social media ambassador, Henry Byrne. Bite Knights aims to inspire college students to experiment in the kitchen and…
Wed Sep 30
For more than 25 years, the Central Florida Speech-Language Consortium, a partnership between UCF and ten Central Florida school districts, has been working to improve access to speech-language pathology services for local children, while also addressing the state’s critical shortage of qualified professionals. Central Florida educators and clinicians including Dona Hedrick, Thomas Mullin and David Ratusnik, former faculty members in communication sciences and disorders, began tackling the problem back in…
Wed Sep 30
You’ve heard the idea before: The higher the risk, the greater the reward. You’re familiar with those people in your personal and professional life whom you would call risk-takers, the ones who casually skydive on a Sunday afternoon and post their death-defying pictures on their social media feeds. You might also know a few people…
Tue Sep 29
When I first started at UCF, I believed we had the potential to become one of the nation’s and the world’s leading public metropolitan research universities. Today, after almost six months, it is even more clear that we have the tenacity and, most importantly, the talent to achieve this. Even with the unprecedented challenges of…
Mon Sep 28
Orlando’s own Flying Horse Big Band celebrates the legacy of Ray Charles. On their 7th album, The Flying Horse Big Band, joined by a host of distinguished guest artists, stands on the shoulders of genius. Ray Charles spent his formative years in Florida and went on to forge a long, successful career unique and stunning musical interpretations.…
Fri Sep 25
If you were asked to name key players in the aerospace industry, odds are you would list SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, NASA and a few others. I doubt you would include the University of Central Florida. You should. It is no coincidence the 50-yard line of UCF’s football stadium lines up…
Thu Sep 24
Orlando Sentinel arts writer Matthew J. Palm took a look into the ways that Orlando’s art museums and galleries have sought out greater inclusivity as their exhibits highlight justice and equality this season. With discussions around these exhibitions and their associated artists’ and curators’ perspectives, the article features the latest exhibition at the UCF Art Gallery and features artist Omari…
Thu Sep 24
Many of us are feeling isolated because of COVID-19 and those feelings are especially hard for people in recovery from alcohol and drug abuse. September is National Recovery Month and in this week’s health tip, we turn to Megan Giddens, who leads Substance Use Disorder Services at UCF’s Student Health Services, on ways to support…
Wed Sep 23
Although there are more than 2.3 million people incarcerated in the United States, UCF associate professor Keri Watson believes the prison system remains largely invisible to the majority of Americans. She intends to change that with the first UCF Art Gallery exhibition of the 2020-21 academic year, Illuminating the Darkness: Our Carceral Landscape. The exhibition, which is available…
Wed Sep 23
Each day as our world evolves, we are witness to momentous, and at times, senseless and detestable moments in our country and the world’s center stage. As some of the more heinous events unfold, we often find the same underlying factor: hate. Ever disheartened by current affairs (and thinking back on a myriad of tragedies…
Mon Sep 21
UCF’s clinical leaders gathered Monday to give the community a simple message: Get your flu shot. And then they rolled up their sleeves and were vaccinated at a new mobile flu shot golf cart that’s making the rounds on campus to protect even more people from the virus. Drs. Deborah German, vice president for health…
Mon Sep 21
In 2019, UCF’s School of Social Work partnered with AdventHealth on a three-year, $1.45 million pilot program to study the effects of suicide-intervention screening on all emergency-room patients. Since then, healthcare professionals have been screening every adult patient who comes into the ER for signs of hopelessness or despair and providing follow-up care for those at high…
Mon Sep 21
Distinguished author Martha S. Jones will be the keynote speaker at the 2020 Jerrell Shofner Lecture Series on Florida History and Culture. This year’s lecture will take place virtually on Monday, October 12 from 6pm-7:30pm and focuses on “The Right to Vote: Women and Race in the 1920 Election.“ Jones is a professor of history and the…
Mon Sep 21
In 1968, Hispanic Heritage Week launched a cultural celebration that would expand 20 years later into Hispanic Heritage Month, which recognizes the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture and achievements of the United States. And while the occasion, also known as Latinx Heritage Month, marks an especially important time to positively promote Latinx…
Mon Sep 21
With flu season on the horizon and COVID-19 still present in our society, it is critical to get your flu shot this year to help protect yourself and others and reduce the overall burden of respiratory illnesses on the healthcare system. Some of the symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are similar, making it hard to tell the…