The University of Central Florida awards more than 18,000 degrees annually — the most among Florida public universities and among the most nationally — and strives to set the pace for advancing student success in higher education.
Wed Dec 1
Rob Adams still remembers the enthusiasm in his colleague Justin Klocman ’06’s voice. Klocman, a Burnett Honors Scholar who earned his degree in electrical engineering, had just left a meeting of the College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean’s Advisory Board and immediately called Adams en route from Orlando to his home in South Florida. “He said…
Tue Nov 30
Lana Gidusko, an academic support coordinator in the School of Kinesiology and Physical Therapy, was honored at the UCF vs. USF football game last week for her positive impact on student athletes. At the conclusion of each semester, Athletics asks student-athletes about their courses, advisors and professors who they would like to see as Campus…
Mon Nov 29
On Nov. 17, three University of Central Florida graduate students walked away with a total of $2,000 in prize money from the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Winning speakers presented on the topics of corpus linguistics, nano-scale biosensors and emergency management. This year marked the return to an in-person event, with last year’s competition being…
Wed Nov 24
UCF students Robert Burke, Owen Burns, Michael Bradford and Veronica Suarez won $1,000 each in the first Blackstone LaunchPad Ideas Competition, where contestants showcased their early-stage ideas. In addition to the cash prizes, Burke, Burns, Bradford and Suarez also earned automatic entries into the National Ideas Competition where they’ll compete for the chance to take…
Thu Nov 18
The Collegiate Cybersecurity Competition Team at UCF has won the 2021 U.S. Department of Energy CyberForce Competition, a challenge that pits collegiate teams from the across the country against each other as they thwart a simulated cyberattack. This is the second time UCF has won the competition. This year, UCF beat out 119 other teams…
Wed Nov 17
Every day is a learning opportunity for Franklin Romero Vega, whether it’s in a fast-food kitchen or pursuing a career in nuclear fusion. The physics major’s path to a prestigious internship this fall with the Department of Energy Office of Science is a winding one. But Romero Vega sees each stop on the journey as…
Wed Nov 17
A childhood growing up in the shadow of the Pentagon led Jennifer Hewitt, a Ph.D. candidate at CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, to pursue a path that will lead her back to her roots. The Maryland native has strong family ties to her motivation for working for the U.S. Department of Defense. “A…
Wed Nov 17
UCF’s College of Medicine is one of the nation’s top ranked schools for students matching into dermatology residencies, according to a recent report in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University College of Medicine, ranked medical schools nationally by the number of students —…
Mon Nov 15
UCF’s Supply Vault for Student Veteran Success officially launched earlier this week. Sponsored by the UCF Community Veterans History Project in partnership with the UCF Veterans Academic Resource Center, the vault demonstrates UCF’s appreciation for student veterans’ service in the U.S. military. Barbara Gannon, associate professor of history and coordinator of the Veterans History Project, has…
Fri Nov 12
Growing up with a single mother who suffered from drug abuse and mental health issues, Diamond Whitley was determined to change her trajectory and pursue a path to a better future. Her motivation to go to college started at a young age. Even though her mother wasn’t always present, Whitley was surrounded by people who…
Wed Nov 10
A new microgrid control laboratory in the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science is preparing the next generation of engineers to operate the modern grid and meet the rapidly increasing need for sustainable, affordable and reliable energy. The lab, which is co-sponsored by Florida Power & Light (FPL) and GE Digital, is a state-of-the-art…
Wed Nov 10
When first-generation student Theresa Kieu ’21 crossed the stage to receive her degree in hospitality management from UCF, she had never seen her parents’ eyes so lit up. “It was kind of the first step in breaking that generational curse. â¦There is no greater feeling. It meant the past four years weren’t for nothing — all that…
Tue Nov 9
Fourteen students from across the university will serve on UCF’s first Graduate Student Advisory Council beginning this month. The students were selected from a pool of more than 150 applicants and represent all colleges across the university, including UCF Online, who are attending part-time or full-time. They will serve for one year and work directly…
Mon Nov 8
A new Ph.D. in Kinesiology was approved by the Florida Board of Governors Nov. 4, making it the first Ph.D. program in the College of Health Professions and Sciences. The program builds on 10 years of successful program history from when the program was a track in Exercise Physiology within the Doctor of Education program…
Mon Nov 8
After serving five years in the Marine Corps, stepping onto campus for the first time was a culture shock. Even more so as I was honorably discharged three days prior and drove straight from a military base to here. Not seeing the typical short hair, clean shaven face everywhere was weird at first. Everyone was…
Fri Nov 5
This weekend, Sharon Park ’19 ’20MS is traveling 900 miles for what will appear to outsiders to be a five-second walk across the stage at Addition Financial Arena. Like the rest of the 1,700 participating graduates expected to attend this special commencement celebration, Park completed the requirements for her degree in 2020, but the Florida Board of Governors…
Fri Nov 5
A transgender resident and a medical student who chose homelessness to save money for her education shared their stories of courage and challenging societal stigmas as part of the College of Medicine’s Diversity Week celebrations. “Their stories remind us that the best doctors are humans who can relate to others, who have overcome their own…
Fri Nov 5
A new Human Gross Anatomy/Neuroscience course in the College of Health Professions and Sciences will give undergraduate students the unique opportunity to learn about the human body and all of its systems through use of cadavers. The use of the cadavers is especially important to understanding the functions of different systems in the body, and…
Thu Nov 4
After seeing the U.S. Navy Blue Angels perform over Jacksonville as a child, Jessica Baker ’20 fell in love with flight. The Florida native felt influenced by the nearby Space Coast, and quickly developed a passion for aerospace engineering, which she earned a bachelor’s in at UCF. Now, she’s earning a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from UCF…
Tue Nov 2
Rocio Velasquez, a master’s student in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, has been named as a recipient of an American Speech-Language Hearing Foundation Minority Scholarship. The $5,000 scholarship was provided by the charitable organization of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, the professional organization representing speech-language pathologists (SLPs), audiologists and supporters of the field…