We’ve navigated a whirlwind semester at UCF. And many of us are focused on final exams, research, commencement and other end-of-the-semester are only weeks away.
Your work is important to UCF’s success, and I appreciate all that you do to support our students. I want to highlight some of the remarkable people and the accomplishments that distinguish UCF as a special place.
One of my favorite annual campus celebrations is Women’s History Month, which runs through March. Women faculty at UCF have shaped the success of our university since it opened in 1968, and outstanding women faculty distinguish UCF in disciplines throughout our university.
Earlier this month, UCF Faculty Excellence honored 31 women faculty members for their dynamic contributions as faculty that drive student success and elevate our academic enterprise.
Also, this is an appropriate time to note that women are a bigger part of UCF’s leadership team than ever before. Currently, six of UCF’s 11 vice presidents are women, and six of our 13 college deans are women.
Diversity makes us stronger, greater and more competitive. Together, we are better.
Graduate Programs Rise
UCF is home to outstanding graduate and professional programs, and our programs fared their best yet in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Twenty-seven of our graduate programs placed in the top 100 of their fields by the magazine. Meanwhile, 35 graduate programs overall were included in the publication’s 2020 Best Graduate Schools edition.
Our top-ranked U.S. News graduate program this year is Emergency and Crisis Management, which tied for No. 7 nationally. This program is led by Associate Professor Claire Connolly Knox.
Congratulations to our faculty on fashioning graduate programs that are meeting workforce demands and growing in recognition of excellence.
And, speaking of U.S. News & World Report rankings, the magazine recently ranked UCF’s online bachelor’s programs at 14th in the nation — another best-ever showing for us.
UCF’s Future Doctors Excel
The latest Match Day for our College of Medicine at Lake Nona resulted in 118 of 119 students securing graduate medical education positions at hospitals that include Johns Hopkins, the Mayo Clinic, Stanford, Yale, Advent Health and Orlando Health.
UCF’s match rate of 99 percent exceeds the national average of 93.9 percent. I can’t wait to see how this seventh graduating class will enhance and save lives and reshape health care in the future.
More Knights Notables
At UCF, we are in constant pursuit of excellence throughout our academic enterprise — and it shows.
- UCF’s graduate video game program was ranked No. 5 in the world by PC Gamer magazine and the Princeton Review.
- Our Rosen College of Hospitality Management was named one of the top five hospitality management schools in the world for the third year in a row.
- UCF’s Lead Scholars Academy for students was chosen as the 2019 Outstanding Leadership Program of the Year by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, a student affairs organization for higher education.
- Twenty-two students this year are recipients of the Order of Pegasus, UCF’s most prestigious student award.
Regarding special achievements, please join me for Founder’s Day on Wednesday, April 3, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union, where we will celebrate the outstanding academic contributions and achievements of our faculty members.
Through the dedication of faculty, staff, students and our many partners, UCF thrives at lifting lives and livelihoods, introducing solutions for society’s pressing problems, meeting workforce needs and making our world a better place.
Let’s keep the momentum going!
