Dear UCF Faculty and Staff:
As our 2018-19 academic year comes to an end, we pause to celebrate our outstanding students, faculty and staff for their remarkable contributions to making UCF a great place to study, research, live and work.
Congratulations to the Class of 2019
The ultimate achievement for most UCF students and their families is the earning of a degree. This spring marks another significant moment in our university’s history as we celebrate over 8,000 students who are receiving degrees. To date, the university has awarded 335,011 degrees since classes began in 1968.
Today, the university is awarding its 50,000th degree as a result of the DirectConnect to UCF program, which guarantees admission to UCF for graduates of six state colleges. I am especially proud that we are also awarding our first certificates to students with unique abilities through our Inclusive Education Services program, which provides unprecedented access to post-secondary opportunities at UCF.
Extraordinary Faculty
A strong faculty anchors UCF’s academic enterprise, and helping our faculty members grow professionally is essential in distinguishing our university as a pacesetter for 21st-century higher education.
Recently, we saluted faculty excellence at Founders’ Day, which covered a wide range of honorees, including top teaching and service honors from our colleges. We recognized Josh Colwell, Naim Kapucu, Tison Pugh and Martine Vanryckeghem as Pegasus Professors for their career achievements and impact. We also presented Tim Hawthorne, Megan Nickels and Pamela Wisniewski with Reach for the Stars Awards as early career faculty members with successful research of national impact.
Congratulations to the 107 faculty members who are being promoted this year. They reached this major career milestone by successfully completing a robust promotion and tenure process designed to reward excellence and achievement. Twenty-nine of these faculty are being recommended to the UCF Board of Trustees for tenure. And 25 have earned the title of professor based on their national and international achievements, contributions to UCF and reputations as leading scholars and researchers. Approved promotions and tenures will take effect on Aug. 8.
Charging On!
Success and transformative opportunities happen regularly at UCF. They underscore why our personal investments in higher education matter. In perhaps the most important and challenging year in UCF’s amazing history, our faculty excellence and student success advanced in impressive ways, reminding us the future is bright and the future is ours. I thank each of you for redoubling your efforts to support students and remaining true to our mission.
Congratulations, Knights family, and keep charging on.
