University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida (UCF), located in Orlando, Florida, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida. As of 2005, UCF is the largest undergraduate public university in Florida and second by total enrollment, trailing the University of Florida by fewer than 5,000 students. UCF awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctorates. The main campus is located approximately 13 miles from downtown Orlando and 55 miles from Daytona Beach, and there are twelve satellite campuses in eastern central Florida, though none is as large as the 1415 acre (5.73 km²) main campus.

UCF's official colors are gold (or yellow) and black, the various sports teams go by the name of "Golden Knights" and the official mascot is a gold-armored black knight named Knightro. The UCF academic logo, however, is the Pegasus. The official colors were chosen by Dr. Charles Millican, the first President of the University.

The University of Central Florida will be included for the first time in “The Best 361 Colleges: 2006 Edition,” by The Princeton Review.^[1] The Princeton Review’s recognition comes as the academic quality of UCF students continues to rise. Freshmen admitted in 2004 posted average SAT scores of 1186, ACT scores of 26 and an average high school GPA of 3.84.

History

File:Ucf-knightro.jpg

UCF's mascot, Knightro

The university was established on 10 June 1963 when the State Legislature passed Bill 125. The first classes began in October 1968 with a class size of 1,948. UCF was known as Florida Technological University (or Florida Tech) until the name was changed on December 6, 1978 by the State Legislature. FTU's former rival, the Florida Institute of Technology, is now named Florida Tech. In 2003, UCF had the distinction of being the fastest growing University in the United States in terms of undergraduate enrollment, and as of 2005, more than 44,000 students attend the school.

One of the founding goals of the university was to act as a support system for the Kennedy Space Center which is about 50 miles (80 km) away. Additionally, the nearby Central Florida Research Park which infuses research funds into the university and draws many interns and graduates from it, has a major focus of simulation as well space and defense related research.

The University's first mascot, was the short lived Citronaut, a half orange half astronaut hybrid. This was decided by a vote amongst the current FTU students, other ideas included Victor the Vulture, and Rocket Mickey. With the changing of name from FTU to UCF, the UCF athletics association also decided on a more serious mascot, and "Knightro" the golden knight was born. Knightro was later accompanied by his associate "Glycerine".

Academics

As of 2004, UCF's academic programs included 86 Baccalaureate Programs, 68 Master's Programs, 3 Specialist Programs, and 24 Doctoral Programs. In addition, 70% of the Faculty have their Doctorate Degrees, and 42% currently have tenure at the university. In terms of 6 year graduation rates, UCF ranks third in the state of Florida at 55%, trailing FSU at 63% and UF at 77%.^[2]

UCF also has several specialized schools including the School of Computer Science, and the School of Film and Digital Media, which supply graduates to The Walt Disney Company, Lockheed Martin, and many other local companies. In 2004, the board of trustees voted to give the School of Optics and Photonics full college status, making it the first college dedicated specifically to Optics and Photonics at a public university in the United States.

In response to the demands of the local business community, in 1993 the entire business program was recreated. The UCF Business faculty established a goal to deliver the best undergraduate business education in Florida. The product of alumni, faculty, business leaders, and students, the Business Education 2010 (BE2010) curriculum focuses on competencies that are integrated throughout all coursework: Teamwork, Communication, Creativity, Adaptation to Change, Diversity, and Ethics. The College of Business is now a leading business college in the south.^[3]

Colleges

• College of Arts & Sciences

Dean: Kathryn L. Seidel

The largest college in the university, the College of Arts and Sciences offers over 60 baccalaureate, graduate, and pre-professional degrees. It includes the following academic departments: Art, Biology, Chemistry, English, Foreign Languages and Literatures, History, Liberal Studies, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology, Statistics, and Theatre. It also houses the School of Film and Digital Media, which supplies graduates to The Walt Disney Company, Lockheed Martin, and many other local companies; and the Nicholson School of Communication, one of the largest schools of communication in the nation. The college recently saw the completion of a third Engineering Building, and is currently seeing the construction of a Psychology Building. Due to a $5.6 million deficit in the college, however, the university is expected to split the College of Arts and Sciences into two new colleges, the College of Arts and Humanties and the College of Sciences, in Spring 2006. Numerous faculty members from the Nicolson School of Communication are hoping that the school can use this opportunity to become a college in its own right, but current plans are the place the school under the future College of Sciences.

• Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences

Dean: Pappachan Kolattukudy

The Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences houses the Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, the Biomolecular Science Center, the Medical Laboratory Sciences Program and the Pre-Health Professions Advisement Office. The Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences became the 9th college at the university on August 10, 2004 after receiving a $10 million donation from Al and Nancy Burnett. The goal of the college is to build a nationally recognized biomedical research and education enterprise. The college currently offers three academic degrees, and will serve as the foundation of the proposed Medical College.

• Burnett Honors College

Dean: Alvin Wang

In 1998, the UCF Honors Program was granted college status. Al and Nancy Burnett donated almost 1.5 million dollars toward the completion of a building to house the honors college, and it subsequently named the Burnett Honors College in their honor. The Burnett Honors College Building was completed in May, 2002, and dedicated on October 23, 2002. With only about 1500 students (all undergraduates) as part of the the Burnett Honors College at a time, it combines the intimacy of a small liberal arts college with the advantages of a large metropolitan research univeristy. The Burnett Honors College does not offer any departments or majors itself; all of its students are also students of one of the other colleges at the university. Honors students benefit from being able to take smaller, Honors-versions of both lower-division and upper-division university courses, enrollment in Honors Seminars and Honors Interdisciplinary Seminars, usage of the Honors Computer Lab and the Honors Reading Room, extended library privelages, scholarship opportunities, and other advantages. It offers two distinct Honors programs: University Honors, which is a 4-year program (students must apply as high school seniors) that requires students to take a certain number of Honors courses, and Honors in the Major, which allows juniors and seniors to take up original research in their major and write an Honors Undergraduate Thesis (these programs are not mutually exclusive). If a student completes one of these programs, an Honors distinction corresponding to the program that they completed will appear on the student's diploma and transcript.

• College of Business Administration

  File:Ucf ba.jpg

  UCF's College of Business Administration building

Dean: Thomas L. Keon

In response to the demands of the local business community, in the entire business program at the university was recreated in 1993. The UCF Business faculty established a goal to deliver the best undergraduate business education in Florida. The product of alumni, faculty, business leaders, and students, the Business Education 2010 (BE2010) curriculum focuses on competencies that are integrated throughout all coursework: Teamwork, Communication, Creativity, Adaptation to Change, Diversity, and Ethics. The College of Business currently offers 17 academic degrees and will be the largest college of business in the nation after the completion of its third building at the university. The College of Business is now a leading business college in the South.[3]

• College of Education

Dean: Sandra L. Robinson

The College of Education awards nearly 60 academic degrees to prepare students for a numerous number careers in education. The College is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and houses the UCF Academy for Teaching, Learning and Leadership.

• College of Engineering and Computer Science

Dean: Neal C. Gallagher

Housing the university's premiere majors, the College of Engineering and Computer Science has three major divisions: the Engineering and Computer Science Division (which houses UCF's reknown School of Computer Science), the Engineering Technology Division, and the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Division. The Engineering and Computer Science Division consists of the School of Computer Science (SCS) and four engineering departments: the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department, the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department, the Industrial Engineering and Management Systems (IEMS) Department, and the Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering (MMAE) Department. The School of Computer Science itself is comprised of the Computer Science Department and Information Technology. The Engineering Technology Division is comprised of the Engineering Technology (ENT) Department. The ROTC Division consists of the Aerospace Studies Department (Air Force ROTC) and the Military Science Department (Army ROTC). The college offes more than 100 total degree programs.

• College of Health & Public Affairs

Dean: Belinda R. McCarthy

The College of Health and Public Affairs houses six departments and schools: the School of Nursing, the School of Social Work, and the departments of Communicative Disorders, Criminal Justice and Legal Studies, Health Professions, and Public Administration. Twenty-six degrees are offered to students through this college.

• Rosen College of Hospitality Management

Dean: Abraham Pizam

Stationed off the main University of Central Florida campus on Orlando's Universal Blvd., the Rosen College of Hospitality Management offers two degrees: Hospitality Management (BS) and Restaurant and Foodservice Management (BS). Orlando is the destination for over 42 million tourists each year, has over 400 hotels with 120,000 rooms, 5,000 restaurants, and 75 theme parks and attractions, making it the ideal setting for this college to thrive.

• College of Optics & Photonics: CREOL & FPCE

Director: Eric W. Van Stryland

In 2004, Florida's Board of Trustees voted to give UCF's School of Optics and Photonics full college status, making it the first college dedicated specifically to Optics and Photonics at a public university in the United States. It currently offers only Masters and Doctoral degres in Optics. The college is comprised of two divisions: CREOL (Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers) and FPCE (the Florida Photonics Center of Excellence).

Proposed Medical College

UCF plans to build a new 113,000-square-foot Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences Building, a 130,000-square-foot medical college instructional building and a 60,000-square-foot library that would form the base of the medical college at the UCF Healthcare Campus. The new medical campus would be located on the eastern edge of Orlando near the Orlando International Airport.

In October 2005, a local Orlando investment company donated $12.5 million and 50 acres of land to UCF to help establish the UCF Medical School at Lake Nona. The $12.5 million challenge grant is expected to generate matching funds from the community that would create a $25 million sum eligible for an additional $25 million state match.

If approved by the state, the medical college would be established in the Fall 2006. Its four-year curriculum would begin clinical education in Fall 2008 and would produce about 120 medical graduates each year.

Library

The Library at the University was the first building built on campus, and now rises five stories tall, and has been expanded upon many times. It currently houses over 1,500,000 volumes, 12,810 periodical subscriptions, 5,650 electronic journals, 2,800,000+ microform units, and over 39,000 media materials.

Athletics

UCF Basketball made it to the NCAA Basketball Tournament in the 2003 and 2004 seasons under the Atlantic Sun Conference. It is remained to be seen how the Basketball team will fare in the arguably more difficult Conference USA. UCF Baseball and Soccer are also rather respectable teams.

Football

UCF is a NCAA Division I school. UCF left its football-only membership in the Mid-American Conference and its membership in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2005 and joined Conference USA. UCF's football team didn't win a single game in the 2004 season. This led to popular and humorous UCF description, "A drinking college with a football problem." The teams's luck changed after a 17 game losing streak when it defeated Marshall University. UCF went on to win two more times and earned top place in Conference USA for the beginning of the season. UCF is one of three schools to ever win a trifecta after losing a whole season.

Housing

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Libra Community residence halls at UCF

UCF currently has over 4,500 beds (5,700 by 2007) on campus in five different communities on campus. Residence hall style suites are available in the Libra, Apollo, Academic Village communities (Hercules and Nike), and newly built Convocation Center. All of the residence hall suites have bathrooms shared between 2 or 3 rooms as opposed to communal bathrooms. Apartment style housing is also available in the Academic Village communities, Convocation Center, and in the Lake Claire Apartment community. The fifth community, the Convocation Center Apartments, are currently under construction with a planned housing capacity of 2,000 beds. Final construction will comprise 4 towers and is scheduled to be complete by fall 2007; as of fall 2005, the first tower is constructed and occupied with the second to be built in the next semester to be occupied by fall 2006. Greek housing is also available on campus with over 400 beds; additionally, more than 3,750 beds are available at University-affiliated housing, apartments located near campus which have agreements with the school. Approximately 10 % of students live on campus.

Rankings

• UCF accounting students had the highest pass rate in the nation on the National CPA exam in the fall 2003.
• UCF is one of the Top 60 schools in the country that enroll the largest number of National Merit Scholars.
• The UCF trial team took first place at Yale's annual Invitational Mock Trial Tournament, beating 61 other teams including Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Brown.
• Team UCF is now a part of the semi-finals for the 2005 DARPA grand challenge.
• UCF is ranked 38th in the nation for the strength of its research and patents by Technology Review, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's magazine of innovation. Only the University of Florida, at 20th, ranks higher among Florida state universities.
• The Computer Science Programming Team placed 15th in the world at the ACM International Programming Competition, placing third in the United States.
• UCF is included in the Top 361 Colleges & Universities of 2006 rankings as done by The Princeton Review.

Famous alumni

• Michelle Akers, champion women's soccer player and was named to the FIFA 100.
• John Bersia, Pulitzer Prize winner, writer for Orlando Sentinel
• Lee Constantine - State Senator of Florida
• Daunte Culpepper, professional football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.
• Robert Damron, PGA Tour, Winner of 2001 Byron Nelson Classic.
• Ericka Dunlap, Miss America for 2004.
• Travis Fisher, professional football cornerback for the St.Louis Rams.
• Doug Gabriel, professional football wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders.
• John Hart, Executive V.P/General Manager, Texas Rangers
• Cheryl Hines, an actress most famous for her role on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.
• Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School and former chairman of US President’s Council of Economic Advisers.
• Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, co-authors and co-directors of The Blair Witch Project.
• William Parsons, Director, Space Shuttle Program, NASA.
• Tari Phillips, professional basketball player in the WNBA.
• Asante Samuel, professional football cornerback for the New England Patriots.
• Monica Spears, Miss Venezuela for 2005.
• Al Weiss, President, Walt Disney World Resorts.

Points of interest

• Arboretum of the University of Central Florida
• The University also is one of the few Universities in the country to have a Challenge Course
• UCF's Recreation and Wellness center offers a 3,000 ft² (300 m²) cardiovascular floor, 12,000 ft² (1,200 m²) weight floor (selectorized weights, free weights and stretching area), 3 multipurpose group exercise rooms, 4 indoor basketball courts and 41 foot (12 m) Climbing Rock Tower. Additional student recreation facilities include a 230,000 US gallon (870 m³) 6 lane outdoor pool, a new sandy beach bottom lagoon style swimming pool, 4 sand volleyball courts, an 18 hole disc golf course, 2 softball/baseball fields, 9 acre (36,000 m²) multipurpose field, the Challenge Course and the Lake Claire Recreation Area.

Trivia

• In 2004, the WB recorded and produced a reality television series called "Big Man on Campus" (BMOC) on the campus of UCF with enrolled students.
• UCF holds the Guinness Book of Records entry for most people on a waterbed (108).
• Though it is not run or operated by students, UCF has a 5.6 kW Jazz broadcast radio station, one of the first digital studios in the Orlando area.

External links

• The University of Central Florida homepage
• Official UCF athletics site
• UCF Stadium Site Stadium website with current information about the proposed UCF Stadium.
• Campus Map and Virtual Tour
• Satellite Picture Satellite imagery provided by Google Maps (date: ~mid 2003).
• Central Florida Future Student Newspaper for UCF
• 40 Years of UCF/FTU Mascots UCF Library

References

• ACM 2005 Programming Competition Results
• UCF History UCF Foundation Site with the History of the University
• Current facts about UCF from the university's Office of Institutional Research.