University of Central Florida

University of Central Florida Summary

The University of Central Florida is located in Orlando, Florida, and is a member institution of the State University System of Florida. As of 2005, UCF is the largest undergraduate public university in Florida and the second largest university in the state by total enrollment, trailing the University of Florida by fewer than 5,000 students. UCF’s official colors are black and gold, the various sports teams go by the name of “Golden Knights” and the official mascot is a male gold-armored black knight named Knightro. The Princeton Review’s recognition comes as the academic quality of UCF students continues to rise. In the Fall of 2006, UCF’s admission rate declined drastically from 61% of prospective students admitted to only 46%. UCF was known as Florida Technological University, nicknamed Florida Tech, from its establishment until December 6, 1978, when it was renamed to University of Central Florida by the State Legislature. In 2003, UCF had the distinction of being the fastest growing university in the United States in terms of undergraduate enrollment, and as of Fall 2006, more than 47,000 students attend the school. The official colors of the university were chosen by Dr. Charles Millican, UCF’s Founding President. This remained the University “mascot” for a year until students petitioned Student Government to establish an official mascot. Two years later, UCF students were introduced to Knightro’s girlfriend, Glycerin. As of 2005, UCF’s academic programs included 92 Baccalaureate Programs, 94 Master’s Programs, 3 Specialist Programs, and 24 Doctoral Programs. UCF was ranked a Tier 4 University in the 2006 edition of US News. In terms of six-year graduation rates, UCF ranks fourth in the state of Florida at 56%, trailing New College of Florida (NCF) at 65%, Florida State University (FSU) at 66%, and the University of Florida (UF) at 78%. The university currently houses eleven colleges: College of Arts & The college is currently in an adjustment stage resulting from its recent creation out of the former College of Arts & Students complete three years at UCF, before matriculating into the University of South Florida College of Medicine. 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. It will serve as the foundation of the planned medical college, with plans to build a new 113,000-square-foot Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences building on the medical campus. 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 new honors college, and it was subsequently named the Burnett Honors College in their honor. The mission of the college is to provide a challenging academic program and a foundation for future achievement to UCF’s most academically talented undergraduate students. With only about 1500 students a part of the college during an academic year, the Burnett Honors College combines the intimacy of a small liberal arts college with the advantages of a large metropolitan research university. 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 (most of which are limited to a 20-student capacity whereas some regular class sections at the university have hundreds of students), being able to enroll in Honors Interdisciplinary Seminars, usage of a private Honors Computer Lab and an Honors Reading Room, extended library privileges, scholarship opportunities, and other advantages. It offers two distinct Honors programs for students: 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-level courses, and Honors in the Major, which allows juniors and seniors to conduct original research within their major and write an Honors Undergraduate Thesis (these programs are not mutually exclusive). The college also offers many events and programs-such as the Student-Mentor Academic Research Teams (SMART) Program-that are open to UCF students regardless of whether they are Honors students or not, as well as the Office of Student Scholarship and Fellowship Advisement, which provides information and preparation services for all UCF students interested in applying for prestigious scholarships and fellowships. The College of Business presently offers 17 academic degrees and is poised to be the largest college of business in the nation after the completion of its third building in the next few years, and has become a leading business college in the South. The college is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and houses the UCF Academy for Teaching, Learning and Leadership. Gallagher Housing some of the university’s premier majors, the College of Engineering and Computer Science has three major divisions: the Engineering and Computer Science Division (which houses UCF’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), the Engineering Technology Division, and the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Division. Although many students refer to the new building as Engineering 3, the Harris Corporation recently donated $6 million to the College of Engineering & UCF’s College of Engineering & In December 2006, UCF President John Hitt announced that the School of Nursing will become the university’s 12th college on July 1, 2007. Dean: Abraham Pizam Located off the main University of Central Florida campus on Orlando’s Universal Blvd., the Rosen College of Hospitality Management offers three degrees: Hospitality Management (BS), Restaurant and Foodservice Management (BS), and Event Management (BS). Van Stryland In 2004, UCF’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. Interim Dean: Peter Panousis The College of Sciences was established in January 2006 after the division of the former College of Arts & The college is currently in an adjustment stage resulting from its recent creation out of the former College of Arts & German On October 25, 2006, UCF campus officials announced Dr. Deborah German as the founding dean of the College of Medicine. On March 23, 2006, the Florida Board of Governors voted 15-1 in support of UCF’s proposal to build a medical college. The medical college will constitute a new UCF medical campus that is being constructed at Lake Nona, located on the eastern edge of Orlando near the Orlando International Airport. Upon completion, the base of this medical college will include a 113,000-square-foot building for the Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences, a 130,000-square-foot medical college instructional building and a 60,000-square-foot library. In October 2005, a local Orlando investment company, the Tavistock Group, donated $12.5 million and 50 acres of land to UCF to help establish the UCF Medical School at Lake Nona, and issued a challenge to the Orlando community to help the university raise an additional $12.5 million to boost the total amount of raised funds to $25 million. This $25 million would be eligible for a matching state grant, thus giving UCF the needed $50 million needed to create the medical college. As of March 23, 2006, UCF had received $100.3 million in donations, state-matching funds, and land value for the medical college’s establishment. Its four-year curriculum is anticipated to begin clinical education in Fall 2009 and the college is expected to produce about 120 medical graduates a year, starting with 40-60 students in the first class and increasing in subsequent years. Online Undergraduate Degree Completion Programs Online Graduate Programs Online Graduate Certificate Programs From any location, at any time, University Libraries resources and services are available to the UCF community. Access to collections is provided through services at the main campus library, the Curriculum Materials Center located in the UCF College of Education, and the Universal Orlando Foundation Library at UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, as well as at regional joint-use campuses at the Brevard Community College Cocoa and Palm Bay campuses, Daytona Beach Community College, the MetroWest campus of Valencia Community College, and South Lake campus of Lake Sumter Community College. UCF Libraries collections include over 1,600,000 print volumes, 16,000 serial subscriptions, 60,000 e-books, 2.9 million microforms, 304,000 government documents, 40,000 media titles, special collections, university archives materials, and 9,200 full text electronic journal subscriptions. UCF Libraries is a partner with Florida’s state universities in collaborative development of university collections, giving UCF students access to a growing, robust, statewide electronic collection. A UCF legend holds that the library was UCF’s first building. Contrary to popular belief, a UCF utility building was the first structure to be built but the library was in fact the second building to be built, although it was the first building to hold classes on the main campus, beginning in 1968. UCF is currently preparing for a 3 year, $110 million renovation and expansion project which will double the size of the current library and add a new entrance near the student union. UCF also paid O’Leary a hefty salary which upset many UCF professors who were in contract negotiations with the university administration at the time. Students came back to the campus and celebrated further by jumping into UCF’s Reflection Pond (a practice normally reserved for Spirit Splash), which is regarded as the central point on campus. On May 24, 2006, UCF (who already had O’Leary inked to a lucrative contract) extended the contract for 10 years and increased his pay to $1M plus incentives per year after O’Leary, having engineered the third-largest turnaround in college football history, was targeted by larger programs. The University of South Florida and UCF have attempted to establish the natural football rivalry