“The new technology we can offer faculty members will continue to help them innovate in the classroom,â€� says Vice Provost for Jana Jasinski. “This is such a great opportunity for us to help our students excel and learn in new ways”

Major enhancements include new , an augmented and virtual reality studio, an audio and video editing booth with Wacom annotation monitors, and a podcast recording studio. In addition, the center now offers 3D printing, along with Oculus and Valve virtual reality systems and 360-degree cameras that can be borrowed to create and deliver course content. Collaboration spaces are improved, as well, to be more comfortable and capable for video conferencing and interactive workshops.

“The technology and facility upgrades in the Faculty Multimedia Center represent a significant step forward in ’s support of faculty innovation and teaching practices,� says Vice Provost for Digital Learning Tom Cavanagh. “We’re certain that our faculty partners will use these state-of-the-art tools to create even more effective content to fuel the success of our students.�

The FMC’s lightboards are one of the most popular tools, and the center now offers three private recording studios. The devices translate the classroom experience of writing on a whiteboard to video with a transparent board that empowers users to explain material in a unique way.

For Christine Hanlon, senior lecturer at the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, learning to make lightboard videos improved how she teaches.

“The FMC has a winning combination of cutting-edge technical tools and experienced staff who can help faculty members to learn how to develop engaging course content,� she says. “They are constantly updating their tools and technologies, so I always learn something new when I stop by the FMC.�

The FMC is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday for all Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ faculty, staff and graduate teaching assistants. Individual training, group workshops and headshot photography services are offered regularly and are available through the center’s . For more information, visit the or call 407-823-0519.

The project is funded by a $50,000 grant from national philanthropic foundation Research Corporation for Science Advancement and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The funding is part of an initiative called Scialog Mitigating Zoonotic Threats. Scialog is short for “science and dialog.�

Zoonotic threats are those that originate from animals, such as mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile virus and dengue fever. The origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is still under debate, but its possible animal origin means more attention is being given to zoonotic diseases  — as well as to monitoring for ones that could emerge in the future.

In the first of what will be a three-year program, the initiative will focus on launching new research identification, diagnosis, mechanisms and inhibition of emerging zoonotic disease pathogenesis. The program has awarded 25 individuals from research teams across the country with $50,000 grants. The goal is to create an interdisciplinary community to catalyze research of zoonotic threats.

Laurene Tetard, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and researcher with the Nanoscience Technology Center, is one of the 25 awardees. Her group analyzes nanoscale imaging and spectroscopy. As part of the new initiative, they will be exploring replacement options for the current honey-bait card used to trap pathogens present in mosquitoes’ saliva.

During the recent Scialog meet held this fall, Tetard’s team was able to learn from various experts in the field.

“There is a huge gap between the state-of-the-art technology being developed in nanotechnology and the technology currently available for tracking potential threats from animals,� Tetard says.

Currently, the process to evaluate threats from mosquitoes can be a cumbersome process that includes setting up massive traps, identifying the mosquitoes and carrying out molecular assays on them to determine potential pathogens they carry, Tetard says.

The researcher and her team, with the help from experts in nanomaterial designs and from the USDA, aim to produce an active material that will change color in the presence of pathogens. Such an innovation would significantly reduce the work involved in mosquito trapping and filter which samples will carry potential pathogens to analyze.

The grant will support her team in a project with real-life applications in the near future. Tetard says she is extremely grateful to be included in the initiative and hopes to share this opportunity with other researchers and interested students.

“We are really at the beginning of this idea,� she says. “We have to build everything. The opportunity to apply our expertise to a field of research that could benefit from smarter sensors, better fundamental understanding of the response of pathogens to their environments, or to new treatments is very exciting. I am very thankful to be part of the Scialog team on this topic, and I hope that this first step will lead to more ideas to prepare us for new unknown biological threats.�

Tetard received her doctorate in physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and joined ±«°ä¹ó’s NanoScience Technology Center and Department of Physics, part of ±«°ä¹ó’s College of Sciences, in 2013. She also has been a recipient of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s CAREER grant, an award given to early career scientists and engineers with high promise of leading major advances in their respective fields and who will serve as academic role models.

The applicant pool includes a remarkable depth of academic scholarship and accomplishment, including candidates with membership in the prestigious National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering, and affiliation with institutions in the Association of American Universities, which represents the country’s leading research universities.

“From a very strong pool of applicants I am pleased with our choices of academic scholars with impeccable records of achievement,” said Trustee William Self, an associate professor in the College of Medicine and a member of the Search Committee. “These candidates are world-renowned in their disciplines and also strong academic leaders that have led or are currently leading large and complex academic and health enterprises in higher education. I am confident that from this strong pool of candidates we will find our next President and that this leader will be a proud member of the faculty in their discipline.”

Candidates who will move forward in the process are:

• Barbara Boyan, Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Dean of College of Engineering and Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University; and member, National Academy of Engineering
• David Brenner, Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences, and Distinguished Professor, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego; Adjunct Professor, Salk Institute for Biological Studies; and member, National Academy of Medicine
• Amr Elnashai, Vice President/Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology Transfer, University of Houston
• Vistasp Karbhari, President, University of Texas at Arlington
• Richard Larson, Executive Vice Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Research, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
• Cato Laurencin, University Professor; Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; Chief Executive Officer, The Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering, University of Connecticut; Director, The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences; member National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering
• Javier Reyes, Vice President for StartUp West Virginia; Milan Puskar Dean of the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, West Virginia University

Beverly Seay, who chairs the Search Committee and the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Board of Trustees, praised the quality of the candidates interested in leading Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.

“This whole process has been very eye-opening, producing high-quality candidates who are equipped to build a future at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ that addresses our opportunities and our challenges,â€� Seay says. “It will be a valuable exercise for us to bring these individuals to campus and to learn from them. I encourage our campus community to take advantage of the opportunity to hear from this group of leaders with very different backgrounds and perspectives.â€�

Candidate interviews will be conducted in person during a meeting of the Search Committee, scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, March 5, in the Key West Ballroom of the Student Union. Livestreams for that meeting, available for viewing only as a live broadcast, will be as follows:

Morning session:

Afternoon session:

The schedule for the first-round interviews on Thursday is:

7:30am – 8:00am Committee Briefing

8:00am – 9:00am Barbara Boyan

9:15am – 10:15am David Brenner

10:30am – 11:30am Amr Elnashai

11:45am – 12:45pm Vistasp Karbhari

12:45pm – 1:30pm Lunch Break

1:30pm – 2:30pm Richard Larson

2:45pm – 3:45pm Javier Reyes

4:00pm – 5:00pm Cato Laurencin

5:15pm – 6:15pm Debrief

On Tuesday, Search Committee members also discussed the possibility of considering additional candidates who may apply later.

The Search Committee will recommend candidates to the Board of Trustees. Then, finalists will return to campus after spring break for open forums and campus visits. The campus community will have the opportunity to provide feedback on each of the finalists.

The Board of Trustees will vote on the selection of the president. Then, the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s public universities, will vote on whether to confirm the selected candidate.

The department also states that these areas represent “where postsecondary institutions do not produce enough graduates to meet the needs of Florida’s K-12 student population.� Lake County Schools, which serves more than 42,000 students at 59 elementary, middle and high schools, is no exception.

“We have a shortage of certified teachers,â€� says Stephanie Luke, a math and science education instructor at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and chair of the Lake County School Board. “As a school board member, I’m critically aware of that.â€�

To address the problem, a growing partnership between the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ College of Community Innovation and Education and Lake County Schools created a pathway for high school students with an interest in becoming teachers to earn a bachelor’s degree and become certified to fill the county’s vacancies. The Tavares Teaching Academy, now in its second year at Tavares High School, is designed to not only introduce students to the profession with specialized courses and hands-on classroom experiences, but also provide impactful collaborations with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ elementary education faculty and students. By cultivating teachers within the community, this grow-your-own program was conceived to deliver a self-sustaining supply of new educators.

“The vision of this program is to produce highly qualified graduates who are from Lake County and will come back to teach in Lake County,â€� Luke says. “We know that if they come through this program from high school to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, they will be ready to go — and we’re really excited about it.â€�

Creating a Pathway

The partnership path leads Tavares Teaching Academy graduates to Lake-Sumter State College, where they will earn an associate’s degree that qualifies them for admission to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ through the DirectConnect to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ program. Upon achieving their bachelor’s degree and Florida state teacher certification, which they can complete at ±«°ä¹ó’s elementary education program on site at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Connect South Lake Center in Clermont, participants are guaranteed a job interview with Lake County Schools.

“We want to grow the teachers who know about the culture and community in Lake County,� says Bonnie Watkins, the Tavares High School teacher who leads the academy. “Our hope is that these experiences solidify [the students’] desire to become teachers and fulfill the needs in our classrooms.�

For Marni Kay, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ instructor of reading education, the value of the academy is to place qualified, passionate, purposeful teachers in classrooms.

“The critical teaching shortage is the reason the Tavares Teaching Academy was started to intentionally show high school students what college will look like for them,� she says “We’re working to grow our own right in Lake County so that they’re able to start in Lake County schools, do service-learning partnerships with kids in their own community, and then become teachers in the community.�

According to Watkins, the strength of ±«°ä¹ó’s elementary education program and its presence in Lake County are key to the partnership.

“Our students receive the benefit of shared resources from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, as well as advice from a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ instructor,â€� she says. “We work together to create valuable field experiences that are essential to the success of the Teaching Academy program.â€�

Fueling Collaboration

Building a pathway for future teachers also involves bringing the high school and college students together for collaborative events and mentoring. The groups recently met at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Connect South Lake Center in Clermont to celebrate International Dot Day, a recognition of the works of children’s author Peter H. Reynolds. Thirty-five Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ students worked with 17 Teaching Academy students through six educational stations that reinforced the methods they’ll use one day to teach children to read. It’s this type of hands-on, practical experience that will fuel their success when theory becomes reality in their own classrooms.

“It’s so important to connect the research into action,� Kay says. “We model for students what they can do in their own classrooms and help them develop successful teaching strategies.�

It all adds up to Tavares Teaching Academy graduates who are better prepared to succeed in college — and in leading a classroom after they graduate from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and become certified by the state.

“These students will have a head start because they will have already spent time in front of a class,� Luke says. “In fact, as college instructors, we’ll need to step it up when we have this level of student coming in.�

For the high school students, spending time with their college counterparts helps reinforce why they participate in the academy.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to work with students who have the same passion as me, but are also role models since they’re older,â€� says Ashley Ellixson, a Tavares High School junior. “Meeting new people who are from different walks of life, but who also share the same interest, was an eye-opening experience.”

And there are benefits for the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ teaching students, as well.

“I feel like a role model, trying to help the high schoolers understand what the expectations of being an elementary education student are at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½,â€� says junior Kira Dowling. “It’s giving back to the community because these students are going to be in my position one day.â€�

The connections the students will build during the program are valuable beyond what the coursework will produce, because, as the instructors explain, teaching is a team effort.

“Teaching is not an isolated event,� says Kay. “Teaching should be a community partnership, because in the end we’re all in it to serve students.�

Led by Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Elizabeth A. Dooley, the strategic alignment results from months of planning by our academic leaders with input from faculty, staff and students. It also follows various reports and assessments over the years that encouraged Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ to take bold steps to enhance, reform and reimagine ways to better support students and their journey to achieving a degree.

The changes address priorities that include:

• strengthening advising, especially through the role of faculty and advising enabled by data analytics;
• defining a shared philosophy for student success; and
• aligning shared ownership, accountability and impact to deliver on our student success goals.

“Student success is much more than just reaching target metrics. Our collective efforts must focus on creating a culture of student success that goes beyond the numbers and gets straight to why we are each here: to help students graduate and be successful, productive and global lifelong learners,� Dooley says. “To achieve this goal, an area we will strive to be recognized for is our distinctive commitment to student success.�

The organizational adjustments underway seek to better align student success with academics and university support units. Here’s more on the changes:

Division of Teaching and Learning and the College of Undergraduate Studies: The Division of Teaching and Learning and the College of Undergraduate Studies will be renamed the division of Student Learning and Academic Success and College of Undergraduate Studies. As part of this alignment, the Office of Student Success, First Year Advising and Exploration, Transfer and Transition Services, Student Academic Resource Center, and the Registrar’s Office will transition from the division of Student Development and Enrollment Services to the Division of Student Learning and Academic Success. The changes will strengthen the links between academics and student success; enhance our retention, persistence and graduation rates; and increase our students’ achievements in post-graduation pursuits.

Analytics and Integrated Planning: This new division in Academic Affairs includes the Institutional Knowledge Management unit. The new division is responsible for advancing the university’s analytics capabilities, sharing new success insights and enhancing data information use. The change will align institutional planning efforts and performance accountability.

Faculty Excellence: The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (formerly under Teaching and Learning) will now report to the vice provost for Faculty Excellence. The change will help better support faculty development, student success and academic excellence.

Academic Affairs: The Operational Excellence and Assessment Support and Academic Planning units (formerly under Teaching and Learning), along with Academic Program Quality (formerly under Analytics and Integrated Planning), and the Center for Higher Education Innovation now report to the senior associate provost. The changes will help consolidate resources and improve collaboration.

This alignment does not impact the structure of the academic colleges and the budgetary impact is minimal. Rather, the changes focus on the structures of the organizational units that support the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs.

To support this initiative, Dooley has established implementation teams. They are charged with operationalizing a new student success model and structure that will ensure a student-centric approach throughout ±«°ä¹ó’s operations. She asked the teams to complete their work by January 2020.

The alignment seeks to build on ±«°ä¹ó’s major strides in boosting student retention and degree completion. Last fall, for the first time, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ surpassed a 90 percent first-year student retention rate. This fall, the university has topped 91 percent.

In addition, over the past decade, ±«°ä¹ó’s Hispanic and African American students have bucked national trends and significantly outperformed national averages for retention and completing a degree, particularly in addressing disparities with white majority counterparts.

As a result, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ was recently named a finalist for the prestigious 2019 Degree Completion Award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ holds of the distinction of being the No. 1 producer of talent among public universities in the nation, with more than 16,000 degrees awarded last year. Also, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ ranks second among all public and private institutions in bachelor’s degrees awarded to African American and Hispanic students.

This semester’s expected graduates will have earned more than 3,200 bachelor’s degrees, 600 master’s degrees and 150 doctorates. The university has awarded 340,962 degrees since classes began in 1968.

This graduation guide provides information on ceremony schedules, tickets, arena-entry policies, live streams, parking, campus road closures, ceremony speakers, accessibility information and social media opportunities.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Ceremony Speakers

Doors to Addition Financial Arena will open 90 minutes prior to each ceremony. Graduates should arrive at this time and should expect to begin lining up 60 minutes prior to the ceremony’s start. For more detailed information about the ceremonies, please visit .

Dan Ward ’92

President of Curley & Pynn Public Relations and chair of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Alumni Board

9 a.m. Ceremony — College of Business, College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Medicine, College of Optics and Photonics, Rosen College of Hospitality Management

Ward has practiced public relations in Florida for more than two decades and served as vice president and partner with Curley & Pynn for 10 years prior to becoming president. The Florida Public Relations Association named him the 2013 PR Professional of the Year, and he served as president of the Public Relations Society of America’s Orlando regional chapter in 2004.

He was elected as chair of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Alumni Board in July 2018, was was inducted into the Nicholson School of Media and Communications’ Hall of Fame in 2011 and serves on the school’s advisory board.

Ward earned his degree in journalism with cum laude honors.

Falecia D. Williams ’06EdD

Valencia College West Campus and Downtown Campus President

2 p.m. Ceremony — College of Arts and Humanities, College of Graduate Studies, College of Nursing, College of Sciences and College of Undergraduate Studies

As a first-generation college student, Williams went on to earn her doctorate from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and has enjoyed an extensive career in post-secondary education that has focused on student success, program development, community partnerships and leadership systems.

During her tenure at Valencia College, she has worked her way up from a part-time professor to the leader of two campuses and was most recently tapped to guide Valencia’s collaborative efforts with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ that garnered state approval for the joint downtown campus, set to open in August.

In 2018, she was selected by the Aspen Institute as an Aspen Presidential Fellow for Community College Excellence.

Williams earned her Bachelor of Arts at Rollins College, Master of Arts at Stetson University, and Doctor of Education at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.

Gideon Lewis ’00

Sports medicine physician

7 p.m. Ceremony — College of Community Innovation and Education, College of Health Professions and Sciences

Following in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps, Lewis carried on the family tradition of a career in medicine as a board-certified reconstructive foot and ankle surgeon. He is also a decorated Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ alumnus, College of Medicine faculty member and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Foundation Board member.

After more than a decade of practicing medicine, in 2017 Lewis established the Foot & Ankle Sports Medicine Institute in Winter Park, where he routinely treats Olympic and professional athletes from the NBA and NFL.

Lewis has maintained an relationship with his alma mater since graduating with his bachelor’s degree from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in molecular microbiology. In 2010, he founded the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Surgical Internship Program and currently serves as the director. He is an assistant professor with the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ College of Medicine, an interviewer for the college’s admissions committee and serves as the chief sports medicine faculty advisor for the college’s orthopedic and sports medicine interest group.

In 2010 he received the College of Medicine’s inaugural Rising Star Award and in 2018 received the college’s Dean’s Award, which is the highest honor awarded to a faculty member in the college.

Lewis earned his doctoral degree at the California College of Podiatric Medicine. He served as a commencement speaker in Spring 2014.

Cap and Gown Distribution

Students who have filed their intent to graduate and ordered their regalia through Herff Jones can pick up their cap and gown at the ±«°ä¹óÌý¹ó´¡±õ¸é°Â±õ±·¶Ù³§ÌýAlumni Center from July 22-26 at the following times:

• Monday-Wednesday: 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.
• Thursday-Friday: 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Students who did not pre-order their cap and gown can order their regalia at the Alumni Center July 24-26.

All rental regalia, specifically gowns, hoods, and tams, must be returned immediately following your commencement ceremony at the Barnes & Noble at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ near Addition Financial Arena. Bachelor’s and master’s graduates are allowed to keep the cap and tassel only. The book store will observe extended business hours Aug. 3 in order for graduates to return their regalia. Credit cards will be charged full price for any regalia not returned by 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 3.

Tickets, Arena Policies and Live Stream

Tickets
Graduating students will receive up to five tickets for their guests when they pick up their cap and gowns. Each guest, including children and infants, entering the arena must have a ticket for the ceremony. In other words, all humans need a ticket to enter Addition Financial Arena.

Students can enter the extra ticket lottery online. Log onto my.ucf.edu and follow this navigation: Student Self Service > Student Center > My Academics (drop down menu) “Other academic…,� choose “Commencement Ticket Lottery� and click on the >> button. Follow the instructions to apply for up to five extra commencement tickets. Extra tickets are not guaranteed.

Arena Policies
Addition Financial Arena does not allow backpacks of any kind or bags larger than 12x6x12 inside the arena. Guests who bring backpacks or large bags will be asked to return them to their car before entering the building.

A security check will be conducted for all guests and graduates entering the arena, and guests should anticipate long lines and wait times, so plan to arrive 90 minutes prior to the ceremony. Guests interested in sitting together should arrive together. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Review the full list of prohibited items on .

Live Stream
Guests who do not have tickets for Addition Financial Arena seating will have the opportunity to view a live telecast of the ceremony at the and the . Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

A live stream of each ceremony, which is closed caption, is also available on .

Traffic and Parking

Please anticipate road closures and traffic delays on campus Aug. 3. Doors will open 90 minutes before the start of each ceremony.

Gemini Boulevard in front of Addition Financial Arena between East and West Plaza Drives will be closed for most of the day.

Traffic flow patterns will be interrupted and access to areas around Addition Financial Arena will be limited during the traffic exit after each event. These exit changes are made for the safety of graduates, faculty and staff members, and commencement ceremony guests.

Graduates and guests with mobility impairments should park in Garage D. Free parking for all guests is available in the garages surrounding Addition Financial Arena.

Accessibility Information

Those with state disability parking permits may park in Garage D.

Graduates who use a wheelchair, motorized scooter, service animal, walking cane, white cane, sign language interpreter, or assistive listening devices, have hearing or visual impairments, or need special accommodations should contact Student Accessibility Services at 407-823-2371 in advance to make special arrangements.

Guests with mobility impairments should use the main entrance of Addition Financial Arena. An elevator is located on the west side, to the left upon entering the main door of the lobby, to access seating areas. However, wheelchairs are not provided at Addition Financial Arena; guests must bring their own.

An American Sign Language interpreter and reserved seating will be provided at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ commencement ceremonies. Closed captioning is also provided on large screens near the stage. Assistive listening system receivers are available at Guest Relations, located on the main concourse level at the arena. Contact Student Accessibility Services at 407.823.2371 to arrange reserved seating.

Social Media

When sharing their milestone and big day with the world, graduates are encouraged to tag their social media photos and videos with #Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½grad.

Remember to be courteous and conscious about your photo opportunities around campus. Please clean up any props you may use for your photos, and under no circumstances should glitter be used on campus, especially in the Reflecting Pond.

Students who decorate their caps can enter a contest sponsored by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Alumni to win some Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ swag. Grads can even decorate their caps with free supplies at the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center after picking up their regalia. The deadline to enter is July 31 at 11:59 p.m. Learn more about the contest entry requirements at ucfalumni.com/gradcapcontest.

You can also submit a request to the official  — the perfect soundtrack for celebrating.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ received 12 of a possible 30 votes to win the league title, while the Knights were listed first on 19 ballots in the East Division race.

It marks just the second time the Knights have been picked to win the conference. Last year Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ took those high expectations and lived up to them, finishing the regular season 11-0 and defeating Memphis in the 2018 title game.

Memphis was the media’s choice in the West Division as the Tigers received 15 first-place votes and 165 points to edge Houston in a close vote.

Cincinnati was projected as the overall conference champion on eight ballots, while Memphis received six votes for the league title, while Houston was the choice on four ballots.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ finished the regular season unbeaten for the second straight season in 2018 as the Knights went on to capture their fourth American Athletic Conference championship and advance to the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. The team was recognized for excellence in the classroom, as well. The Knights boasted the highest NCAA Academic Progress Rate of all bowl-bound teams in the state last season, and 43 members of the squad were recently named to the American’s All-Academic team.

The Knights return 39 letterwinners and 13 starters from last year’s team, which went 12-1 and finished the year ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press poll.

±«°ä¹ó’s 2019 season opener against Florida A&M will kick off Thursday, Aug. 29, at Spectrum Stadium at 7:30 p.m. ET. Campus will close at 2 p.m. that day, and more information about the closure, tailgating and parking will be announced closer to game day.

The fourth American Athletic Conference Football Championship will be played Saturday, Dec. 7, at the home site of the division champion with the best conference record.

The son of a NASA contractor who worked on the Apollo missions, Metzger’s life parallels a nation’s love affair with space, which appears on the cusp of a new dawn.

Metzger, who is based at ±«°ä¹ó’s Florida Space Institute, is working on multiple projects with NASA and commercial companies to figure out how to safely get astronauts into space and how to make a sustainable go at living off world.

“I remember Apollo 11 clearly,� Metzger says. “I couldn’t see over everyone’s head in the street, so I climbed the flag pole at the Titusville Post Office so I could see. It was … historic.�

“I couldn’t see over everyone’s head in the street, so I climbed the flag pole at the Titusville Post Office so I could see. It was … historic.â€� — Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ scientist Phil Metzger on memories of Apollo 11 mission

Metzger was 7 and beating the Russians to the moon was what everyone in his Titusville neighborhood talked about.

“Everyone’s parents were either engineers or scientists who worked at the cape,� he says. “It was the norm and everything stopped to watch each attempt. Winnebagos would crowd the streets for each launch. I can still hear Walter Cronkite’s voice crackling on the radio before the countdowns and the echo from all the radios going at once.�

Metzger’s father retired from the U.S. Air Force to become a NASA contractor, and he worked as a quality control inspector for all the Apollo missions. His mother was an early childhood education teacher. But life in the Metzger family revolved around the space race — even at Christmas time.

Metzger had . Metzger and his sister also owned every paper model of the satellites launched from the Cape during his childhood. They hung from the ceiling in his bedroom.

History in the Making

“Apollo 11 was hugely important,� Metzger says.

The historical context is also important to understand why we got to the moon so quickly and to understand why it’s taken us 50 years plus to get back.

“Fear is a powerful motivator,� he says. “We were afraid of the Russians. The Cold War was on and I remember the drills in school where you had to duck under your desk. Anyway, that fear translated into political will and that meant a lot of money for NASA, which is why we moved so quickly. As the political pressure diminished, so did funding and I think that’s why we’ve slowed down a bit.�

Add the tragic accidents during the space shuttle era that cost astronauts their lives, and it’s no surprise things slowed down. and being the brash and bold America of that time, we would have never had the Shuttle program and missions like Voyager and others that began charting the solar system and laying the ground work for today.

The amount of technology developed and the knowledge gained for multiple space missions since the Apollo era has improved life on Earth and inspired generations of astronauts, scientists and engineers that despite the risks, continue to forge ahead — including Metzger.

Inspiring an individual, a nation and the world

He graduated from high school and went onto Auburn University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He returned to his hometown and was a spacecraft-systems engineer on the space shuttle vehicle processing team at Kennedy Space Center.

His almost 30 years with NASA included working on the shuttle program, the International Space Station and various other projects. From 2002-14 he was a senior research physicist and co-founded Swamp Works, a technology innovation lab at KSC. Think of Swamp Works as the cool lab that trouble shoots some of the most difficult problems facing space travel. He led $5.4 million in research and technology projects during his 12-year tenure at Swamp Works.

In between he earned a master’s degree in physics and doctorate in physics from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. In 2014, he joined ±«°ä¹ó’s Florida Space Institute where he continues to work on out-of-this-world projects that once seemed science fiction but are quickly turning into science fact.

It’s been a great ride, especially seeing how Apollo not only fueled his passion for space research, but influenced ±«°ä¹ó’s early days and charged the nation and the world to reach beyond the stars.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Connections Today

Today, NASA has dozens of missions that push the boundaries and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is a part of many of those missions from New Horizons, which gave us a whole new look at Pluto and to OSIRIS Rex, which will snag a sample of a near-Earth-asteroid next year. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is also working with new and bold commercial companies such as Space X, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic that have stepped up the pace since the space shuttle program concluded in 2011. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is working with several other industry and academic partners to help prepare for a trip back to the Moon and beyond.

These projects include among others:

• The Exolilth lab providing moon, Mars and asteroid simulants to test techniques being pioneered on Earth such as growing food on the moon and building 3D items on Mars.

• Modeling mining techniques to draw water from the moon and elsewhere that can be used to sustain life and for fuel on long missions or colonies.

• when exposed to rocket exhaust and other pressures that could lead to damaged spacecraft or health hazards for space explorers.

• Cubesats that run experiments that explain how dust works in space.

• Studying materials found on other planets to determine viability of using them to build tools and structures off world, avoiding the need to haul heavy materials on rockets.

• Understanding the effects of asteroid and meteorite materials on the human body.

• Studying radiation danger, determining risk assessment, and developing novel materials for space suits and surface vehicles.

• Understanding comets and their activity.

• Managing the National Science Foundation supported Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, one of the world’s largest and most powerful radio telescopes.

“Our planetary expertise will play a central role for the future of space and that’s something Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ can be proud of.” — Phil Metzger

The impact on the world can still be felt today from the sheer existence of the International Space Station to most world powers investing in their own space agencies.

Metzger says it is good to look back and celebrate our success, but that the 50^th anniversary of Apollo 11 should really help us refocus and redouble our efforts toward the future.

“I’m excited to be part of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ team,â€� he says. “We’re building a reputation as a space resource. The space economy is real. The players are investing in it now. Our planetary expertise will play a central role for the future of space and that’s something Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ can be proud of. We just need to remind people about the science and inspire the next generations to come.â€�

Several of those Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Alert communication tools will be tested Wednesday, July 10.

In preparation for Wednesday’s alert testing, students and faculty and staff members are encouraged to log in to myÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and review their Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Alert settings to ensure that contact information (email, cell phone number, and mobile provider) is correct.

The emergency communication functions that will be tested Wednesday include:

— Outdoor sirens, which emit a tone followed by voice instructions, will be tested at noon.

— The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ website, www.ucf.edu, will be tested from noon to 1 p.m. For most of the testing time, the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ home page will remain active and fully functional with an alert bar at the top of the page. All messages on the alert bar will be marked as tests. A portion of the website test will involve replacing the regular home page with an entirely text-only home page that may be used during some emergencies. When that text-only page is active, users will not be able to access links typically found on the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ home page. Although other Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ web pages will not be impacted by the test, users may want to bookmark those pages in advance.

— A test emergency text and email will be sent around 1 p.m. All members of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ community whose Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Alert contact information is up to date and who have not opted out of receiving emergency messages should receive both.

— Indoor sirens that emit tones followed by voice instructions will be briefly tested in more than 70 buildings starting at 3 p.m.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Alert testing also will include social media.

For more information on the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Alert emergency communication system, visit www.emergency.ucf.edu/ucfalert.html.

“This win goes a long way to ensure Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ leadership in space science for the Space Coastâ€� says Professor Dan Britt, the center’s director, a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ physicist and extraterrestrial geologist.

The center is an international collaboration, led by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, which links the best ideas from the commercial space sector with the world’s best science experts to expand the human race’s ability to explore space. It supports building space habitats, and ensuring that rockets and spacecraft can land on asteroids, the Moon or other surfaces successfully and safely. That’s no easy feat even on Earth, as was evident by this week’s Space X Falcon core stage missed landing off the Space Coast. CLASS uses science to explore smarter, thus reducing the risk and cost of space exploration.

“Operations are hard enough on Earth. They are amazingly more complex in space,â€� says Adrienne Dove, a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ physics associate professor and deputy director of the center. “This grant ensures CLASS can continue to do its work and also expand its impact. It puts us in a really good position to be on the forefront of science exploration, to the moon, asteroids and beyond.â€�

CLASS launched in 2013 thanks to an initial $6 million NASA grant. The center spent the last five years building its infrastructure, research portfolio and relationships. As Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ has become involved in more NASA and commercial science missions, each providing valuable information, CLASS has focused on the big picture.

For example, the Exolith Lab at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, which produces high-fidelity lunar, asteroid and Mars simulants, came from a collaboration CLASS facilitated. The Exolith Lab develops specific recipes for different kinds of off-world soils that closely mimic the chemical composition of samples collected by years of space missions. The lab provides a consistent recipe, which closely mimics asteroid or moon soil (depending on the researcher’s request).

Now over 280 scientists around the world (including all the major space agencies) are using ±«°ä¹ó’s simulant. This improves the quality of research which one day will result in methods to try on a mission.

CLASS also supports researchers working on plume effects from rockets and robots designed to build extraterrestrial spaceports.

The work the center conducts helps reduce risk and cost of space exploration while providing new data and insights that may lead to new space instruments and missions. As the world looks to reach the Moon, learning how to ensure the soil on the moon doesn’t jam up engines and is sturdy enough to handle a heavy rocket’s exhaust, is critical.

In lunar landings, a spacecraft the size of the Apollo Lunar Module will blow away more than a ton of soil, dust, and rocks at high velocity. For human-class landers on Mars, the supersonic jet will dig a deep, narrow crater that redirects a jet of gas carrying rocks and sand back up at the landing spacecraft.

“We need to understand the physics of these effects so we can predict and control them, and that’s what CLASS is about,� says Britt.

The new funding means the center can expand its focus to bring in more commercial collaborators. The center already works with range of NewSpace companies including Astrobotic Technology, Honeybee Robotics, iSpace, Made in Space, Masten Space Systems, TransAstra Corporation, NVIDIA and United Launch Alliance among others. But it plans to add more lunar and planetary spacecraft companies to its team.

The center also plans to grow its educational outreach. Dozens of students already work in CLASS, but the group plans to expand its graduate seminar series, workshops and public talks. Training the next generation of space scientists is a central part of CLASS’s mission.