Hitt described Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s plans as a “game changerâ€� for downtown. Valencia College will be a partner in the expansion, and approximately 10,000 students from the two schools could study downtown.

“Today, through another bold collaboration, we explore a vision for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in Orlando that could energize downtown and redefine its future,â€� Hitt told a crowd of community and business leaders Tuesday at a downtown breakfast.

Plans for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Downtown are contingent upon receiving the necessary state funding and also approvals from the university’s Board of Trustees and the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s 12 public universities.

Hitt said Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is assessing which academic programs would benefit from moving downtown, and the university will continue conversations with staff and faculty members as part of that process.

The timing of any such moves is not yet known. What is known is that Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is first considering the Creative Village area of downtown Orlando, and that Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and Valencia pledge to work closely with the Parramore community and the new K-8 school that will be built there.

“Valencia and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ desire to be vital forces for improving the lives and livelihoods of the residents who live nearby,â€� Hitt said.

To view President John C. Hitt’s remarks

“We are just delighted to be a part of this exciting new project in downtown Orlando,â€� said Sanford Shugart, president of . “Our results, working together in partnership — Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, Valencia and Orange County Public Schools — have been recognized around the country. On this foundation we hope to build the future economy of Orlando and greater Central Florida.

“When you bring the power of that collaboration together to reactivate the west side of downtown, there’s no telling what we can accomplish, not just for our students and the future of the city, but for the people who live and work downtown. We’ll start by engaging the people in the Parramore community to find out what programs would be transformational for their lives and their families.�

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Downtown also presents potential opportunities for new academic programs. In one example, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will be designing a new program for young men and women with disabilities to allow them to attend classes and participate fully in college life.

This program “will offer an immersion in the college experience and will enable these deserving students to develop the life skills, the career tools, and the independence they need for a fulfilling future,� Hitt said.

The downtown initiative has its roots in a visit from President Hitt last year to , which enrolls more than 11,500 students.

“Phoenix city leaders told us that the campus had done more to … enliven the economy and culture, than either the new Major League Baseball stadium or the NBA arena that had been located downtown,� Hitt said.

“Soon, our desire to explore a robust downtown campus for Orlando piqued the interest of state Senate President Andy Gardiner, along with Senator David Simmons and House Speaker-designate Steve Crisafulli, a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ alumnus. Thanks to them and to the Central Florida Legislative Delegation, we received a state appropriation ($2 million) to perform a feasibility analysis that has brought us here today.â€�

When thinking of programs for which a downtown move would benefit students, Hitt said it’s natural to think of digital and visual arts as complements to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s and Center for Emerging Media, which are already located downtown.

Hitt also said he believes “, with its strong community emphasis as the home of PBS in Central Florida, would thrive with a downtown location.�

Furthermore, “when we consider the array of city, county, state, and federal government offices located downtown, it makes sense to consider how our students in public service disciplines� might benefit from being closer to those offices and internship sites, Hitt said.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will provide updates to the campus community and the public as plans progress.

Friday’s 9 a.m. ceremony will be for anticipated graduates from the College of Business Administration, College of Engineering & Computer Science, College of Medicine, and the College of Optics and Photonics.

A 2:30 p.m. Friday ceremony will be held for anticipated graduates from the College of Arts & Humanities, College of Graduate Studies, College of Sciences, College of Undergraduate Studies, and the College of Nursing.

Saturday’s 9 a.m. ceremony will be held for anticipated graduates from the College of Education, College of Health & Public Affairs, and the Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

Doors to the Arena will open about 90 minutes before each ceremony, which are expected to last about two hours. Graduates will begin processing about 20 minutes before each ceremony.

The speaker for the Friday morning ceremony will be Dean Cannon, former State Rep. and Speaker of the House. As the former representative for House District 35, which includes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s main campus, he championed the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ College of Medicine and Central Florida’s modeling and simulation industry.

Valencia College President Sanford C. Shugart will be the guest speaker for the Friday afternoon ceremony. Shugart previously served as president of North Harris College in Houston and as vice president and chief academic officer of the North Carolina Community College System.

During the ceremony, Shugart will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for his work with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and area state colleges on the college access program DirectConnect to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and for his contributions to the community.

Barbara Jenkins, the superintendent for Orange County Public Schools, will speak at Saturday’s ceremony. Jenkins, the superintendent of the 11th largest school district in the nation, earned three degrees from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s College of Education before becoming a classroom teacher and principal.

Those expected to walk across the stage this weekend include 3,955 students who filed intents to receive bachelor’s degrees, 734 for master’s degrees, 3 for an education specialist degree, and 89 for doctoral degrees.

With this week’s expected graduations, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will have awarded 239,565 degrees since classes began in 1968.

Tickets are required for guests to attend the ceremonies and are available from graduates. Guests without tickets are welcome to view closed-circuit telecasts of the ceremonies from the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center across the street from the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Arena, and on Campus Cable Channel 21.

Parking for guests will be available in garages C, D and H.

For more information, visit the commencement .

The state has cut $144 million from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s budget during the past five years, including $52 million this year. Tuition increases have made up for only a portion of those cuts.

“None of us wants to impose additional burdens on our students, but we want to provide them with the best education possible,� said Olga Calvet, vice chair of the Board of Trustees. “We cannot continue to pass on these costs to the students.�

Even with the increases, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s tuition costs would remain among the lowest in the nation. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ also has been named among the nation’s universities offering the best-value educations by Kiplinger and The Princeton Review, and 49 percent of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ students graduating last year left with no debt from their time at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ compared to 33 percent nationally.

Tuition and fees combined for an undergraduate in-state student taking 30 credit hours of courses would increase from $5,584 to $6,247 if the Florida Board of Governors votes next month to approve the amounts set by the Board of Trustees.

Tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student would increase 4 percent, bringing the total tuition and fees to $8,816 for a student taking 24 credit hours.

Trustees and administrators said nobody wants to raise tuition, but they said the impact on students would be severe if the university could not increase tuition and was forced to cut course sections in response to the state cuts. The 2012-13 tuition increase would raise about $20 million, which would support additional class sections, new faculty hires and need-based financial aid.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ already has made significant strides in operating as efficiently as possible. Administrative expenses total 39 percent less per student compared with the State University System average, and the university is saving $4.5 million annually by making campus buildings more energy efficient. However, trustees and administrators said they will continue to look for innovative ways to save money.

Smoke-Free Campus

Trustees also approved a policy to establish smoke-free campuses starting Aug. 20, the first day of classes in the fall. More than 600 other colleges and universities around the country already have smoke-free policies in place.

The new policy covers employees, students, visitors, vendors and others while on all Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½-owned or leased property, including in university vehicles. Out of concern for the health and safety of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ community, President John C. Hitt laid the groundwork for the campaign last fall.

Groups such as the Faculty Senate, Student Government Association, USPS Staff Council and Greek Council have supported the initiative, which is designed to encourage a wholesome lifestyle and a change in behavior so that everyone’s right to clean air is respected. It is not designed as a punishment for those who smoke, as there are no fines or other penalties.

To help those who want to stop smoking, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is offering cessation services and resources, including individual and group classes, support groups, telephone and online counseling, self-help materials and medications.

For details, visit www.ucf.edu/smokefree.

Honoring Valencia’s President

Trustees approved awarding an honorary doctorate to Valencia College President Sanford C. Shugart. Shugart has served as Valencia’s president since 2000, and Valencia was recognized nationally last year with the Aspen Award for Community College Excellence.

“President Shugart has been a long and valued partner of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½,â€� President Hitt said. “His support and engagement with DirectConnect to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and the students served through that program are testimony to his commitment to provide access to baccalaureate education and to promote student success.â€�

Notebook

Trustees voted to grant tenure to more than 30 faculty members from eight colleges and the NanoScience Technology Center.

Navy Capt. William H. “Rotoâ€� Rooter IV gave a presentation about the impact of Team Orlando, a community of organizations including Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, that work together to improve human performance through simulation and provide high-quality training for military personnel. Central Florida is nationally recognized as a hub for modeling and simulation.

New Student Government Association President Cortez Whatley participated in his first Board of Trustees meeting. Whatley also has been elected chair of the Florida Student Association, and he will serve on the Florida Board of Governors.

Trustee Ida Cook was elected to her fourth one-year term as president of the Faculty Senate, and she will continue to serve on the Board of Trustees during 2012-13.

Manoj Chopra, former chair of the Faculty Senate and a former Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ trustee, has been elected chair of the Advisory Council of Faculty Senates of Florida. In this capacity, he also will serve on the Florida Board of Governors.

President Hitt congratulated the six winners of the Pegasus Professor Award, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s most prestigious faculty honor. They are Sudipta Seal and Donald Malocha of the College of Engineering and Computer Science; Stella Sung and Talat Rahman from the College of Sciences; Stella Sung from the College of Arts and Humanities; and Martin Richardson from the College of Optics and Photonics.

Trustees applauded students from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, who won the top prize of $100,000 in a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Team members Brandon Lojewski, Johan Rodriguez, Cheng Li and Thomas Yang will compete in the National Clean Energy Business Plan Finals in Washington, D.C., in June.

Trustees recognized four Burnett Honors College spring graduates who have received prestigious national scholarships. The graduates are Jennifer Bencivenga, who was chosen for a Fulbright English teaching assistantship in Germany; Ashley Ewh, who won a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship; Christopher Frye, who earned the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship; and Gabriel Willman, who received the David L. Boren Scholarship for Undergraduate Studies to study in Israel.

President Hitt recognized several Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ teams for their success this spring. The women’s track team won the Conference USA championship; the men’s golf team placed fifth in the NCAA’s Stanford Regional and will compete next week in the national championships; and the softball and women’s golf teams also earned spots in their respective NCAA tournaments. The baseball team finished second in Conference USA and was ranked as high as No. 7 this season.

When completed in spring of 2013, the four-story building will be the largest building on any Valencia campus – with 150,000 square feet in academic and support space.

The new building, which will be designated as Building 4, will house the campus library, cafeteria, bookstore, classrooms, as well as one physics lab, two chemistry labs and eight biology labs.  The building’s first floor will contain a learning support center with 12 math, science and technology tutoring stations, computers and small-group study rooms.

“This building has been on our minds for over a decade,â€� Dr. Sanford Shugart, Valencia’s president, told the crowd. â€�Today, ceremonially, we begin this enormous construction project,â€� which he described as “truly a community effortâ€� involving Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, Osceola County officials, as well as boosters from the community.

Designed in Southern California “mission styleâ€� architecture, the building will consist of two wings joined by a four-story atrium.  The second floor will be home to a testing center with 100 student stations, plus administrative and faculty offices for Valencia and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.  The second floor will also house the library, a space that college officials spent many hours considering.

“In the early stages of our design process, we asked our students what features they would most like to have in a new library, and they asked for silent study space, spaces to collaborate with friends, high speed internet, and lots and lots of power outlets for their laptops,� said Dr. Kathleen Plinske, president of Valencia’s Osceola Campus. “While it seemed like a daunting task to incorporate all of their requests in a single space, we are truly proud of the design that we have developed for our new library.�

The building was designed by Hunton Brady Architects. Clancy & Theys is the project’s construction manager.

College officials and the design team from Hunton Brady Architects, designed the building around a green space – creating a “Jeffersonian� lawn, similar to that found at the University of Virginia.

“Dr. Shugart was thinking of a plaza space, with student activities, seating areas, and even outdoor learning areas,� said Hunton Brady vice president Maurizio Maso. “That’s how we ended up locating the cafeteria on one end, with a loggia or covered area, looking out into the green space. And on the other end of the building, we have a terrace, looking out into the student commons area.�

The outdoor space will also include three courtyards, which will feature benches, power outlets, wireless Internet and six-foot-tall glass slabs that will serve as whiteboards for students and instructors.

Because the building will have a variety of energy-efficient and green features, such as high-efficiency air-conditioning systems, dual-flush toilets and green materials used in the floors, walls and ceilings, Valencia officials are aiming for the building to be certified as a LEED Silver facility. If it receives that certification, it will be the fourth building at Valencia College to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED facility.

In addition to the energy-saving features inside Building 4, the landscaping plan will use native plants, which require less irrigation. The new building will also house a cistern to capture rainwater and re-use it.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, which operates a regional campus at Valencia’s Osceola campus, committed $7.5 million to the project. In return, the new building will contain 12 classrooms for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, plus an office suite for administration and faculty members.

Valencia officials also announced the sale of engraved bricks, which will be embedded in the entry courtyard of Building 4. Each brick will sell for $100; a portion of the money from the brick sales will be used to support scholarships for Osceola County students.

The Osceola Campus, founded in 1997, is Valencia’s third-largest campus, with about 12,000 students.  Enrollment at the Osceola campus has nearly doubled in the past five years, making it Valencia’s fastest-growing campus.