After being known for more than a decade as the Women’s Research Center, the group was renamed a few weeks ago to better reflect the organization’s goals.

And now, the group is taking its new mission outward to offer its services and to encourage excellence in scholarship, research and creativity in all endeavors related to women.

“Our mission is more than just research. Our goal is to help Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ recruit and retain the best women faculty and help them become even more successful,” said Linda Walters, a biology professor and interim director of the center. “We’re doing that by building community – especially in departments where they may be isolated as the sole woman faculty member – and helping balance life and work issues.”

The revamped center is trying to reach its objectives by mentoring, sponsoring events to improve professional capabilities, and providing resources, said Walters, who has been the interim director about a year and who kick-started the center’s changes.

The center housed in Classroom Building 1 now schedules speakers, leadership workshops, seminars, book-club gatherings, self-defense and yoga classes, CPR training, and other activities. A faculty development conference is planned for May.

The center’s new website also highlights the achievements of women faculty members. Just this week, a link was added that recognizes women faculty who have authored or edited books within the past three years. There are 21 women listed so far whose works range from research to fiction to poetry; others with books are asked to inform the center.

Fran Ragsdale, program assistant at the center, said the organization also wants to increase the ratio of women faculty members at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝.

This semester there were 1,011 male faculty members and 662 women faculty members, she said.

Hiring of new faculty for the fall semester was an improvement in the ratio, she said, with 44 men and 40 women.

Walters said that 25 percent of all women faculty members have been directly involved with the center in the past year, but she’s shooting for more.

“My goal is to now make it so everyone has heard of this center, and for those who need it, use it.”

More information about the center and its events can be found at womens.research.ucf.edu. To see a gallery of the women faculty who have authored or edited books, click on the Highlighted Faculty link.

The center is now in the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning in Classroom Building 1, Room 207H.

Biology Professor Linda Walters has been named interim director after Professor Leslie Lieberman retired as director earlier this year.

“The center did great work when it was in Research Park,” said Executive Vice Provost Diane Chase, who oversees the center. “Dr. Lieberman provided some outstanding leadership before she retired. Now it’s time to evaluate and figure out how best we build on her accomplishments.”

The center opened in 2001 to elevate the prominence of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ research relevant to women and to enhance the research capacity of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ faculty women. Goals included promoting research opportunities, building partnerships and bridging research in a variety of disciplines.

Those goals are still relevant, Chase said, but the center is looking to broaden its role to support research about and for women, and to encourage the development of women on Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s faculty.

That’s why the move to the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning is ideal, Walters said.

“There is so much going on there already,” she said. “We will be building on those programs and offering seminars and other opportunities to enhance the resources available to faculty.”

Among the new projects already in the works are a successful-women seminar series showcasing successes within and outside academia, including Chase as the first speaker; one-on-one mentoring sessions with faculty; a revamped web site full of relevant resources that all faculty will find useful, and think tanks and discussion sessions aimed at helping shape the future of the center.

Walters is especially interested in making the center a resource center for as many faculty members as possible.

Running the center is only part of Walters’ duties. She will continue to teach and conduct research for which she has earned national recognition. She’s won numerous grants for marine-conservation research and Volusia County honored her commitment and passion to education, research and the environment by declaring Nov. 6 as Dr. Linda Walters Day.

A search for a director will be conducted in about 18 months. For now, Walters said she’s excited to help shape the center’s mission for the next decade.

For more information about the center, drop by, call 407-823-4240, or email linda.walters@ucf.edu or frances.ragsdale@ucf.edu