The moves include UCF’s national-model DirectConnect to Ů��AV program and UCF Global, which among other responsibilities, manages international student recruitment, English language programs for students and the community, and international partnerships in education, research and business.

Other aspects of the realignment involve units that impact online student services, faculty training and development, and continuing education for working professionals.

“At UCF, we strive for constant improvement,” Johnson says. “These changes allow us to continue our focus on student success and the student experience.”

The reorganization by the Division of Academic Affairs will unfold throughout September with the following units and offices:

• DirectConnect to UCF and the UCF Connect Centers move to the Division of Student Learning and Academic Success, reporting to Theodorea Regina Berry, vice provost of Student Learning and Academic Success and dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies;
• UCF Global moves to the Office of the Provost, reporting to Tim Letzring, senior associate provost for Academic Affairs;
• UCF Online Connect Center and UCF Continuing Education move to the Division of Digital Learning, reporting to Tom Cavanagh, vice provost for Digital Learning;
• Office of Instructional Resources Classroom Support, Engineering, Programming and Project Management teams move to UCF Information Technology, reporting to Michael Sink, interim vice president and CIO.

The transitions for DirectConnect to UCF, the UCF Connect Centers and UCF Global coincide with the Oct. 1 retirement of Jeff Jones, vice provost for UCF Connect and UCF Global. Johnson praised Jones for his impactful work during his seven years at UCF and for his suggestions and insights regarding the overall realignment.

“The possibilities for this reimagining are exciting,” Johnson said. “As we move forward, success relies on the creativity and collaboration of our staff, faculty and partners.”

There is no easy, one-size-fits-all answer. But I would like to explain more about why we are working hard to welcome many of you back to campus this fall, and what the fall semester will look like for those of you learning remotely.

Before doing that, please know that I share in the very real concerns about rising COVID-19 cases in Florida, as well as the increased stress placed on our state’s healthcare systems. Our academic plans for the fall are purposefully flexible, and we are ready to pivot to more remote instruction should that become necessary.

We remain in regular communication with state and local health officials, and your health and well-being are at the center of all of our discussions and decisions. No matter how your fall semester ends up looking, know that we care about you and are here to help you.

You can now see whether your fall classes are planned to be .

Now is the time for you to review your options and make a personal decision about your plans. We want you to choose the approach that works best for you, and we encourage you to during this process.

Face-to-Face Classes

Students count on UCF for the education and the personal and professional growth that come with a university experience. We know many of you are missing the in-person experiences, both planned and spontaneous, that occur in our classrooms, research labs, libraries, student organization meetings and residence halls.

Some classes also are more difficult to teach and take remotely. Performing arts, clinical experiences and engineering senior design projects may not translate as well to a remote format, and we prefer to offer those types of courses in person if possible.

If you have face-to-face classes, our classrooms will look much different. For example, classes designed for 100 or 200 students may only seat 25 or 50 respectively due to physical distancing. We will require everyone to wear face coverings, and we are taking many other protective measures for the benefit of our campus community’s health and well-being.

Only students intending to attend in person should take face-to-face classes. However, we are encouraging our faculty to make provisions to ensure that students who become ill or must be quarantined or isolated can keep up with their coursework during that time.

Remote Classes

We understand that some of you wish to take a fully remote schedule, particularly if you or someone living with you is in a high-risk category of COVID-19, and we want you to have a high-quality educational experience while learning remotely.

We have been working hard since spring to enhance our already strong online experience, and we continue to help faculty members prepare courses that foster effective remote learning.

Know that whichever path you choose, you will have options to engage with your peers outside the classroom. Although there will be some in-person components of student experiences, we anticipate that most of our student services, activities and events will remain virtual. Our student leaders are also finding ways to connect with those of you who are not on campus, and we will support their efforts to keep student engagement robust.

We remain committed to providing you answers and updates via email and the coronavirus website, and you can send any questions you have to covid19questions@ucf.edu.

I remain inspired by the drive and perseverance of our students and faculty during this difficult time. Let’s remember that we are all in this together, and that our community’s health and well-being start with each one of us doing our part to reduce further spread of COVID-19.

While political science remains at the heart of the school and the academic curriculum, the new designation better reflects the broader scope of its mission and programs, says Kerstin Hamann, the school’s director and a Pegasus Professor.

“The scope of the school is much greater than that of a traditional department. The school designation immediately signals we have numerous opportunities for faculty and students interested in political science in general, but also more broadly in security and global affairs,” Hamann says.

College of Sciences Dean Michael Johnson says the new designation makes it easier to attract top academic talent from around the globe and meet the growing demand from students entering careers in international affairs.

“It is important for us to seize this opportunity to continue expanding UCF’s global impact.” — College of Sciences Dean Michael Johnson

“The department has developed rapidly in recent years, both in the scope of its programs and influence in the world. It is important for us to seize this opportunity to continue expanding UCF’s global impact,” Johnson says.

The school will continue to offer the same degree options to its graduate and undergraduate students, including those interested in American politics and pre-law. Among the program academic offerings are international and global studies, a master’s degree in political science, and a doctoral program in security studies.

“This renaming recognizes the growing prominence and scope of these valuable programs within the College of Sciences,” says Elizabeth A. Dooley, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “The change signals a bright future of service and impact as our academic enterprise evolves to better serve students, faculty, and workforce needs.”

Additional programs provide opportunities for partnerships, students and faculty, many of which have an international and interdisciplinary focus. These include UCF’s India Center and the Center for Global Economic and Environmental Opportunity (GEOO); the Kurdish Political Studies Program; the Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence; and the Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies; and the Lou Frey Institute of Government and Politics, which has a broad focus on civics, especially K-12 civics education, in Florida.

Wright was a prolific writer and academic, with more than 200 journal articles, 10,000 citations and 22 books to his name. He was also recognized as a Pegasus Professor in 2013 — the highest academic honor for an educator at UCF — and a Provost Distinguished Research Professor during his 17-year tenure at UCF.

But it was his civic activism that earns the warmest praise from his colleagues, including projects and consulting work that benefited organizations including Heart of Florida United Way, Second Harvest Food Bank, Coalition for the Homeless, and Orlando Housing Authority. As director of UCF’s Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences, Wright brought in more than $1 million in funding for these projects.

“He had a huge heart and concern for others,” says Elizabeth Mustaine, chair of the Department of Sociology. “He constantly lifted up everyone he could – helping agencies that support the neediest in our community, and helping other faculty members and students succeed. His time in the sociology department made it a much better place, an improvement that we expect will last for years to come.”

Wright graduated from Purdue University in 1969, then pursued his master’s and doctorate in sociology from the University of Wisconsin. His academic career prior to arriving to Ů��AV in 2001 includes stints at the University of Massachusetts and Tulane University.

 “Jim was a wonderful scholar, a person with deep concern about society’s less fortunate members, and a friend and mentor to many.” — College of Sciences Dean Michael Johnson

Wright was a gifted writer, and he generously shared his talents. He published scholarly papers with 36 current or former UCF colleagues and graduates. His recognition as “Outstanding Faculty Advisor” in 2006 and again in 2014 was due largely to his commitment to mentoring: He either directed or served on the committees of approximately half the students awarded graduate degrees in sociology since the inception of the doctorate program.

Sharing his insights extended beyond campus. Wright served on many national and regional organizations, including Foundation on Violence in America and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.

“Jim was a wonderful scholar, a person with deep concern about society’s less fortunate members, and a friend and mentor to many,” says Michael Johnson, dean of the College of Sciences. “We are fortunate that he chose to bring his talents to UCF. We will miss him sorely.”

Pegasus Professors Arlen and Diane Chase were at the Boston Museum of Science to lead about 70 UCF alumni on a special viewing of the largest Maya exhibit ever mounted in the United States. Michael Johnson, dean of the UCF College of Sciences and a Boston native, was also on hand.

Only a portion of the full exhibit is on display in Boston, as it travels around the country, but it includes ample materials unearthed by the Chases and the UCF students who dig alongside them in Belize. The husband-and-wife team have been leading excavations of Maya treasures there since 1979, first at Santa Rita Corozal and since 1985 at Caracol.

The Chases, who came to ��AV in 1984 to establish a program in Maya archaeology, work only with UCF students or graduates at Caracol, which at 200 square kilometers is the largest known Maya site. The couple was fresh off their 2015 digging season when they traveled to Boston to point out exhibit highlights for alumni and answer their questions. The Chases consulted heavily on the exhibit.

“We read every label and proofed them,” said Diane of the displays of their work. She serves as UCF’s vice provost for academic program quality. Arlen is an associate dean in the College of Sciences.

“I already had tickets to come to this exhibit, so I was planning to come anyway,” said Roberto Santamaria ’09, deputy director of public health for the town of Framingham, Mass. “But it’s unbelievable that we can be with the people who actually did the archaeology. It’s a little surreal.”

Ariel Shapiro ’11, a behavior therapist for Southbay Mental Health, said she never thought she’d see a UCF alumni event in Massachusetts. “I thought I’d have to go to Florida,” she said. She was so pleased when she heard of the Museum of Science event, she immediately decided to attend.

Santamaria is Costa Rican, and was thrilled to see his own culture and heritage presented in such depth. And the fact that professors from his alma mater were involved? “That makes it even better,” he said.

More Info

www.caracol.org

The Nicholson School of Communication Alumni Chapter hosted the reunion, and the networking reception concluded the College of Sciences’ week-long celebration of UCF’s anniversary.

“Our alumni were eager to celebrate UCF’s anniversary and they appreciated the opportunity to reminisce about their days in the classroom,” said Shaloni Prine, a 2007 graduate and assistant director of Alumni Relations for the College of Sciences.

Throughout the evening, a special 50th anniversary-themed slideshow played, allowing guests to take a trip down memory lane as they viewed pictures from the past 50 years of UCF and Nicholson School of Communication history. Alumni, ranging from the class of 1971 to the class of 2012, also submitted photos from their own time at UCF, allowing them to share personal memories with the group.

Attendees heard from College of Sciences Dean Michael Johnson and NSC director Robert Chandler, who provided an update on the Nicholson School of Communication, focusing on the school’s expansion of its global communication studies programs, certification programs, highlights of current NSC student achievements and upcoming school events.

Some of the evening’s other special alumni guests included Ybeth Bruzal, ’05, Central Florida News 13 anchor; Lee Constantine, ’74, Seminole County commissioner; Clay McMillan, ’90, president of CMI Production Services; Roger Pynn, ’73, president of Curley & Pynn; and Matt Weber, ’83, president of ROAR! Internet Marketing.

Former NSC director Ray Buchanan, former NSC interim director Bruce Whisler and UCF vice president and UCF Alumni Association executive director Tom Messina, ’84, as well as nearly 20 retired NSC faculty also attended.

To learn more about the UCF Nicholson School of Communication Alumni Chapter, visit https://ucfalumni.com/nicholson. To view photos from the event, visit www.facebook.com/UCFnscalumni.

The project is banking on the notion that there are many future scientists and engineers in UCF’s freshman class even if they don’t know it yet. The program aims to dramatically increase the numbers of STEM graduates by identifying first-year students, enrolling them into a special course designed to introduce them to STEM careers and following up with mentoring, tutoring, and job shadowing as well as the support of a community of like-minded students.

“We will recruit freshmen who are strong in mathematics and have an open mind in terms of career paths,” said Cynthia Young, a professor of mathematics, an associate dean in the College of Sciences and the lead researcher on the project called Convincing Outstanding Math-Potential Admits to Succeed in STEM – or COMPASS for short.

Young and her colleague, Michael Georgiopoulos, interim dean for the College of Engineering and Computer Science, have already shown that early academic intervention can greatly boost the numbers of science, math and engineering majors at the university. They have successfully run the EXCEL program, also funded by the NSF, since 2005.  EXCEL helps increase student success in the first two years of their college career in a STEM discipline. While EXCEL has increased the retention rate of students with those majors by 40 percent, the new strategy (COMPASS) focuses on engaging students who may not think science or engineering is for them.

Young is working with a team including Georgiopoulos, Andrew Daire, an associate professor and assistant dean in the College of Education, Chris Parkinson, an associate professor of biology, and Melissa Dagley, the executive director of iSTEM (initiatives in STEM) in the Colleges of Sciences and Engineering and Computer Science, to identify freshmen who have the propensity to do well in mathematics and invite them to enroll into an Explorations of STEM Careers course during their first year at UCF.

A pilot program is being run this semester before the full program begins in Summer 2013.

COMPASS uses SAT scores to identify freshmen who have the potential to do well in math and inundates them during their first semesters in college with opportunities to explore what a job in a STEM area might look like. As the researchers found in the EXCEL program, that population will include a disproportionate number of groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in STEM.

“There is a whole pipeline we’re not tapping that we need to pay attention to,” Young said.

All freshmen who enter UCF for the first time will be encouraged to register for the career planning course designed by Daire, who specializes in counselor education, which focuses on the Explorations of STEM Careers .

Following the successful advising model used in the EXCEL program, students will be assigned a graduate teaching assistant to support and mentor them as they matriculate through mathematics classes.

Finding an additional pipeline of students is important to keep the U.S. competitive in the disciplines that fuel innovation. Speakers at the recent U.S. News STEM Summit 2012 focused on how the U.S. can improve upon a 50-year decline in U.S. STEM performance.

There are two ways to increase the number of STEM degrees awarded in the U.S.: either retain more STEM majors or recruit non-STEM majors into STEM. This UCF team has demonstrated a national flagship model for retention. The goal of COMPASS is to increase the numbers of non-STEM students who decide to pursue STEM degrees, Young said.

UCF Professor Zenghu Chang from the Department of Physics and the College of Optics and Photonics, led the effort that generated a 67-attosecond pulse of extreme ultraviolet light. The results of his research are published online under Early Posting in the journal Optics Letters.

An attosecond is an incomprehensible quintillionith of a second.  In other words it would take 15 million billion pulses of the size Chang’s team achieved to equal one second. The accomplishment is even more remarkable because the team did it without the use of specialized equipment including a mile-long particle accelerator or a Superdome-sized synchrotron.

“Dr. Chang’s success in making ever-shorter light pulses helps open a new door to a previously hidden world, where we can watch electrons move in atoms and molecules, and follow chemical reactions as they take place,” said Michael Johnson, the dean of the UCF College of Sciences and a physicist.  “It is astounding to imagine that we may now be able to watch quantum mechanics in process.”

Quantum mechanics is the study of physics at the microscopic level, specifically looking at energy and matter on this miniscule scale.

There is much excitement about the accomplishment and the promise Chang’s work holds for helping scientists understand how the world’s smallest building blocks actually work. The technique could lead scientists to understand how energy can be harnessed to transport data, deliver targeted cancer therapies or diagnose disease. The finding marks the first significant breakthrough in the laser pulse field in four years.

In 2001, attosecond pulses were demonstrated for the first time. Since then scientists around the world have been trying to make ever-shorter pulse durations because of the door they could open to understanding the subatomic world. The previous record of an 80-attosecond pulse was set in 2008 at the Max Planck Institute in Garching, Germany. This is the first time an American-led team has set the record.

“The quest for generating shorter and shorter pulses of light has been ongoing since the invention of the laser more than five decades ago,” said Bahaa Saleh, dean of CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics. “Dr. Chang’s recent advance brings UCF to the forefront of this Olympic race and opens up new frontiers for seeing and recording ultrafast dynamic atomic phenomena.”

Chang’s team was able to accomplish the work at the Florida Atto Science &Technology (FAST) lab in UCF’s Physical Sciences building.

Using the unprecedented power of laser light enables Chang and his peers to conduct their high-level research in much smaller spaces.  Chang’s group created a technique called Double Optical Grating that allows extreme ultraviolet light to be cut off in a manner that concentrates the maximum amount of energy in the shortest possible pulse of light. With the affinity for acronyms shared by many ultrafast laser physicists, Chang named the technique DOG. In addition to creating the light pulse, he created an even faster camera to measure it, which is the Phase Retrieval by Omega Oscillation Filtering (PROOF).

The Department of Defense’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative and the National Science Foundation helped fund the research.

Others who contributed to the team’s discovery include: Kun Zhao, Qi Zhang, Michael Chini, Yi Wu, and Xiaowei Wang, all at UCF.

��AV is launching the new initiative in partnership with Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, a private university in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, that enrolls about 5,550 men and women.

The Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies at UCF will address four broad areas that are vital to both countries’ futures: governmental ties, security and regional stability, culture and the economy.

The initiative will include public presentations by distinguished scholars and practitioners, an annual forum on American-Saudi topics, student fellowships and research activities – all at UCF. Additionally, the collaboration with Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University may include the exchange of scholars and students. Details, including a start date, still need to be worked out.

Both universities share a commitment to scholarship, partnership, leadership and outreach, as well as a focus on the future.

“The people of the United States and Saudi Arabia have a vital stake in each other’s security and well-being,” said UCF President John C. Hitt, who recently led a UCF delegation to Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University.  “Our university family and members of the Central Florida community will benefit from new opportunities to learn about one of this nation’s most important partners and to better understand the common challenges that face both countries.” 

The partnership is the second major international undertaking at UCF this year. In January, UCF expanded an India program similar to the one planned about American-Saudi ties. No state or tuition dollars are being used for either initiative.

The Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies will be supported by a $1 million pledge from the Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University Annual Fund that will be paid over four years. The program will be operated by the university and led by a director whom UCF will hire. An advisory board will consist largely of UCF staff and faculty members with expertise in the four areas of focus.

John C. Bersia, special assistant to the president for Global Perspectives, has headed the effort to secure the program for more than two years. He noted that Americans and Saudis have critical connections that go back the better part of a century. “The two have shared interests ranging from natural resources to regional security, and the program will help enhance both sides’ understanding of these ties,” he said.  

The new initiative, like The India Center, will be part of the College of Sciences.

“This will open a very important part of the world to our students and faculty, in education and scholarship, in a way that would have been inconceivable without this program and its supporters,” said Michael Johnson, the college’s dean.

Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, which opened in 2008, is named after the governor of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Its system and academic program were designed by a Texas-based consortium of universities. The university offers programs in areas such as engineering, computer science and information technology, has an Executive MBA program and is planning a college of medicine. Many of the school’s courses are taught in English.

Provost and Executive Vice President Tony G. Waldrop made the announcement this week. Johnson had been named interim dean earlier this summer when Peter Panousis, founding dean of the College of Sciences, announced that he was retiring.

A committee led by UCF Vice President of Medical Affairs and Dean of the College of Medicine Deborah German conducted a national search to identify the best candidate for the job.

“Mike was strongly recommended for the dean position by the search committee,” Waldrop said. “I am certain that he will provide exemplary leadership for the college.”

Johnson received his bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Virginia. He joined the faculty at the Ů��AV as an assistant professor in 1990 after postdoctoral training at the University of Kentucky and Indiana University.

His research focuses on theoretical condensed matter physics. His recent work was on electronic properties in Nano scale systems, including quantum dots.

Johnson believes that research is very important and that it will continue to raise the university’s reputation thanks to the excellent faculty and students who make it happen on a daily basis.

“I am very proud of the accomplishments of our faculty, students and staff, and I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the college toward a very bright future,” he said.

Johnson is not new to administration. He has served in several administrative roles, including Associate Dean in the College of Sciences and Senior Advisor to the Provost.