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The Florida Space Institute (FSI) is a research institute of the State University System of Florida and the University of Central Florida located in Orlando , Florida , United States .

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69-890: FTU may refer to: Education [ edit ] Florida Technological University , now the University of Central Florida Foreign Trade University (Vietnam) Frederick Taylor University , in California, United States Frequent Traveler University, an annual convention and training symposium for users of travel vendors' loyalty programs Other uses [ edit ] Ultimate tensile strength Family Tracing Unit (Sri Lanka) Federation of Trade Unions (disambiguation) Fiji Teachers Union Finger tip unit First-time user experience Formazin Turbidity Unit Frascati Tokamak Upgrade Free

138-581: A Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Nemours Children's Hospital , Tavistock Group , and a M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Institute , all located on the College of Medicine's Lake Nona campus. Located near the Orange County Convention Center on Universal Boulevard in Downtown Orlando, the college's 20-acre (8-hectare) campus is designed to imitate a resort-style feel, with various areas of

207-458: A 13.9% increase from the previous year. UCF's financial endowment , administered by the University of Central Florida Foundation, Inc., was valued at $ 162 million in 2020. UCF's admission rate for first-time-in-college freshmen has declined from 61% of prospective students admitted in the fall of 2005, to 42% for fall 2020. 34% of accepted applicants were in the top ten percent of their graduating class, while 72% of accepted applicants were in

276-719: A base of 43,000 serial subscriptions, in addition to special collections and university archives materials. Notable collections within the library include the Bryant West Indies collection, the Van Sickle Leftist Pamphlet collection, the Book Arts Collection, collections of materials on tourism and hospitality, and materials on the history of Central Florida. UCF Libraries is a partner within the State University System of Florida Libraries . Most of

345-500: A more traditional research university. When Hitt took office, UCF's enrollment was 20,302. As of 2014, 60,821 students attend classes on 12 campuses spread across Central Florida. The university consists of 13 colleges and employs more than 10,150 faculty and staff. Under Hitt's direction, UCF raised admissions standards, increased research funding, built new facilities, and established notable partnerships with major research institutions. Hitt's efforts resulted in not only an increase in

414-538: A professional program (medicine). In addition, 75% of the faculty have doctorate degrees, and 46% have tenure. The 13 colleges house 41 separate degree-granting departments and schools. By enrollment, the three largest undergraduate units are the College of Sciences , the College of Business Administration , and the Health Professions and Sciences . At the graduate level, the College of Graduate Studies serves as

483-569: A satellite campus in Cocoa, FL, near Kennedy Space Center . UCF is also a member of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council . The university has made noted research contributions to aerospace, optics, modeling and simulation, digital media, engineering and computer science, business administration, education, and hospitality management. UCF is classified among " R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity ". According to

552-655: Is appointed by the board of trustees with the consent of the Florida Board of Governors and leads the university through its daily business. Today, the president's office is in Millican Hall on the university's main campus, and the president lives in the Burnett House, also on the main campus. The fourth president of UCF, John C. Hitt , served from 1992 to 2018 and was succeeded by incumbent university president Dale Whittaker. After Whittaker resigned in 2019, Thad Seymour Jr.

621-659: Is currently led by Interim Director Dr. Julie Brisset. The Florida Space Institute, previously the Space Education and Research Center created in 1990 by UCF , was established in 1996 as a research institute within the State University System of Florida. In 2012, the institute moved from the Kennedy Space Center to the Central Florida Research Park at UCF. The move coincided with the end of

690-406: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Florida Technological University The University of Central Florida ( UCF ) is a public research university with its main campus in unincorporated Orange County, Florida . It is part of the State University System of Florida . With 68,442 students as of the fall 2022 semester, UCF has

759-607: Is exhibited on the third floor of the library building. In 2012, the main campus library was dedicated to honor John C. Hitt, UCF's fourth president, who at the time was celebrating his twentieth anniversary as university president. In addition to the John C. Hitt Library, Rosen College library, Downtown Library, Curriculum Materials Center, and the Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library , UCF operates libraries at nine of its regional campuses throughout Central Florida. The student newspaper,

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828-410: Is located along Alafaya Trail east of Orlando , Florida. The campus is designed to be pedestrian-oriented, with a series of concentric circles. The outermost circle is Gemini Blvd, which is also the main road for vehicular traffic on campus. Inside of Gemini, there is Apollo Circle, Mercury Circle, and finally Pegasus Circle as the innermost circle. Pegasus Circle contains the student union, with

897-681: Is one of the safest branches nationally in comparison of all branches in the US. The percent of crimes in Main Campus decreased from 0.12% (in 2010) to 0.07% (in 2014) crimes per year. In addition to the Orlando campus, the University of Central Florida has several other campuses to service the Central Florida region. In Orlando, there is another campus, located in downtown Orlando, the health sciences campus located at Lake Nona, Orlando, Florida . In addition,

966-473: Is the investigation of the Earth's gaseous envelope. Experiments performed at Arecibo measure upper atmosphere composition, temperature, and densities in order to understand the controlling physical processes. The Arecibo Radio Telescope can measure the growth and decay of disturbances in the changing layers of charged particles that populate the region known as the ionosphere ( altitudes above 30 miles ). The "big dish"

1035-825: Is the study of radio waves produced by a multitude of astronomical objects such as the Sun, planets, pulsars, stars, star-forming regions (i.e., the birthplace of stars), gas clouds, galaxies, supernova remnants, etc. The high sensitivity of the Arecibo radio telescope allows astronomers to detect faint radio signals from far-off regions of the universe. The areas of research include Fast radio bursts , Heliophysics and Space weather , Pulsar Studies, Spectral line Studies, Exoplanets , and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). Researchers: Dr. Periasamy K. Manoharan, Dr. Anna McGilvray, Dr. Benetge Bhakthi Pranama Perera, Dr. Anish Roshi, Dr. Allison Smith, Dr. Sravani Vaddi. Atmospheric science

1104-537: The Central Florida Future , at one time was housed on the upper floor of the library before moving to the Central Florida Research Park . In 1984, a complete renovation of the original library was undertaken, as well as an addition that more than doubled the size of the building. University president Trevor Colbourn dedicated the newly remodeled and expanded library in February 1985. A $ 64.4 million expansion of

1173-643: The Florida Bright Futures program. Forty percent of incoming freshman received Advanced Placement , International Baccalaureate , or an equivalent college credit upon entrance, while 30% of the freshman class received merit based scholarships. The retention rate of the 2010 freshman class was 87%. More freshmen and transfer students applied to UCF during 2015 than any other public university in Florida, and UCF also awarded more bachelor's degrees than any other Florida public university that year. In 2010 , UCF

1242-662: The Florida State Legislature to increase access to higher education on the Space Coast . With the help of former state senate president William A. Shands and Senator Beth Johnson , on June 10, 1963, the legislature passed and Governor Farris Bryant signed into law Senate Bill No. 125, which authorized the Florida Board of Regents to create a new state university in East Central Florida. The university

1311-631: The National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center , and is the leader of the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium. Initial enrollment in 1968 was 1,948 students; enrollment in 2022 exceeds 68,000 students from over 150 countries, all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Most students attend classes on the university's main campus, 13 miles (21 km) east of downtown Orlando and 35 miles (56 km) west of Cape Canaveral . UCF offers more than 230 degrees through 13 colleges including

1380-800: The National Science Foundation , UCF spent $ 215.3 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 107th in the nation. In 2009, UCF directly influenced 26,000 jobs and $ 1.96 billion in economic activity. When UCF's economic impact is combined with that of the Central Florida Research Park, the university and park influenced 46,000 jobs and $ 3.84 billion in economic activity in 2009. The new College of Medicine , which opened in August 2009, will create an estimated 30,000 local jobs and have an economic impact of $ 7.6 billion in its first few years. Florida Space Institute FSI

1449-782: The Rosen College of Hospitality Management is located away from the main campus, in close proximity to the heart of Orlando's tourism industries near Universal Studios and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products . In 2019, a 15-acre (6-hectare) campus was opened in Downtown Orlando in collaboration with Valencia West. It includes the Dr. Phillips Academic Commons, the Union West, and the UCF Center for Emerging Media buildings. The 50-acre (20-hectare) UCF Health Sciences Campus at Lake Nona includes

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1518-491: The Space Shuttle program in 2011. The Florida Space Institute is part of a broad statewide partnership within the State University System to support and expand Florida's involvement in the field of space exploration . Since its move to Orlando , the institute falls under the organizational and fiscal governance of UCF , though it continues to support research and development projects and services at partner institutions in

1587-644: The UCF College of Medicine and the Burnett Biomedical Sciences Building. The Burnham Institute for Medical Research , a Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Nemours Children's Hospital , M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Institute , turning the area into a medical city. The campus will also serve as the future home of the UCF College of Nursing and the newly approved UCF College of Dental Medicine . The College of Medicine welcomed its charter class in August 2009. Upon completion of construction,

1656-821: The UCF Knights and represented by mascot Knightro , compete in NCAA Division I and in the Big 12 Conference , except for Men's Soccer, which competes in the Sun Belt Conference . Following President John F. Kennedy 's September 1962 speech "We choose to go to the Moon" , in which he described his goal of accomplishing a crewed space flight to the Moon by the end of the decade, the space program grew in importance and scope in Central Florida because of its proximity to Cape Canaveral . Prominent residents and local leaders began lobbying

1725-655: The fourth-largest on-campus student body of any public university in the United States . UCF is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . UCF was founded in 1963 and opened its first classes in 1968 as Florida Technological University , with the mission to provide personnel educated in science, technology, engineering and math to support

1794-556: The 2023 U.S. News & World Report rankings, UCF was tied for 124th in the National Universities category (tied for 64th among "Top Public Schools"). In addition, U.S. News & World Report ranked the University of Central Florida as the 14th most innovative school and 8th best in online bachelor's program in the nation. The university houses 13 colleges, which offer 101 baccalaureate programs, 88 master's programs, 31 doctoral programs, three specialist programs, and

1863-473: The Florida Legislature and the Florida Board of Governors to increase opportunities for medical education in Florida . The College of Medicine welcomed its charter class of 41 students on August 3, 2009, and eventually will produce about 120 medical graduates a year. With more than 4,300 applications for 41 available positions, UCF broke the state university record for most applications, and for 2009 it

1932-464: The Florida legislature. So far UCF has endured the budget cuts by implementing a hiring freeze, ending some faculty perks, such as free seminars, cutting executive pay, and wise management of funds. To help counter the budget decreases, the university received $ 18 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act . UCF's operating budget for the 2014–15 fiscal year is $ 1.5 billion,

2001-655: The Global Association of Christian Hospitality Professionals. Among the colleges, a number of undergraduate academic programs are termed "limited access programs" which are programs where student demand exceeds available resources thus making admission to such program competitive. Examples include academic programs taught under the Nicholson School of Communication and the music, theatre, dance, and medical laboratory sciences schools or departments. Students must apply to join these programs separately from admission to

2070-571: The Health Sciences Campus at Lake Nona Medical City , the Rosen College of Hospitality Management in south Orlando and the city campus in downtown Orlando. Since its founding, UCF has awarded more than 401,245 degrees, including over 60,000 graduate and professional degrees. Its official colors are black and gold, and the university academic seal features Pegasus , which "symbolizes the university's vision of limitless possibilities". The university's intercollegiate sports teams, known as

2139-522: The Hitt Library, which would add 212,400 square feet (19,730 m ) of space, as well as an Automated Retrieval System was recently approved by the university's board of trustees but may be delayed due to budget cuts. In 2022, the library began working on its 21st Century Library Project, a multi-phased plan designed to create additional space for student learning, technology, collaboration, and research expansion. The project upon completion will include

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2208-517: The Honors College participate in smaller classes with faculty, including individual research programs or assigned research in the area of a sponsoring faculty member. Another program offered by the college is Honors in the Major, which allows juniors and seniors to conduct original research within their major and write an undergraduate honors thesis. The UCF College of Medicine was established in 2006 by

2277-401: The John C. Hitt Library located directly to the south of it. All academic buildings are located inside of Gemini, with the circle divided up into pie-shaped sections for each college. As there are very few roads inside of Gemini, many buildings' loading docks are accessible only by sidewalks and thus receive most deliveries at night. The University of Central Florida campus is one of only two in

2346-496: The Solar System, terrestrial planets, and planetary satellites including the Moon. The Arecibo planetary radar is a powerful tool for post-discovery characterization of near-Earth objects , planets, and moons. In addition to precise line-of-sight velocity and range information, depending on the target's size and distance, planetary radar is useful for quickly estimating the instantaneous rotation rate of near-Earth asteroids, resolving

2415-402: The State University System as well as government and corporate institutions. The Arecibo Observatory has the world's most powerful planetary radar system, which provides ground-based observations whose quality could only be exceeded with a spacecraft flyby. The 305-meter Arecibo telescope equipped with a 1 MW transmitter at S-band (12.6 cm, 2380 MHz) is used for studies of small bodies in

2484-729: The UCF Student Government Association. In 2005, the university opened two on-campus housing buildings, able to house 400 residents. The college offers a variety of student organizations including associations such as Eta Sigma Delta (International Hospitality Management Honor Society), National Society of Minorities in Hospitality, the Professional Convention Management Association, and the National Association of Catering Executives, and

2553-819: The UCF campus, founded in 1978. The park serves as a major focus of simulation for space and defense -related research. It was part of Colbourn's plan to make UCF a world-class partnership university. Among the university's first partners were Lockheed Martin and the United States Navy , and Colbourn led the push to found both the Institute for Simulation and Training and the Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers in 1986. During his tenure, enrollment increased from 11,000 in 1978 to over 18,000 in 1989. Colbourn also supported

2622-624: The UCF main campus, while the Lake Nona Medical City was completed. Every member of the inaugural class received a full scholarship, including tuition and basic living expenses, for their entire four years at the university, valued at over $ 160,000. The university aims for the college to become a research-intensive medical school, with the aid of the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences , the UCF Lake Nona Cancer Center ,

2691-619: The Universe , a 2013 album by Major Lazer Tôlanaro Airport , in Madagascar Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title FTU . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FTU&oldid=1220973837 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

2760-617: The Vulture. He served as the university's unofficial mascot for more than a year. In late 1971, students voted and selected the Knight of Pegasus as the school's official athletic mascot. The nickname later evolved to the Golden Knights and eventually to the Knights. After retiring as president in 1978, Millican identified his proudest moment leading the school as when President Richard Nixon delivered

2829-538: The acceptance rate for first time in college students falling from over 60% to near 40% in 2008 , and the doubling of expected annual expenses. Since 2000, UCF has awarded over 100,000 degrees. It is the largest university in the nation in terms of undergraduate enrollment , the largest university in Florida, and in 2003 was the fastest-growing university in the United States. During its Spring 2010 graduation ceremonies, UCF awarded its 200,000th degree, less than five years after awarding its 150,000th. In August 2018,

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2898-423: The beginning of December and the typical spring semester running from the beginning of January through the beginning of May. In addition, UCF offers four different summer semesters, A, B, C, and D, ranging from six to 12 weeks. The university is classified as a "large four-year, primarily nonresidential" university with a "comprehensive doctoral" graduate instructional program and "highest research activity". In

2967-434: The campus could accommodate as many as 5,000 upper division, professional, and graduate students and faculty members in the health-related programs, and include up to two million square feet of research and instruction space. As a part of the State University System of Florida , UCF falls under the purview of the Florida Board of Governors . The University of Central Florida is headed by the board of trustees, which governs

3036-587: The central administrative unit of graduate education at the university. Graduate students are also students of one of the other 12 colleges at the university. The university is seeking approval for a College of Dental Medicine , which would be housed at the Health Sciences Campus in Lake Nona. The University Honors Program, administered by the Burnett Honors College is designed for 500 accomplished incoming undergraduates annually. Undergraduates enrolled in

3105-517: The college named for major donors to the college (e.g. Disney Dining Room, Universal Orlando Library, Darden Auditorium, and the state-of-the-art Anheuser Busch Beer & Wine Lab). Regular Shuttle service is offered on most days that class is in session to and from the UCF Main Campus. The college features an on-site Campus Life Office and Career Services Office that coordinate on-campus activities and career development events in conjunction with

3174-425: The construction of a four-story automated retrieval center, increased quiet study space, and the creation of additional research and writing facilities on the fifth floor. The University of Central Florida fosters research among its thirteen academic colleges and schools, partnerships with corporations such as Lockheed Martin , Disney , Boeing , L3Harris , Siemens , SpaceX , and Universal . UCF also houses

3243-629: The east side contains the Arboretum of the University of Central Florida and the engineering wing. The south side contains student recreation and wellness facilities, leisure pool, recreation park, and more student housing. Also located directly south of the main campus is Central Florida Research Park , which is the seventh largest research park in the nation and the largest in Florida, housing over 116 corporations. The park provides more than 10,000 jobs to over 500 students and thousands of alumni. Main Campus

3312-428: The final report into additional UCF construction projects revealed the balance of misdirected funds between July 2010 and August 2018 was $ 99.61 million (equivalent to $ 139.18 million in 2023). The report found that key people in the university leadership were aware of the misdirection of the funds. UCF was fined by the state for 120% the cost of the misused funds. The University of Central Florida main campus

3381-524: The growing U.S. space program at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (known at the time as Cape Kennedy Air Force Station) on Florida's Space Coast . As its academic scope expanded beyond engineering and technology, Florida Tech was renamed the University of Central Florida in 1978. UCF continues to have space root connections, as it developed and oversees the Florida Space Institute , Robinson Observatory , manages

3450-402: The inaugural classes were held in the school's first academic building. 1,948 students were enrolled in 55 degree programs within five colleges, led by 90 instructors and aided by 150 staff members, during the university's first year. FTU graduated its first class of 423 seniors on June 14, 1970, with astronaut and Orlando native John Young giving the commencement address. Millican selected

3519-426: The investigation proved that UCF had misspent or planned to misspend over $ 85 million between 2013 and 2018. Newly appointed president Dale Whittaker , who was a provost at UCF during Hitt's tenure, resigned in February 2019 after just seven months in office over allegations that he also knew about the misappropriation of funds. Board of Trustees Chairman Marcos Marchena also resigned that month. In August 2019,

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3588-579: The nation with a concentric circle design, the other being the University of California, Irvine . Newsweek ranked UCF as having the 20th most beautiful university campus in the country in 2011. Student housing is provided along the perimeter of the campus. Outside of Gemini, the campus is divided up into different themed sections. The northwest side of campus includes Greek communities and on-campus residence. The north side contains Knights Plaza , an uptown style athletic village with stores and restaurants,

3657-399: The print and media collection is housed in the John C. Hitt Library, which is located on UCF's main campus and is open to students, faculty and the public seven days a week. The library is five stories tall, and was the first academic building on campus. Leonardo Nierman 's sculpture Flame of Hope is displayed outside the entrance to the building, and Nierman's stained glass Genesis window

3726-588: The school's distinctive Pegasus seal. Millican is also responsible for the university's slogan, "Reach for the Stars", for the two key principles of the school, "accent on excellence" and "accent on the individual", and for the campus's unique pedestrian-oriented concentric-circle layout, which was based on plans by Walt Disney and has become a model for other universities. Millican and then-Governor Claude Kirk presided over FTU's groundbreaking in March 1967. On October 7, 1968,

3795-409: The site of the new university. Local residents donated another 227 acres (92 hectares), and raised more than $ 1 million in funds to secure the land acquisition. In December 1965, the board of regents appointed Charles Millican the first president of the new university. With the consultation of a citizen advisory group, Millican chose the name Florida Technological University, as well as co-designed

3864-499: The state university system's Board of Governors and the Florida Legislature opened an investigation into the university for misuse of state funds. On September 13, 2018, UCF admitted to misappropriating money intended for educational and operating expenses to build the new $ 38 million Trevor Colbourn Hall, leading to the resignation of CFO Bill Merck. In January 2019, UCF severed ties with President Emeritus John Hitt after

3933-411: The target's size, detecting potential satellites, and ultimately resolving the shape through inverse modeling efforts. Researchers: Dr. Maxime Devogele, Dr. Estela Fernandez-Valenzuela, Dr. Sean Marshall, Dr. Anna McGilvray, Dr. Noemi Pinilla-Alonso, Dr. Mario De Pra, Dr. Charles Schambeau, Dr. Ana Carolina De Souza Feliciano, Dr. Flaviane Venditti, Dr. Luisa Fernanda Zambrano-Marin. Radio astronomy

4002-400: The top quarter of their high school class rankings . Freshmen enrolled in fall 2020 posted average SAT scores of 1320, ACT scores of 28.7 and average high school weighted GPAs of 4.18. UCF is in the top 20 percent of universities in the nation for SAT average and the top 25 percent for GPA average. 71% of undergraduates receive financial aid. 90% of students receive scholarships through

4071-476: The university was known as Florida Technological University, nicknamed Florida Tech, until December 1978 when Governor Reubin Askew signed legislation changing the school's name to the University of Central Florida. Colbourn established the university's honors program , and started the university's first satellite campus . In addition, he was responsible for constructing the Central Florida Research Park adjacent to

4140-524: The university's academic profile, but also an on-campus football stadium , new basketball arena , more on-campus housing, and the development of the UCF College of Medicine at Lake Nona. Until 1999, the Knights were represented by a jouster from the Medieval Times dinner show in nearby Kissimmee, Florida . That same year, Knightro was introduced at the staple homecoming event, Spirit Splash. The past decade has seen enrollment increase by over 40%,

4209-530: The university's athletic programs. He was responsible for establishing the school's football program in 1979, which began an era of growth for the university. In April 1979, UCF awarded its 15,000th degree. In March 1992, John C. Hitt became UCF's fourth president, ushering in an era of unprecedented growth and prominence for the university . Once known mainly as a small commuter and technology school, in recent years UCF has undertaken an effort to increase its academic and research standing while also evolving into

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4278-452: The university's official colors, and had a role in selecting its first mascot, the Citronaut , a mix of an orange and an astronaut. The Citronaut proved unpopular, so in 1969 the student newspaper, The Central Florida Future , encouraged mascot suggestions from students and faculty. The search for a replacement proved unsuccessful until 1970, when Judy Hines, a night nurse, proposed Vincent

4347-453: The university's spring 1973 commencement address. Entering office in 1978, the university's second president, Trevor Colbourn , recognized the diversification and growth of UCF's academic programs away from its strictly technological and scientific beginnings. As the university developed strong business, education, and liberal arts programs, Colbourn recognized that the university's name no longer reflected its mission. From its establishment

4416-419: The university, consisting of 13 appointed to staggered five-year terms by the Florida Board of Governors. The Student Government president and the faculty chair also serve on the board for the duration of their one-year terms of office. The president of the University of Central Florida is the university's principal executive officer. The office was formed upon the university's creation in 1963. The president

4485-503: The university. Criteria for admission varies but is generally very selective and includes factors such as indicators of ability, performance, creativity, and talent. Arts programs require competitive auditions and have some of the smallest numbers of undergraduate majors in the university. UCF Libraries collections include over 2.2 million print volumes, 3.2 million microforms, 330,000 government documents, 10,000 full text electronic journal subscriptions, 660,000 e-books, 40,000 media titles,

4554-424: Was appointed from his previous position as UCF's vice president for partnerships and chief innovation officer to serve as the university's interim president until the board of trustees chould choose a replacement. Due to cutbacks in federal, state and local budgets, UCF has had over $ 140 million in funds cut from its operating budget since 2008. This included a $ 53 million cut to UCF's 2012–13 fiscal year budget by

4623-439: Was founded as a non-segregated and coeducational university, with the mission of educating students for space-age careers in engineering and other technological professions. Defense scientists and NASA met with students, recruiting for the space program. On January 24, 1964, the board of regents purchased 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of remote forest and pasture land along Alafaya Trail (SR 434) in northeast Orlando for $ 500,000 as

4692-414: Was ranked 2nd in Florida, and 34th in the United States, by the number of National Merit Scholars enrolled. 335 National Merit Scholars enrolled at UCF for the fall 2020 term. The University of Central Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . Its academic calendar is based on the semester system, with the typical fall semester running from the end of August until

4761-428: Was the most selective medical school in the country. For the class of 2014, there were 3,761 applicants and only 60 were accepted. This initial class had the highest average MCAT score, 32.2, and GPA, 3.8, of any incoming class of medical students in the state. The inaugural class had a median age of 28, with 25% of the class composed of out-of-state students. The charter class completed their first year of courses on

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