UKnighted Newsletter
February 2008

New Programs Initiated to Assist Students to Succeed

Multicultural Academic and Support Services (MASS) kicked-off two new initiatives during the ‘07-08 academic year. To better serve underrepresented students, MASS launched programming for first generation students and multicultural males. Both programs are designed to provide academic support services and workshops to increase the retention and graduation rates for students in these cohorts.

The first MASS initiative is the First Generation Program. First generation students are those students whose parents or guardians have not completed a baccalaureate degree. Currently, more than 7,000 UCF students are first generation, comprising 14 percent of UCF’s total population. Recognizing the importance of meeting this population’s needs, MASS created the program to facilitate the students’ academic and social integration and to increase their probability of success throughout college. The First Generation Program offers students peer mentoring, academic success workshops and scholarship information. Additionally, first-time-in-college first generation students receive valuable connections and transition services when they attend their orientation session.

“Many first generation students are excited to know there is an office just for them at UCF,” said Diane Aronowitz, program coordinator. According to first-year nursing student Cheyenne Pandoff, “The encouragement and advice offered would make any freshman feel confident. The MASS staff sincerely cares about students and I know I will have a successful college career because of First Generation support.”

MASS is working with the Office of Student Financial Assistance and serves as a connection point for students as they search for financial resources. Aronowitz notes that, “It’s obvious that these students need an office to support and address their educational, personal and social concerns.” And the facts support this need; according to a 2007 College Board report, first generation students have the odds stacked against them. First generation students:

• Who are multicultural are underrepresented.
• Are less likely to enroll and attend college.
• Will receive less guidance from their parents.The report continues by stating that the first generation population continues to grow:
• 6.5 million first generation students attend colleges and universities in the U.S.
• 97,000 first generation students are in the southern region.
• There has been a 27 percent increase in the number of first generation students from the southern states attending college over the past four years.

In addition to aiding first generation students, MASS is reaching out to another population with its Brother to Brother Program (BTB). Established during Fall 2007, the program is designed to help retain and graduate multicultural and first generation males. The six-year graduation rate among the 2,000 cohort for African-American and Hispanic males was 36.8 percent and 39.1 percent, respectively. Because of the low graduation rate for multicultural males, the MASS office provided the opportunity to develop a program to help increase the retention and graduation rate for this population of students. BTB is a collaborative effort with representatives from MASS, Career Services, Housing and Residence Life, and Office of Diversity Initiatives.

There are currently 48 multicultural males in the program, who completed a comprehensive application process and were invited to join the program. The program’s primary focus is on academic achievement, leadership development and mentoring. In addition, the program will provide book scholarships for students, who successfully complete the program.

Another BTB goal is to enhance the leadership skills of program participants and help increase their awareness of leadership opportunities on campus. Wayne Jackson, director for MASS, states he is pleased with the academic performance of the 48 male students. The average cumulative grade point average for the students was a 3.0, with a retention rate of 100 percent from Fall ‘07 to Spring ‘08.

Recently, Jackson took a group of male students to the National Black Student Leadership Development Conference in Washington, D.C. According to Jackson, “This is part of the attempt to expose and develop the leadership skills of these students.” BTB members have leadership roles on several student committees, including the Student Finance Board and the Late Knights committee. Additionally, one member is also a staff writer with the Central Florida Future.

Currently, State Farm is a partner of the BTB and wants to increase its involvement next year in helping to develop and train the multicultural and first generation males on campus. One of the future initiatives is to secure more external partnerships so that the BTB can expand the number of at-risk students invited into the program.

In addition to these two programs, MASS has developed several workshops including: “Graduate School Week,” designed to provide students with insight into preparing for admission into graduate school, and “How to Prepare Yourself for the Corporate World,” which will provide students with knowledge of tools necessary to acquire while at UCF in order to be competitive later in the corporate world.

For more information, call the MASS office at: 407.823.2716.

Registrar’s Office Sees Record Numbers for Spring Enrollment

During the registration period for Spring 2008, nearly 47,000 undergraduates registered for classes, with an increase in credit hours of 4.6 percent. The Registrar’s Office itself saw over 5,650 students enter their doors between January 3-11 as part of their triage system, which has been utilized each semester since the Fall 2001. Each staff member in the office took a turn at the front door, answering students’ questions, assisting them with forms or directing them to other appropriate offices. This was all part of an effort to reduce wait times for services.

Leadership Week 2008: Take It or Lead It

Every year UCF generates graduates who become leaders in a diverse array of fields. As students, they gained valuable experience with servant leadership and discovered the importance of being engaged on campus.

The 11th Annual Leadership Week, taking place February 18-24, will continue to inspire UCF’s next generation of servant leaders. It is a week-long event featuring guest speakers, workshops, panels and forums, all based around the theme “Take It or Lead It.” Most programs are 50 minutes long and will be held in the Student Union between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Keynote speakers include: Jeff Corwin (as seen on Animal Planet), Jimmy Moore (Housing and Residence Life), Mary Frances “Gert” Garman (alumna), and Brandie Hollinger (Student Government Association).

“In today’s connected society, anyone can have their voice heard and be a leader for social change,” says Allie Schwartz, undergraduate program assistant, LEAD Scholars Program. “These programs will inspire students, faculty and staff to make an impact as servant leaders.”

For more information, visit: www.slp.sdes.ucf.edu/leadershipweek.

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

Students, faculty and staff honored Martin Luther King, Jr. with a procession that began at Memory Mall. Members of the UCF community joined the group as they marched through the Student Union and the John T. Washington Center singing gospel songs. At the Reflecting Pond, the crowd gathered as Bryan Arnette, senior Health Service administration student, began to recite, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” the last landmark speech King delivered in Memphis, Tennessee on April 3, 1968. Arnette is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; King was also a member of that fraternity. The march has become a tradition at UCF.

“The Multicultural Student Center and the Xi Iota chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. have partnered for three years now to remember the dream of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” said Arnette. “It is our goal to make his dream become a reality in the UCF and Orlando communities.”

Recreation and Wellness Center News Clips:

BOOTCAMP at UCF

Group Fitness is taking their classes to the next level and offering an exciting new class called “Bootcamp,” which is held on Sundays at 5:30 p.m. at the Recreation and Wellness Center. This is a drill-based class where participants might even be asked to battle the elements outdoors. For more information regarding programs and events at the center, visit: www.rec.ucf.edu.

UCF Davon Estelle Pictured on Sports Illustrated Web Site

Davon Estelle, group exercise fitness attendant lead and instructor for the Recreation and Wellness Center, is pictured on the Sports Illustrated Web site. He is running with the football during the game against University of North Carolina at the 2007 National Flag Football Tournament. Estelle has worked at the center for three years and is responsible for managing the fitness attendants under the supervision of the Kim Halliday, fitness specialist. His primary role is to ensure a safe and helpful workout environment for the center’s members, as well as provide assistance to those working out. See Estelle’s action photo at: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0801/campus.IM.championship/content.8.html.

UCF was well represented at the 2007 National Flag Football Tournament in New Orleans over the holiday break, as its Men’s (pictured) and Co-Rec teams both finished second. The men fell to University of Florida in the title game, and the Co-Rec squad was taken down by University of North Carolina.

Welcome to the Transfer Connection

Transfer Knights, a student organization promoting transfer student involvement at UCF, introduced Spring 2008 transfers to the UCF community with the first-ever Transfer Connection Welcome event. Campus partners offered academic workshops and information sessions; academic colleges and departments provided information on student involvement in their majors; and student organizations promoted their clubs and events, sharing information on resources and how to become involved on campus.

Breakout sessions offered topics of interest to transfers: off- campus services, experiential learning, power studying techniques, and research opportunities. The event culminated with “Are you Smarter than a Freshman?” game (a take-off from a TV show), based on student involvement information. Transfer students competed against freshman for prizes.

According to Charlene Stinard, director of Transfer and Transition Services (TTS), “The Transfer Knights officers, TTS Peer Mentors, and Student Government Association (SGA) provided an outstanding example of collaboration to create a new event for transfer students. One of the critical elements of transfer student success, both for retention and graduation, is connecting to the campus community . . . getting involved. We had great support from SDES: Dr. Ehasz, and Dr. Poisel are strong advocates for transfer students. We hope to make this an even bigger event in the fall.”

Gerardo Aponte, former TTS Peer Mentor and president of Transfer Knights, reflected the students’ excitement, “We were thrilled to have SGA President Brandie Hollinger participate; the support of SGA is so important to helping transfer students connect at UCF.”

Health Services Kicks-off the Spring with Staff Events

O-Teamers, Jessie Knox, Andi Graves and Megan Rambo, each won $100 gift cards for Best Buy from the Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Program office for their promotion of AlcoholEdu, an online education course. The O-Teamers promoted the course by informing students when they participated in the summer 2007 orientation.

The AlcoholEdu course increases First Time In College students’ knowledge of the negative physical and emotional effects of alcohol. These O-Teamers had the most students complete the program.

Record Attendance in First Year Program Activities

For the UCF First Time In College student population, the fall 2007 semester provided many involvement opportunities and proved record-breaking for the Learning and Interacting with New Knights (LINK) program. The semester started with more than 4,000 students and families attending the largest welcome party-the LINK Luau, where they experienced entertainment, school spirit and food.

LINK concluded the semester with the LINK Fall 2007 Auction, which attracted the largest crowd in LINK history with 500 students in attendance. By adding sponsors, such as Disney, Universal Studios, SeaWorld and Designer Greens, first-year students were motivated to come out and bid for items. All students attending, regardless of LINK points, were entered into a raffle for a chance to win an iPod Touch and other prizes. Domino’s supplied free pizza for the LINK Fall 2007 Auction event.

LINK had a 28 percent increase in attendance at LINK-connected programming this fall. “This was a very exciting semester for LINK,” said Kelli Hutchens, coordinator for LINK. “We would like to thank all of our partners throughout the university and the community for making this a remarkable semester.”

Career Services Has Strong Partnership with SeaWorld

On December 4, SeaWorld and Discovery Cove hosted Career Services staff for a full-day site visit and retreat. Staff toured the parks and learned about both full-time and part-time career opportunities available for UCF students.

During the tour, SeaWorld’s Human Resources’ staff shared with CS staff myriad employment opportunities available in their restaurants, retail outlets, show venues and overall park operation. These positions represent employment opportunities for UCF students from most majors and colleges, including hospitality, arts, business, engineering, public administration and education.

“During fall semester, Career Services and SeaWorld have strengthened their partnership, with UCF hosting SeaWorld for several successful recruiting events,” said Amy Kleeman, associate director for Career Services.

Service Learning Benefits All

The Creative School for Children has provided many volunteer opportunities for students over the years, but there has been an increase in the fall 2007 semester, resulting in over 170 students volunteering at the preschool for a grand total of over 1,200 hours. Many more university courses have added service learning components. This benefits the CSC, since the students introduce creative projects, such as a butterfly garden and sensory gardens.

The benefit to the college students is also a valuable experience. First, the students must find placement on their own. This forces them to really consider what their interests and abilities are. They must visit the site of their choice, present themselves in a professional manner and request volunteer time to fundraise, plan activities, create PowerPoint presentations or whatever else the requirement for their coursework might be.

Once the students have been placed at the Creative School, they receive a schedule and a classroom assignment. The students may assist in the classrooms, gaining experience in an early childhood environment; plan or execute a project, such as the gardens; or work independently, planning fund-raisers to donate toward an ongoing project, such as the development of the Creative School outdoor environment.

At the completion of the students’ experience, the Creative School faculty evaluates the students’ performance and the students evaluate their own experiences at the Creative School. Lastly, the students’ instructors evaluate the students based on presentations or papers written about their experiences as well.

Welcome to SDES

• Kimberly Foy, coordinator, Student Disability Services
• Kaile Howell, facilities scheduler, Recreation and Wellness Center
• Julie McGuire, administrative assistant, Activity and Service Fee Business Office
• Donna Nguyen, coordinator, computer applications, Orientation Services
• Maureen Vance, associate registrar, Registrar’s Office
  
  

SDES Awards and Recognition

• Stacey Malaret, LEAD Scholars Program, has been awarded her doctorate in Educational Leadership Student Affairs.

• Lovelyn Findley, Registrar’s Office, has been promoted from program assistant to registrar specialist. Her duties now include processing grade forgiveness; academic amnesty; building classes through PeopleSoft, R25 and 4D; special topics; Grad on Track (GOT), and processing queries to provide monthly numbers.

• James Middlekauf, Registrar’s Office, has been promoted from registrar specialist to assistant university registrar for Veteran Services and Residency Reclassification. Middlekauf has been with the RO since 2002 and UCF since 1998, following 22 years of service in the United States Navy.

• Mayra Hoffman (Career Services), Angela Martinez (Office of Student Involvement), Anthony Perry (Rosen College of Hospitality and Management Campus Life), Elsa Nieves-Roman (Registrar’s Office) and Albertha Sheppard ( Student Academic Resource Center) have completed the “Supervisory Skills Series.” The 32-hour program introduces the day-to-day aspects of supervision, as well as the basics of effective management practices and techniques.

• Vanessa Butts and Diane Hidalgo (Registrar’s Office), Mayra Hoffman (Career Services), Jorge Milanes and Gregory Saunders (Housing and Residence Life), and Jennifer Wright ( Student Academic Resource Center) have completed the “Star Series.” The 20-hour series focuses on giving participants the tools to provide outstanding customer service.

• Mark Gumble, Academic Services for Student-Athletes, was selected to serve as a consultant for athletic and college administrators on the intent, goals and improvement strategies of National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Academic Progress Rate. He is one of 15 selected nationally through a new partnership between the National Association for Academic Advisors for Student-Athletes (N4A) and the NCAA.
  
  
• Gary Morgan, student leadership development, recently completed the Level 1 Certification to conduct the Leadership Challenge workshop. The Leadership Challenge, that includes the college student companion program, The Five Practices of Exemplary Student Leadership, is based on 25 years of leadership development research by best-selling authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner. The Leadership Challenge includes the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), one of the most widely used 360-degree leadership assessment instruments available with over a million administrations. The LEAD Scholars Program implemented the Five Practices and LPI in its core leadership course two years ago.

SDES Reconsidered: Continuing the Vision

Student Development and Enrollment Services is engaged in a process to transform the division. This is a process, not an event, that includes “us” (SDES staff) learning how to communicate with each other, how we work together, how we inspire each other to be better. It is a strategy to re-conceptualize how we work together for a positive impact on students.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) are the framework for this new model for SDES, and involve coupling services in more intentional and deliberate ways.

Why are we engaging in this process?

• To deepen our understanding of transformative learning
• To build our capacity to craft, support and assess student learning
• To develop learning outcomes that lead to student success
• To demonstrate that SDES is a “learning community”
• To broaden our sense of “team” as it relates to SDES
• To deepen our partnership with the UCF community
• To provide programs and services that afford students opportunities for transformative learning experiences
• To change lives.

What is the process?

• Define student success – “X” as demonstrated by student learning
• Identify evidence of student success
• Conceptualize a model for cooperation, collaboration, and imaginative integration
• Integrate learning outcome assessment into individual Institutional Effectiveness plans
• Revaluate, refine, and sustain the process of “continuous improvement.”

Integrity

I will practice and defend academic and personal honesty.

Scholarship

I will cherish and honor learning as a fundamental purpose of my membership in the UCF community.

Community

I will promote an open and supportive campus environment by respecting the rights and contributions of every individual.

Creativity

I will use my talents to enrich the human experience.

Excellence

I will strive toward the highest standards of performance in any endeavor I undertake.

Kerry Welch, director for the Office of Student Involvement, has agreed to provide leadership to the division as we work to advance the principles of SDES Reconsidered and articulate what student success means to SDES.

According to Welch, “This is a very exciting process that puts UCF/SDES on the cutting edge of providing student services. The national trend has become the consideration and discussion of student learning outcomes as outlined in several high profile academic journals, but most colleges and universities that endeavor to be learning centered institutions have not yet begun the implementation process. SDES Reconsidered is a course of action that puts students’ transformational learning, the process in which they make meaning of the totality of their experiences at UCF, at the forefront of our delivery of services. That’s an exciting opportunity for students, and an impressive yet achievable challenge for the SDES staff.”

INTEGRITY
I will practice and defend academic and personal honesty.

SCHOLARSHIP
I will cherish and honor learning as a fundamental purpose of my membership in the UCF community.

COMMUNITY
I will promote an open and supportive campus environment by respecting the rights and contributions of every individual.

CREATIVITY
I will use my talents to enrich the human experience.

EXCELLENCE
I will strive toward the highest standards of performance in any endeavor I undertake.

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