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2021 Founder’s Day Honorees
BY ALLISON HURTADO ’12 The Founders’ Day Awards celebrate the outstanding academic achievements of our faculty members and students. As we recognize these achievements, we remember the efforts of those women and men who made this university a reality, and we prepare for the accomplishments of the future. In an extraordinary time, our faculty and […]
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UCF Researchers Work with Public Agencies to Examine Pandemic Efforts, Effects
Some may say the past year has been one giant global experiment. While scientists and researchers didn’t create the coronavirus, the pandemic has spurred opportunities for investigations that run the gamut of public-service efforts and response. Here are just a few ways experts at UCF as using their insight to enhance what we’ve learned and […]
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UCF Graduate Video Game Design Named No. 1 — for Third Time
UCF’s graduate video game design program has been recognized as the top graduate game design program in the world. This marks the third time in the past six years that UCF has garnered the top spot, ahead of New York University, Southern Methodist University and the University of Southern California. UCF’s undergraduate game design program […]
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23 Students to Receive UCF’s Highest Honor
UCF has named 23 students as recipients of the Order of Pegasus, the university’s most prestigious student award. The 2021 recipients were selected from a pool of 83 nominations. The 2021 class includes 15 Burnett Honors College students, six LEAD Scholars, six Student Government leaders, three President’s Leadership Council members, one Greek member, one student-athlete […]
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Nicholson Faculty Lend Expertise to Global Pandemic Communications
Today’s global pandemic was just a worst-case scenario when Deanna Sellnow, Ph.D., and Timothy Sellnow, Ph.D., developed a communications plan for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006. Still, the husband and wife team, both faculty in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, are encouraged they could play a part in how […]
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UCF Hosts Spring Graduation Celebration, April 30 to May 9
UCF is excited to offer spring graduates and their families the opportunity to choose one of two in-person options to celebrate their achievements. Recognitions of graduates will occur April 30 to May 9. Spring 2021 graduates will have the option of either participating in UCF’s Grad Walk or their college’s in-person commencement. Both recognitions will […]
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UCF Names 30 Under 30 Alumni Award Winners
UCF Alumni has announced its annual 30 Under 30 Award winners. These accomplished graduates were chosen for their great professional success, commitment to helping others and track record of giving back to UCF and their local community. “Every year, UCF Alumni’s 30 Under 30 classes are made up of extraordinary young alumni. This year’s class […]
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UCF-based Limbitless Solutions and Video Game Cyberpunk 2077 Team Up
If you are a fan of the video game Cyberpunk 2077 and a member of the UCF family, this is for you. Limbitless Solutions, the UCF-based nonprofit that creates bionic arms for children, worked with the game company to turn the metallic arm of the game character Johnny Silverhand from the screen to real life. […]
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Journalism Students Gain Valuable Election Coverage Experience
Presidential election night is considered the Super Bowl of journalism. Journalists are expected to deliver at the highest-level while under intense pressure in a rapidly changing environment. Sixteen journalism students and 20 radio-television students recently experienced the election rite of passage through a partnership with the Orlando Sentinel on Nov. 3. Orlando’s flagship newspaper has […]
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Faculty Film Shot in India Makes its World Premiere at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
A documentary film about efforts to enhance education for the children of India’s sweeper communities will make its world premiere this month at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. Lisa Mills, Ph.D., associate professor of Film in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, wrote and directed Son of a Sweeper. The 30 minute film […]
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First-Gen Student Perseveres Through Family Struggles, Hopes to Provide Financially
The day after Oneisha Eugene’s seventh birthday, her father, a St. Lucian native, was in a car accident that deprived his brain of oxygen long enough that he temporarily lost the ability to walk, move or talk. The accident altered his well-being for the rest of his life. “[Since] then, we basically had a very […]
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You Voted, Now What?
While some argue voting in the presidential election is one of the most important civic duties, ensuring that a democracy serves the best interests of its citizens requires active participation all year, every year. “America is built on hope for the next opportunity. What happens in the next midterm election two years from now, and […]
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Two COS Faculty Members Inducted Into the UCF Scroll and Quill Society
Each fall, the University of Central recognizes faculty who have made a national and international impact through their research, teaching and service, by inducting new members into the Scroll and Quill Society. “This society is a chance to celebrate imaginative creative works, scholarly research and the service our faculty provides to better our community,” says […]
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The True Story Behind Horror Movies
Gary Rhodes is an associate professor in UCF’s Nicholson School of Communication and Media and assistant director of the film and mass media program who is best known for his work on horror cinema. When he was 15, Rhodes says he started writing for a film magazine called Filmfax, and he’s been analyzing movies ever since. […]
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TV Show ‘The Office’ Forms Basis for NSCM Professional Communication Class
Successful professional communication is as much about what not to say as it is the right way to negotiate a raise or write a thorny email, reasons Communication Assistant Professor Michael Strawser, Ph.D. And what better teacher of gaffes and miscues than the “world’s greatest boss” Michael Scott of NBC’s hit series “The Office.” “This […]
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New Study: Face-Covering Use Up, More People Are Taking COVID-19 Threats Seriously
A new National Science Foundation-funded survey of six states has found that during the past two months, more people are wearing masks, vaccine uncertainty is on the rise, and many people are overestimating their risk of becoming seriously ill and dying from COVID-19. The results are in a new report published this month by the […]
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UCF Experts Weigh in as Coronavirus Captures Headlines
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to dominate daily news cycles, UCF experts in areas ranging from hospitality, tourism, economics and student health services are helping shape the conversation surrounding the effects of the virus on various industries and the community as a whole. Kenneth Adams, professor — Ph.D. in criminal justice from State University of […]
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NSCM Alumna Creates Positive Online Environment With New Venture
In a world that’s increasingly divided, the one thing everyone can agree on is the need for more unity. That’s the spark behind a new business venture by Sadie Higgins ‘06, an entrepreneur and alumna of the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. Higgins recently launched a website that allows users to create a virtual […]
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Nicholson School of Communication and Media Falls Fully Under COS On July 1
By IULIA POPESCU After consulting with the school’s faculty, the deans and director and the president, Interim Provost Michael Johnson, Ph.D., recently made the decision that the Nicholson School of Communication & Media (NSCM) will no longer be an “intercollege school.” In 2018, the new Nicholson School was established (and renamed the Nicholson School of […]
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Epic Games, Maker of Fortnite, Awards UCF Professor Grant to Enhance AR and VR Technology
The company responsible for the online video game hit Fortnite has awarded a UCF assistant professor a grant to develop an immersive technology to take virtual experiences to new levels of reality. Epic Games provided UCF information scientist and artist Maria Harrington a $25,000 grant to expand her cutting-edge augmented and virtual reality work, which […]
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151 UCF Faculty Promoted Across All Disciplines
A great university is built by great faculty, and this year’s group of promoted and tenured faculty are the reason behind UCF’s academic excellence. Thirty-three were granted the title professor, a marker of an exceptional career in academia. A university’s excellence hinges on the strength of its faculty as scholars and as teachers. “This class […]
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UCF’s Nicholson School Launches New Website to Promote Open Government
An experiment in promoting open government was launched last week by UCF’s Nicholson School of Communication and Media – and if the project meets with good results in Winter Park, it could be expanded to other Central Florida cities. A new grant-funded website – WinterParkSunshine.org – was set up by the school’s journalism program to […]
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UCF Named No. 1 Graduate School for Video Game Design
UCF’s graduate game design program is No. 1 in North America, according to The Princeton Review and PC Gamer magazine, which today announced their 2020 rankings. This is the second time in the past five years that UCF’s interactive entertainment graduate program at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy has taken the top spot. UCF’s undergraduate […]
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M.F.A Grad Selected for CBS Writing Mentorship
By IULIA POPESCU Nicholson M.F.A graduate Mike Diaz received a momentous opportunity when he became one of only six to participate in the esteemed CBS 2019-2020 Writers Mentoring Program, selected from a pool of more than 1,500 applicants. The eight-month mentoring program pairs writers with CBS executive mentors. The mentors then help the writers develop a new […]
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Nicholson Grads Reunite on Set of ‘Shark Tank’
There is no one path to success. Neither Jen Rosen ’09 nor Kelly Nader ’16 pictured themselves in casting and production when they began Radio-Television classes at the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. And both took different career routes after graduation. But in the funny way life works, the UCF grads crossed paths on […]
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New Alumni Reflect on Journey That Brought Them to Fall ’19 Graduation
As he adjusted his black gown, a yellow tassel dangling out of the corner of his eye, Bepsy Omar Aguasvivas thought about his father’s words: “The hardest thing to do is be born. Everything else is simply a step ahead.” That advice carried Aguasvivas through his academic experience at UCF all the way to Saturday, […]
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UCF Instructional Video Nominated For Regional Emmy Award
A powerful video detailing a journalist’s approach to her work has earned a Suncoast Regional Emmy Award nomination for the UCF team that produced it. The project, titled “Ethics in Journalism: A Morning with Nancy Alvarez,” explores the decisions the Channel 9 anchor made approaching news coverage of two major Orlando stories: the Pulse nightclub […]
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‘Be The Diversity’ Says Latina Student Advocate
When Tamara Vasquez stepped onto UCF’s campus four years ago, she could still hear the echo of her grandparents’ advice. “They would always remind my cousins and I about the history behind our family name, and why success is important to achieve,” Vasquez remembers with a smile. A proud Afro-Latina, Vasquez is the first generation […]
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Achievements Celebrated at 2019 Distinguished Alumni Awards
The College of Sciences recognized 10 alumni for their achievements Thursday at the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Awards. The annual event brings together outstanding alumni from each of the departments and schools within COS for a night of celebration and reflection on another successful year. “Tonight’s awardees were selected for this honor based on their […]
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Nicholson Student Makes TV Debut on Food Network’s ‘Halloween Wars’
A UCF sophomore makes his debut this Sunday as the youngest-ever competitor on Food Network’s hit show “Halloween Wars.” The show pits six teams of three against each other to build spooky creations, with each member of the team contributing expertise in either cake decorating, sugar art or pumpkin carving. Jarid Altmark, an Advertising and […]