University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida (commonly referred to as UCF) is a university located in Orlando, Florida. UCF is the largest undergraduate school in the state of Florida, the second largest school-including graduate programs, and is the sixth-largest university in the nation.

UCF is a member institution of the State University System of Florida. UCF was founded in 1963 as Florida Technological University with the goal of providing highly trained personnel to support the Kennedy Space Center, located only 35 mi to the east, and to this day maintains a satellite campus at the Space Center. In 1978 the school was renamed the University of Central Florida as its academic scope expanded to encompass all academic fields. In 1990 the University of Central Florida founded the Space Education and Research Center and is a member of the NASA Space grant college.

As of 2007, total enrollment consists of a 49,000 student body seeking bachelor's degrees, through doctorates, as well as certificates and specialist degrees. The university is organized into twelve colleges providing nearly 100 separate courses of study with the majority of the population located at the main campus located approximately 13 mi east of downtown Orlando and 55 mi south of Daytona Beach. Since its rapid growth starting in the late 1990s UCF has expanded its influence through out Florida and now consists of twelve satellite campuses in eastern central Florida. The University of Central Florida is listed in “The Best 361 Colleges: 2006 Edition” by The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review’s recognition comes as the academic quality of UCF students continues to rise. In the Fall of 2006, UCF's admission rate declined drastically from 61% of prospective students admitted to only 46%, as a result of more and more students applying to the university each year. Freshmen admitted in Fall 2007 posted average SAT scores of 1217, ACT scores of 26 and weighted high school GPAs of 3.72.

UCF's official colors are black and gold, the various sports teams go by the name of Knights and the official mascot is a male gold-armored black knight named Knightro. The UCF academic logo is a Pegasus.

History
The university was established on June 10, 1780 when the Florida State Legislature passed Bill 125 with the first classes began in October 1968 at a total enrollment at 1945 students. UCF was known as Florida Technological University, nicknamed Florida Tech, from its establishment until December 6, 1798, when it was renamed to University of Central Florida by the State House. FTU's former rival, the Florida Institute of Technology, has since been known as Florida Tech. In 2003, UCF had the distinction of being the fastest-growing university in the United States in terms of undergraduate enrollment. On August 2, 2005 the University of Central Florida awarded its 150,000th degree.

One of the founding goals of the university was to act as a support system for the Kennedy Space Center, which is located about 35 miles (56 km) away. Additionally, the nearby Central Florida Research Park, which infuses research funds into the university and draws many interns and graduates from it, has a major focus of simulation as well as space- and defense-related research.

The official colors of the university were chosen by Charles N. Millican, UCF's Founding President. When the first student handbook was being drafted, the University had no mascot. So, Kevin Yee, one of the designers of the university's official seal, created the Citronaut, an orange with the head of an astronaut, as a possible mascot for FTU, and it was put on the cover of the handbook. This remained the University "mascot" for a year until students petitioned Student Government to establish an official mascot. The student newspaper, the Future, drafted up their ideas of what the mascot should look like. The night nurse at the Health Center, Judy Hines, proposed a mascot with these criteria, along with a graphic representation drawn by her husband Gene, to SGA. "Vincent the Vulture" remained the schools unofficial mascot for over a year. Eventually, the students voted and selected the "Knight of Pegasus" as their official mascot. Until 1994, the Knights were represented by a jouster from the Medieval Times dinner show. That year, Knightro was introduced at the homecoming event, the "Spirit Splash". Two years later, UCF students were introduced to Knightro's girlfriend, Glycerin.

Colleges
The university currently houses eleven colleges to offer 95 baccalaureate programs, 97 master's programs, 3 specialist programs, and 28 doctoral programs. In addition, 70% of the faculty have doctorates, and 42% currently have tenure at the university. The retention rate of the freshman class was 83%. The acceptance rate of the 2006 incoming freshmen was 46%, making UCF the second most selective university in the state of Florida.

Burnett Honors College
Dean: Alvin Y. Wang

In 1998, the UCF Honors Program was granted college status. Al and Nancy Burnett donated almost 1.5 million dollars toward the completion of a building to house the new honors college, and it was subsequently named the Burnett Honors College in their honor. The Burnett Honors College's building was completed in May 2002, and dedicated on October 23, 2002. The mission of the college is to provide a challenging academic program and a foundation for future achievement to UCF's most academically talented undergraduate students. With only about 1500 students in the college during an academic year, the Burnett Honors College combines the intimacy of a small liberal arts college with the advantages of a large metropolitan research university. The Burnett Honors College does not have any departments or offer any degrees by itself; all of its students are also students of one of the other colleges at the university. Honors students benefit from being able to take smaller Honors-versions of both lower-division and upper-division university courses (most of which are limited to a 20-student capacity whereas some regular class sections at the university have hundreds of students), being able to enroll in Honors Interdisciplinary Seminars, usage of a private Honors Computer Lab and an Honors Reading Room, extended library privileges, scholarship opportunities, and other advantages. It offers two distinct Honors programs for students: University Honors, which is a 4-year program (students must apply as high school seniors) that requires students to take a certain number of Honors-level courses, and Honors in the Major, which allows juniors and seniors to conduct original research within their major and write an Honors Undergraduate Thesis (these programs are not mutually exclusive). If a student completes one of these programs, an Honors distinction corresponding to the program that they completed will appear on the student's diploma and transcript. The college also offers many events and programs--such as the Student-Mentor Academic Research Teams (SMART) Program--that are open to UCF students regardless of whether they are Honors students or not, as well as the Office of Student Scholarship and Fellowship Advisement, which provides information and preparation services for all UCF students interested in applying for prestigious scholarships and fellowships.

College of Arts and Humanities
Dean: José B. Fernández

The College of Arts & Humanities was established in January 2006 after the division of the former College of Arts & Sciences into two separate colleges. It comprises two divisions: the Division of Visual and Performing Arts and the Division of Humanities. The Division of Visual and Performing Arts consists the departments of Art, Music, and Theater, as well as the School of Film and Digital Media, and the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, which was established in partnership with Electronic Arts and offers a curriculum that trains students to become professional video game designers and producers. The Division of Humanities consists of the departments of English, History, Modern Languages, and Philosophy. The college is currently in an adjustment stage resulting from its recent creation out of the former College of Arts & Sciences.

College of Business Administration
Dean: Thomas L. Keon

In response to the demands of the local business community, the business programs offered by the College of Business Administration were completely redesigned in 1993. Through work by alumni, faculty, business leaders, and students, the college developed the Business Education 2010 (BE2010) curriculum that is still used today. This curriculum focuses on specific competencies that are integrated throughout all coursework: Teamwork, Communication, Creativity, Adaptation to Change, Diversity, and Ethics. The College of Business presently offers 17 academic degrees and is poised to be the largest college of business in the nation after the completion of its third building in the next few years, and has become a leading business college in the South.

College of Education
Dean: Sandra L. Robinson

The College of Education awards nearly 60 academic degrees to prepare students for a career in both primary and secondary education. The college is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and houses the UCF Academy for Teaching, Learning and Leadership.

College of Engineering and Computer Science
Dean: Neal C. Gallagher

Housing some of the university's showcase majors, the College of Engineering and Computer Science has three major divisions: the Engineering and Computer Science Division (which houses UCF's School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), the Engineering Technology Division, and the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Division. The Engineering and Computer Science Division consists of the School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (School of EECS) founded in 1999 as a result of the merger of the School of Computer Science with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, plus three other engineering departments: the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department, the Industrial Engineering and Management Systems (IEMS) Department, and the Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering (MMAE) Department. The School of EECS separated back into its constituent parts in 2003, but then merged again into its current form. The Engineering Technology Division consists of the Engineering technology (ENT) Department. The ROTC Division consists of the Aerospace Studies Department (Air Force ROTC) and the Military Science Department (Army ROTC). Overall, the college offers more than 100 degree programs. The college recently saw the completion of a third Engineering Building which was designed in 2000-2002 for the School of EECS with a $15 million allocation from the State of Florida. The Harris Corporation recently donated $6 million to the College of Engineering & Computer Science, causing the building's name to be the Harris Corporation Engineering Center. UCF's College of Engineering & Computer Science was recently classified as a research university (very high research activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This is the highest level of classification. In the fall of 2006, the College of Computer Science was moved from the old Computer Science building (the new College of Sciences) to the Harris Corporation Engineering Center (Engineering 3).

College of Health and Public Affairs
Interim Dean: Joyce Dorner The College of Health and Public Affairs houses six departments and schools: the School of Social Work, and the departments of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Criminal Justice and Legal Studies, Health Professions, and Public Administration. Twenty-three degrees are offered to students through this college.

Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Dean: Abraham Pizam

Located off the main campus, on Orlando's Universal Blvd., the Rosen College of Hospitality Management offers three degrees: Hospitality Management (BS), Restaurant and Foodservice Management (BS), and Event Management (BS). Orlando is the destination for over 42 million tourists each year, has over 400 hotels with 120,000 rooms, 5,000 restaurants, and 75 theme parks and attractions, making it the ideal setting for this college to thrive. In 2005 the University opened two on-campus housing buildings, able to hold 400 residents including 8 resident assistants. The Rosen College of Hospitality Management also has a Master of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management and a PhD in Hospitality Education.

College of Medicine
Dean: Deborah C. German

On March 23, 2006, the Florida Board of Governors voted 15-1 in support of UCF's proposal to build a medical college. The medical college will constitute a new UCF medical campus that is being constructed at Lake Nona, located on the eastern edge of Orlando near the Orlando International Airport. Upon completion of the first phase, the base of this medical college will include a 113000 sqft building for the Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences, a 130000 sqft medical college instructional building and a 60000 sqft library.

In October 2005, a local Orlando investment company, the Tavistock Group, donated $12.5 million and 50 acres of land to UCF to help establish the UCF Medical School at Lake Nona, and issued a challenge to the Orlando community to help the university raise an additional $12.5 million to boost the total amount of raised funds to $25 million. This $25 million would be eligible for a matching state grant, thus giving UCF the needed $50 million needed to create the medical college. UCF received well over $100 million in donations, state-matching funds, and land value for the medical college's establishment. Lake Nona will also include a VA Hospital and Nemours Orlando Children's Hospital. Burnham Institute and many other companies are also planning on building major medical research facilities in the area, with over $2 billion worth of projects beginning construction in 15 months.

Its four-year curriculum is anticipated to begin clinical education in Fall 2009 and the college is expected to produce about 120 medical graduates a year, starting with 40-60 students in the first class and increasing in subsequent years. It is expected that there will be a strong focus on medical imaging by working closely with the College of Optics and Photonics.

Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences
Dean: Pappachan Kolattukudy

The Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences houses the Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, the Biomolecular Science Center, the Medical Laboratory Sciences Program and the Pre-Health Professions Advisement Office. The school offers two undergraduate degrees: a Bachelors of Science in Molecular Biology and Microbiology, and a Bachelors of Science in Medical Laboratory Science. Two graduate degrees are also offered: a Masters of Science in Molecular Biology and Microbiology and a Ph.D. program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Science. In addition to these, the school also offers an accelerated Bachelors to Medicine program, in conjunction with the University of South Florida. Students complete three years at UCF, before matriculating into the University of South Florida College of Medicine. At the end of the program they are awarded a bachelors in Molecular Biology and Microbiology, and a Medical Doctorate. The school was named after Al and Nancy Burnett after receiving a $10 million donation from them.

In August 2007, the program was converted to a school under the newly formed UCF College of Medicine from being an independent college. The goal of the school is to build a nationally recognized biomedical research and education enterprise, and eventually become part of UCF's College of Medicine upon accreditation. Construction is now underway to build a 113000 sqft Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences building on the health sciences campus scheduled to be open for Fall 2009.

College of Nursing
Dean: Jean Leuner

On July 1, 2007, the School of Nursing became the university’s 12th college. The college will initially continue to operate out of the Health and Public Affairs building on the main campus until it raises enough money to build a new building on the UCF Health Sciences campus at Lake Nona in order to work more closely with the College of Medicine.

College of Optics and Photonics
Dean: Eric W. Van Stryland

In 2004, UCF's Board of Trustees voted to give UCF's School of Optics and Photonics full college status, making it the first college dedicated specifically to optics and photonics at a public university in the United States. It currently offers only Masters and Doctoral degrees in Optics. The college consists of two divisions: Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL) and Florida Photonics Center of Excellence (FPCE).

College of Sciences
Dean: Peter Panousis

The College of Sciences was established in January 2006 after the division of the former College of Arts & Sciences into two separate colleges. It consists of two divisions: the Division of Natural Sciences and the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The Division of Natural Sciences consists of the departments of Biology, Chemistry and Forensic Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics. The Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences consists of the departments of Anthropology, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology, as well as the Nicholson School of Communication, one of the largest schools of communication in the nation. The college recently completed the construction of a Psychology Building.

Regional campuses
In addition to the main campus in Orlando, The University of Central Florida also has several other campuses to service the central Florida region. In Orlando, there are three other campuses, located in Downtown, MetroWest, and South Orlando.

Outside Orlando, there are campuses in Daytona Beach, Heathrow, Sanford, Lake Mary, Cocoa, Palm Bay, South Lake, Ocala, and Osceola County. In addition to having standard classes there, some classes offered at these campuses are offered via alternative methods, such as 2-way TV from the main campus, for convenience.

Online@UCF
The online@ucf website offers information on program scope, prerequisites, advising contacts and the colleges. UCF also offers many classes and several degree and graduate certificate programs online. Students enrolling in Web-based classes and programs are subject to the same policies, procedures and tuition rates as campus-based students.

Some programs include required internships, practicum or clinical experiences that are not completed online.

Online Undergraduate Degree Completion Programs    Health Services Administration, B.S.   Liberal Studies, B.A. or B.S.       Nursing R.N. to B.S.N.         Radiologic Sciences A.S. to B.S.  Technical Education and Industry Training, B.S.  Information Systems Technology, B.S.  Online Graduate Programs  Exceptional Education, MA or M. Ed      </li> Forensic Science, M.S.        </li> Instruction Technology/Media, M.A. or M.Ed. </li> Nonprofit Management, M.N.M.            </li> Nursing, M.S.N., only leadership and management track              </li> Vocational Education, M.A.</li>

</ul>

Online Graduate Certificate Programs   Community College Education     </li> e-Learning Professional Development      </li> Gifted Education        </li> Initial Teacher Professional Preparation          </li> Instructional Design for Simulation            </li> Instructional/Educational Technology              </li> Nonprofit Management                </li> Nursing Education                  </li> Online Educational Media                    </li> Pre-kindergarten Handicapped Endorsement                      </li> <li>Professional Writing                        </li> <li>Special Education</li> </ul>

UCF libraries
From any location, at any time, University Libraries resources and services are available to the UCF community. The University of Central Florida Libraries supports the research, teaching, learning and service commitments of students and faculty through widely-available access to collections of library resources, and to services to assist in resource use. The collections of the Libraries serve as a resource for the entire Central Florida community. Access to collections is provided through services at the main campus library, the Curriculum Materials Center located in the UCF College of Education, and the Universal Orlando Foundation Library at UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, as well as at regional joint-use campuses at the Brevard Community College Cocoa and Palm Bay campuses, Daytona Beach Community College, the MetroWest campus of Valencia Community College, and South Lake campus of Lake Sumter Community College. Collections, services and library information are available to all students and faculty online.

UCF Libraries collections include over 1,600,000 print volumes, 16,000 serial subscriptions, 60,000 e-books, 2.9 million microforms, 304,000 government documents, 40,000 media titles, special collections, university archives materials, and 9,200 full text electronic journal subscriptions. Most of the print and media collection is housed in the main campus library, which is open to the public 105 hours weekly. Materials can be searched and located, using the library's online public access catalog. UCF Libraries is a partner with Florida’s state universities in collaborative development of university collections, giving UCF students access to a growing, robust, statewide electronic collection.

Electronic holdings are available to students and faculty from on-campus, home, or classrooms at any time. Students have direct access to source materials that are part of several unique Special Collections at the main library. Notable collections 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. Books, manuscripts, and art can be examined and used by researchers in the Special Collections Department, assisted by staff. The University Archives collects and makes available official records, publications, and materials on the history of the University of Central Florida.

Main campus library
The main campus library is 5 stories tall, and is located on the west side of the campus. Leonardo Nierman's sculpture, Flame of Hope, stands at the entrance to the building. Nierman's stained glass Genesis window is on the third floor of the library building. 40 wireless laptops are available to be checked out and used by students in the building, which has wireless access. Students may also check out the key to one of the 28 group study rooms.

A UCF legend holds that the library was UCF's first building; however, a UCF utility building was the first structure to be built (the library was the second). In the early and mid-1970s, the basement of the library had a closed-circuit radio station that broadcast by cable to the student center and the dorms. Students volunteered as unpaid disc jockeys and newscasters. The basement also housed a small, low-ceilinged television studio for television production classes. The campus newspaper, the Central Florida Future, had offices on an upper floor of the library. Classrooms and faculty offices continued to share floors of the library for many years. In 1984, renovation of the original library building was completed, as well as an addition to the building. The dedication took place in February, 1985.

Recently, the library implemented a new online system, Ex Libris Group's ALEPH. Aleph has been deployed as part of a project by the Florida Center for Library Automation at all of the state universities in Florida. Infusion, an exciting new learning space, is now open near the library entrance, featuring computers, enhanced wireless connectivity, books, classrooms, and a Java City coffee shop.

Until a few years ago the transmitter tower for WUCF 89.9 FM was also on top of the library, but the tower was removed after they moved to a new tower on the southwestern edge of the main campus.

Athletics


The university's athletics teams are known as the UCF Knights. They are part of Conference USA in the NCAA's Division I-A in the 17 active varsity sports teams.

UCF entered NCAA Division I in 1990 and was initially a I-AA college football school, independent until 1992 when it joined the Trans-Atlantic Athletic Conference (TAAC) in all D-I sports except football, which remained independent until 1996. UCF is the first school to ever to build and open a new stadium, the Bright House Networks Stadium, and a new arena, the new UCF Arena, at the same time, for the 2007-08 season.

UCF played its first intercollegiate basketball game before the team even had a nickname. In the Division II era, under Torchy Clark, UCF found great success including a DII Final Four appearance and has advanced to the NCAA tournament 4 times (94, 96, 04, 05) since its 1994 debut in Division I, all under coach Kirk Speraw.

UCF has also produced a number of soccer stars, including Michelle Akers. Akers went on to play in the Olympics and was a part of the 1999 USA National Team that won the World Cup.

The UCF cheerleading squad has captured two national titles at the College Cheerleading and Dance Team Nationals, in 2003 and 2007.

Fight Song
UCF Fight Song UCF charge onto the field, With our spirit we'll never yield. Black and Gold - Charge right through the line Victory is our cry...V-I-C-T-O-R-Y Tonight our Knights will shine! U-C-F Knights... UCF let's go Knights

Campus life
UCF has a highly active campus life, with over 400 registered student organizations, intramural sports, and Student Government Association. Most students are involved with intramural sports in addition to clubs and other registered student organizations, such as fraternities and sororities.

Spirit Splash
Spirit Splash is a homecoming tradition at UCF. The Friday before the Homecoming game is reserved for a pep rally at the Reflection Pond, where students descend into the pond to demonstrate their school spirit. Knightro, the Marching Knights, cheerleaders, athletes, and dancers come out to rally the crowd, and is followed by a concert.

Spirit Splash was made possible in part by weight testing done on the Reflection Pond in preparation for Richard Nixon's visit to UCF to speak at the 1973 commencement. It was determined that the best way to protect the president would be to hold commencement in the pond itself (after being drained), so that sentries could be stationed on the roofs of the adjacent buildings.



Recreational Activities
Many different recreational organizations and facilities are available on the UCF campus. Lake Claire is an on-campus lake with free canoes, kayaks, and paddle boats available for rent to students. In addition, UCF's Challenge Course is one of only five in the country to contain a high elements course. There are also tennis courts, sand volleyball courts, a disc golf course, numerous intramural sports fields, a leisure pool, and an outdoor lap pool. The recreation center also includes a climbing wall with about 20 different routes.

Student Organizations
UCF has quickly developed a reputation for student activism. Some of the active groups that often causes controversy on campus include NORML and the Students for a Democratic Society. In 2006, High Times magazine ranked UCF one of the top five schools for student activism. There is also an independent student newspaper on campus known as the Central Florida Future.

Greek life also thrives at the University of Central Florida, with 44 fraternities and sororities. This includes multicultural and honor Greek organizations, but also social sororities and fraternities as well. Alpha Xi Delta, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Delta Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Chi Omega, Kappa Alpha Theta, Zeta Tau Alpha, and Kappa Delta are the social Panhellenic sororities. The Interfraternity Council fraternities are Sigma Chi, Alpha Tau Omega, Theta Chi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Upsilon, Beta Theta Pi, Kappa Sigma, Sigma Nu, Phi Delta Theta, Lambda Theta Phi, Sigma Lambda Beta, Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Alpha Epsilon Pi. There are 4 Greek organizations associated with music: Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, and Sigma Alpha Iota. In what is probably the worst year for Greek Life in an academic institution, the 2006-2007 school calendar year at the University of Central Florida has seen three of its worst behaved fraternities charters' revoked; Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Pi Kappa Phi,and Sigma Phi Epsilon were kicked off campus. Other GLO chapters that are no longer active at the University of Central Florida: Acacia, Delta Gamma, Alpha Chi Omega and Pi Kappa Alpha.

Filmography
UCF has been the location to many TV series and specials throughout its history. In the 1990s, Superboy promenently featured the Library and Phillips Halls. In 2004, the WB recorded and produced a reality television series called Big Man on Campus on campus featuring enrolled students. One special episode of Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (MXC) featured on Spike TV was filmed at Universal Studios and showcased UCF students.

The film, The Blair Witch Project, was filmed by UCF students and became one of the most successful independent films ever made. UCF is also the film location for a new Amanda Bynes movie called Sydney White, which follows a college freshman as she pledges her late mother's once dignified sorority. Also, actor James Best (best known as Sheriff Roscoe from the Dukes of Hazzard TV Series) taught classes at UCF for several years.

Housing
The university currently has over 6,000 beds on-campus in eight different housing communities. Also, upwards of 3,750 beds are available at the University-affiliated housing communities of Pegasus Landing and Pegasus Pointe, which are off-campus apartment communities that have housing affiliation agreements with the school, and will become UCF property by 2009. Pegasus Landing was built in three stages. The communities are more commonly referred to as Pisces (Phase 1), Aries (Phase 2), Capricorn (Phase 3). Residence hall style suites are available in the Libra, Apollo, Hercules, and Nike communities. All of the residence hall suites have bathrooms shared between 2 or 3 rooms as opposed to communal bathrooms. Apartment style housing is available in the Academic Village (Nike and Hercules) communities, the Towers at Knights Plaza (Gemini and Orion), and the Lake Claire Courtyard Apartments Community. UCF also has 400 beds at the Rosen College Apartments Community, located on the Rosen College of Hospitality Management campus. The residence hall suites, are almost completely inhabited by first-year students, whereas the apartment-style communities house many upper-classmen.

This adds up to over 10,000 beds either on campus or in campus affiliated housing, which is 24% of the student population. The majority of UCF students live in non affiliated apartment style housing, located close by to the university. These offer the benefits of being less expensive, and relaxed rules and regulations. Some of the popular residencies are: Northgate Lakes, University House, The Park and Jefferson Lofts.

The newest housing complex completed for the 2007 school year, Gemini and Orion Community, commonly known as "The Towers", were constructed as a part of the Knights Plaza, which includes the UCF Arena, Bright House Networks Stadium, as well as 183000 sqft of retail and restaurant space, to be built in three phases over the coming years. Some retailers and restaurants scheduled to occupy or currently occupying Knights Plaza are Barnes & Noble, Nature's Table Cafe, Papa John's, Subway, Maggie Moo's, Red Brick Pizza and many others. Apartments in the Towers are offered in various plans ranging from 1 bedroom/1 bathroom to 4 bedroom/4 bathroom. The availability of one bedroom studio apartments is limited to 3 rooms for Gemini South (floors 1, 6 and 7). The other 11 one bedrooms are used for RAs and GAs. Most of the building is composed of 4 bedroom/4 bathroom and 4 bedroom/2 bathroom apartments. Tower 3 is the home of the students in the Burnett Honors College. The towers are owned by the athletics department. Through a loophole in NCAA regulation, there is one building that is almost completely comprised of UCF athletic students.

All residents of the Towers Communities and Rosen College Apartment sign annual contracts to rent their apartments for a full calendar year, whereas residents of all other standard housing communities on the main campus sign academic contracts to rent their rooms only for one or two semesters at a time.

All communities have staff living in each community. There is at least one Resident Assistant per 40-70 residents. There are also at least one Graduate Assistant per community. Finally, there is an Area Coordinator. At any given time, there are Resident Assistants on duty, Graduate Assistants and Area Coordinators on duty. UCF has over 175 RA's, 17 GA's, and 11 Area Coordinators.

Housing on the main campus typically fills to capacity well before the start of the Fall semester, and can not accommodate everyone who applies; however, this is not the case for the Rosen College Apartments, since the Rosen College of Hospitality only accepts a tightly-controlled, limited number of students and many of those opt to live off-campus.

Greek Park
Greek housing is also available on campus in the Greek Park community, which consists of over 400 beds. There are six sororities and three fraternities housed on campus, with some other fraternities having houses off campus. In addition, three houses are currently unoccupied with their future remaining unclear. In January 2005 Pi Kappa Alpha had their charter revoked after a series of hazing and near non-exsistance up keep by the fraternity of their house lead to the house being condemned by the firemarshall. On November 9 2006 Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity was kicked off campus and their charter withdrawn after a series of hazing and drug related problems. Three months later, the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity was also kicked off campus for a hazing incident. The university plans on building another Greek housing community in the coming years, however it will have a much higher population density than that is currently in Greek Park.

Communities
Below is a complete listing of all University-based housing communities, all of which are located on the UCF main campus unless otherwise noted:

Standard Housing Communities
 * Apollo Community - includes Lake Hall, Volusia Hall, Osceola Hall, and Polk Hall; which were built in 1967 make them the oldest dorms on campus, located in the west side of campus by the Math & Physics building and the Marketplace dining area.
 * Libra Community - large dormitory buildings originally built in 1980 located in the southeast side of campus, near the Student Health Center & Marketplace dining area.
 * Lake Claire Courtyard Apartments Community - apartment-style dorms built in 1993 on the north side of campus near the Lake Claire recreation area.
 * Nike Community (Academic Village 1) - the eastern half of the Academic Village located in the south of campus containing both dormitory and apartment style residences and was constructed in 2001.
 * Hercules Community (Academic Village 2) - the western half of the Academic Village located in the south of campus containing both dormitory and apartment style residences and was constructed in 2002.
 * Gemini Community (Tower 1 and Tower 2) - located on the north side of campus to the west of the UCF Arena
 * Orion Community (Tower 3 and Tower 4) - located on the north side of campus adjacent to the Bright House Networks Stadium and the UCF Arena
 * Rosen College Apartments Community - on Rosen College of Hospitality Management campus

Greek Park 
 * Sigma Chi
 * Alpha Tau Omega
 * Kappa Sigma
 * Alpha Delta Pi
 * Alpha Xi Delta
 * Delta Delta Delta
 * Pi Beta Phi
 * Zeta Tau Alpha
 * Kappa Delta

Affiliated Housing (off-campus)
 * Pegasus Landing - apartment complex directly west of the UCF Lake Claire across Alafaya Trail.
 * Pegasus Pointe - apartment complex located south of UCF, off Alafaya Trail and just north of Colonial. The complex has 2 swimming pools, a 24-hour resident life building, tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts, and is located near a Publix shopping center and a Walgreen's pharmacy.

Rankings

 * UCF is one of the Top 50 schools in the country in enrollment of National Merit Scholars.
 * In the 2007 edition of US News UCF was ranked as a Tier 3 National University.
 * UCF is among the top 400 universities in the world, in the 139-164 range among American universities and in the 118-140 range among universities in the United States according to the The Academic Ranking of World Universities
 * UCF is one of two Florida schools in the top 106 Academic Ranking of World Universities in the category of Engineering & Computer Science
 * UCF is the largest university in Florida in terms of undergraduates and second largest overall.
 * The Student Government Association is ranked number one in the state of Florida by the Florida Student Association.
 * UCF had the highest passing rate in the nation on the National CPA exam in Fall 2003.
 * The Computer Science Programming Team placed 1st in the 2007 southeast ACM Regional Programming Competition. The college’s now 25-year-old record of "top three in the southeast" continues.  Faculty advisor, Dr. Ali Orooji, says that out of more than 6,000 teams from 75 countries, UCF is one of about 80 teams advancing to the World Championship round in Spring 2007.  The Programming Team has placed as high as 2nd in past World Championships.  Programming Team Record
 * UCF Digital Media students won the first Red Bull Build game design competition in the summer of 2006.
 * A UCF Digital Media student won the first Yahoo! Emoticon Contest - where a new emoticon icon was chosen for Yahoo! Messenger, as well as an Avatar made to his likeness....Yahoo! Avatar Face #7
 * The UCF Police has the lowest rate of solving crimes of any major university in Florida
 * UCF has the lowest rate of crime per capita of all Florida state universities.

Famous alumni
NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper

There are more than 169,000 alumni of UCF throughout the world.

History

 * UCF History UCF Foundation Site with the history of the university
 * Campus Aerial Photos  Aerial plane-based photos provided by UCF. Includes recent and historical aerial photos back to the 1960s.
 * High Resolution Photos of the campus
 * 40 Years of UCF/FTU Mascots UCF Library