UCF is the lone Conference USA team present in the national team rankings and is second only to Florida (No. 5) among programs in the state. Moreover, Caryl Smith Gilbert is the only female head coach of a current top-10 program.

Coupled with the indoor season, UCF has not fallen out of the top 25 dating back to April 26, 2011. The Knights’ highest ranking came during the 2012 indoor regular season at No. 5 for back-to-back weeks on Jan. 31 and Feb. 7.

UCF boasts 16 entries in 10 different events at the NCAA East Preliminary Round that will be held at Irwin Belk Track inside of Aggie Stadium of North Carolina A&T. The Knights claim 12 marks that rank among the region’s top 25. Of those 12, nine rank among the top five in their respective events.

The PV system with battery backup will provide emergency power during an outage, reduce daily electricity costs to the school, and serve as a learning resource.

The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), a research institute of the University of Central Florida (UCF), held a dedication ceremony and solar workshop for teachers to celebrate the installation of the 42-panel PV system at Haines City High School on Wednesday, May 15th. Coordinated by UCF’s Florida Solar Energy Center, the system, valued at $85,000, is the 85th PV system installed through the SunSmart Schools Emergency Shelter Program.

In conjunction with the dedication, a professional development workshop gave teachers from Haines City High School, Poinciana Academy of Fine Arts in Osceola County, Bloomingdale High School in Hillsborough County and Montessori World School in Orange County an opportunity to experience hands-on solar activities, showcasing the FSEC curriculum and a companion renewable energy kit. More than 250 teachers have participated in similar workshops, impacting more than 50,000 students statewide.

Not only does the PV system reduce electricity costs by up to $1,500 a year and serve as a generator when a power outage occurs, the system also reports performance data to FSEC; the data will be available on energywhiz.com in June. This site will allow students and teachers to analyze PV system performance data to better understand how the technology works. “We hope we never have to use the system as a generator, and we’re excited about the hand-on learning application for our students and teachers. Being able to see the real-time data that our system produces will be a tremendous resource,” said Stephen Scheloske, assistant principal at Haines City High School.

The success of the program is largely due to strong partnerships between the U.S. Department of Energy, the State of Florida, UCF’s Florida Solar Energy Center, school districts, the Florida solar industry, and utilities. The E-Shelter Program’s initial $10 million in funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy, through the State of Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. As the program gained momentum, however, utility partners – Progress Energy (now Duke Energy) and Tampa Electric (TECO) provided an additional $2 million in funding to expand the program and equip additional schools with PV systems. A total of 105 bi-modal PV systems in 46 school districts are now installed in Florida.

“Certain aspects of the program presented brand new challenges. Installing photovoltaics on schools is not a new concept, but adding batteries is,” said SunSmart Program Manager Susan Schleith. The battery component increased the complexity of the installations significantly. An unprecedented number of tradespeople were involved to make the program a success. It is estimated that more than 60 different companies in Florida were involved in some aspect of this program. “We all should be proud of this accomplishment that will benefit Florida now and for generations to come,” added Schleith.

For more information about the SunSmart E-Shelter Program, contact Susan T. Schleith at (321) 638–1017 or susan@fsec.ucf.edu.

Team members Salome Messam (leader), Brett Hannum, Juliana Restrepo, Justin Roszkowiak and Laureen Ramsey developed a smartphone app that would provide people with an interactive platform to better manage their decisions for living a healthier lifestyle. The team was from Regina Taylor’s lab, and was one of 18 teams out of 100 to make it to the semifinals.

(View photos from the event on our Facebook page.)

The second-place team, named “Advantage Consulting,” came from lab instructor Chaim Letwin’s class and included Daniel Dirani (leader), Robert Costa, Danilo Cuellar, Christina Jones and Parker Kyle. The third-place team, “R. J. III,” was from the lab of David Wo and included Jose Poon (leader), Jordan Gibson, Jeff Simmons and Rachel Harmon.

The Capstone course is under the direction of Bob Porter, Ph.D., a lecturer in the UCF College of Business Administration’s (CBA) Department of Management. Judges for the semifinal round included: Stephen Goodman, Ph.D., Lauryn Migenes, Richard Quinn, Kathie Holland, Marshall Schminke, Ph.D., Shannon Taylor, Ph.D., Michael Ciuchta, Ph.D., Brendan Richard and Ghada Baz.

CBA Hall of Fame members Paul Gregg, ’74 & ’76, and Bob Case, ’70, accompanied by Target representatives Nick Padoan and Grace Blankenship, were the judges for the final round and selected the order of the five winners.

“The quality of these students and their ideas are outstanding,” said Porter. “The UCF College of Business is continuing to evolve and advance as a premier business school and our students demonstrate that in these kinds of competitions.”

The Great Capstone Case Competition is held at the end of each semester and is designed to help students strengthen their analytic, communication, presentation and teamwork skills beyond the classroom by developing recommendations for real-world business issues.

Fast forward nearly four years later, when Garcia returned to her alma mater to inspire current hospitality students with her story of resiliency, as she went from unemployed college grad to assisting with multi-million dollar celebrity weddings and now a new career in professional sports.

“After I graduated, I wanted to work in the event industry,” said Garcia. “I was applying everywhere, but at the time, everyone was cutting back and I literally couldn’t even get hired as a hostess. It was extremely discouraging, considering that I just graduated from a prestigious hospitality college and had such great internship experience. But I refused to give up on my career. When you give up, you’re giving your opportunity away to someone else.”

Garcia’s relentless pursuit of employment eventually paid off after months of job hunting, when in January 2010, she was hired by a Miami-based event designer.

“I ended up getting hired by Nuage Designs, where I began working in luxury weddings,” Garcia recalled. “I didn’t realize the experience that I would be gaining from this job until one day, my boss put me on a plane to New York, where I found myself delivering table linens for Chelsea Clinton’s wedding.”

Over the course of her three and a half years of employment with Nuage Designs, Garcia opened an office in New York, created partnerships for destination weddings, and assisted with several celebrity nuptials, including Grammy Award-winner Carrie Underwood and reality TV star Kim Zolciak, whose wedding appeared on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

“I learned a lot from this job opportunity, but I knew I needed to leave the wedding industry to chase my dream job,” said Garcia. “My goal is to one day become the events director for the [National Football League].”

Garcia again faced adversity in finding employment, as many professional sports recruiters refused to hire her, as she had no previous professional experience within the industry.

“It was extremely frustrating,” said Garcia. “How was I supposed to start gaining industry experience when no one was willing to hire a person without previous experience?”

But again, Garcia refused to give up on her goal, as the alumna continued to submit her resume and attend networking functions.

Her resiliency paid off again, as the alumna ultimately received job offers from at least two professional sports teams, and recently accepted a position with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League, as a group sales manager.

“I came back to Rosen to speak with students about facing adversity,” said Garcia. “I know that some of these students will face the same employment challenges that I did and I wanted to tell them what happens when you don’t give up.”

The space is larger and able to accommodate more food, toiletries and clothing for UCF’s fellow Knights. The KHK Pantry helps all Knights in need. In a daily visit, students can receive 6 lbs. of food and unlimited toiletries. The clothing available is business casual and business professional which is perfect for an interview or conference.

On May 20-23, students, faculty and staff can take a tour of the pantry’s new location during the “Home Warming” celebration from 9 a.m.-11 a.m.  The hours are scheduled in the morning as to not conflict with daily operations.

Summer semester hours are: 12 p.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Thursday. During the fall and spring semester, hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

“Look forward to seeing everyone and remember if we all work together our motto ‘Knights don’t let Knights go hungry’ becomes a reality,” said Preston.

For more information, call 407.UCF.FOOD or email the Community Outreach Coordinator Nicole Preston at Nicole.Preston@ucf.edu. The KHK’s web address is: KnightsPantry.org, however, it will be down for a couple of days for maintenance.

Headlock and wedlock night popped into my head twice at meetings over the last few weeks. Maybe it happened because I’m going to see the Marlins play this week, but both meetings (one involving academics and one student life) involved activities that were failing to meet expectations. In both instances, some of the people in the room (by no means all), thought the solution would be found in distracting people from the failure. If only we had the right slogan, marketing materials, or “entertainment value,” people would respond in the way we hoped.

Last week, I wrote a blog post about wanting to celebrate failure in the college. More precisely, the lessons learned from the experience. Failure is inevitable, but it is never an excuse for a lack of commitment to winning. If you want to build pride, reputation, and tradition, if you want people to join your team or take up your cause: commit to the relentless pursuit of winning in class, on the field, throughout campus, and in life. Yes, you will inevitably fail along the way. But if failure drains your commitment to winning, get out of the business. If you don’t leave now, ideas like “headlock and wedlock night” aren’t far away.

Paul Jarley, Ph.D., is the dean of the UCF College of Business Administration. He blogs every week at http://www.bus.ucf.edu/dean. This post appeared on May 20, 2013. Follow him on Twitter @pauljarley

In addition to Eason’s victory, the Knights tied for second as a team to advance to the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year and the sixth in program history. No. 39 UCF finished the tournament 13-under and tied for runner-up honors with No. 15 Georgia. No. 3 UCLA won the team title, finishing -30. No. 22 Texas A&M and Arizona State rounded out the top five teams, which will all advance to the NCAA Championships.

Eason was in second place after the first round after shooting a 5-under 65. He carded a 63 in the second round to take the lead and move to 12-under for the tournament. His Friday score was the best individual round of the entire regional. Saturday, Eason tallied an even-par 70 to bring home the four-stroke victory.

“I picked a lot of good targets and was lucky enough to hit the targets,” Eason said. “I putted really well out there. With no wind, the ball goes a long way out here. I was a little conservative today, but tried to be aggressive as well. I managed to hit a lot of good shots and holed a lot of putts on the first two days.”

UCF head coach Bryce Wallor said Eason had been working toward this result throughout the season.

“Greg has been building all spring,” Wallor said. “He just continues to play well. He had a great round of golf yesterday and a very steady day today.”

UCF’s Ricardo Gouveia was also at the top of the leaderboard. He was under par in each round of the tournament (68-66-68) and tied for runner-up honors with UCLA’s Gonathan Garrick.

With the team finishing in a tie for second, Eason and Gouveia weren’t the only Knights who played well. Kyle Wilshire tied for 30th and was +2 for the tournament after finishing strong at -2 Saturday. Jose Joia was tied for 41st and was 1-under in the third round to finish at +5 for the tournament.

“This was the first time for us this year that we really had four guys contribute,” Wallor said. “We’ve had three guys play well at times. But this week, we got four guys to step up and play well throughout the event. I think it helped with the chemistry. Once they started feeling good, good things happened.”

Eason said knowing the entire team was playing well helped him finish strong.

“Toward the end, I started to get a sense we were doing all right,” Eason said. “I found out we were doing pretty good on 17. It always helps knowing the guys are doing well, too. Everyone looked pretty good on the course. It did help.”

The Knights will now prepare for the NCAA Championship, which will be held May 28-June 2 in Atlanta, Ga.

NCAA Tempe Regional Championship

Team Leaders

• 1. UCLA 268-273-269=810 (-30)
• t2. UCF 280-274-273=827 (-13)
• t2. Georgia 280-272-275=827 (-13)
• 4. Texas A&M 280-277-272=829 (-11)
• 5. Arizona State 284-274-274=832 (-8)

UCF Golfers

• 1. Greg Eason 65-63-70=198 (-12)
• t2. Ricardo Gouveia 69-69-64=202 (-8)
• t30. Kyle Wilshire 71-73-68=212 (+2)
• t41. Jose Joia 76-70-69=215 (+5)
• t68. Michael Visacki 78-76-72=226 (+16)

The Knights compiled a 3.17 grade-point average for the spring term, the highest student-athlete GPA for a single semester in school history. In addition, UCF student-athletes compiled an average GPA of 3.14 for the 2012-13 academic year, which was also the best mark for the Knights.

“I’m extremely proud of the semester we have had academically and we continue to be strong in this area,” said Kimya Massey, UCF’s Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services and Director of Academic Services for Student-Athletes. “We knew it would be a good term overall, but to break records and continue to push the standard even higher is a credit to our student-athletes and their desire to be excellent in whatever they do. I must also complement the ASSA staff for their constant support and willingness to help our student-athletes achieve their goals.”

UCF student-athletes have now recorded an average GPA of 3.0 or better for 11 consecutive semesters. Twelve of the Knights’ 16 sports programs were at or above a 3.0 for the spring term. Individually, 227 Knights student-athletes recorded a spring term GPA of 3.0 or better. Of that number, 27 earned a perfect 4.0 and 61 were at 3.75 or above.

Knight student-athletes said the UCF academic support personnel and their coaches impress upon them the importance of academics.

“Each member of the Academic Services staff does their best to put the student-athlete first,” women’s tennis player Jenna Doerfler said. “I have had nothing but extremely positive experiences with anyone I have worked with on the staff. The staff has always gone out of their way to help the student-athletes who come to them. My coaches have always made the importance of academics clear to us. We have team academic goals at the beginning of each semester. The coaches and staff do a great job working together with us to make sure we’re on track.”

“I believe our fall GPA motivated us and our academic advisor Sarah Hill pushed us all to do even better,” said women’s basketball player Erika Jones. “Our coaches asked about our schoolwork as often as they could, so that was helpful and greatly appreciated.”

Seven of UCF’s athletic teams set program records for spring term GPAs. Football (2.95), men’s basketball (2.85), women’s basketball (3.14), men’s golf (3.43), men’s soccer (3.29), softball (3.42) and track and field (3.31) all recorded the best spring term GPA in their teams’ histories.

Men’s golf led all teams in the spring with a 3.43 GPA, while the top women’s team was softball at 3.42. The UCF volleyball program continued its department-best streak of semesters at 3.0 or above, achieving that mark for the 12^th straight term. Men’s basketball and football added to the records, compiling the best academic year GPAs ever for the two programs.

It was the climax of an exciting dream to create a national model for medical education right here in Orlando.

To learn more about the medical school’s charter class click here.

“Less than a decade ago, we at UCF dreamed of creating a research-based medical college that would become the gold standard for medical education,” UCF President John C. Hitt told students and the more than 900 guests gathered at the Venue to witness the historic moment.

“Our bold idea had no state authorization, no funding and no friends on Facebook. According to many skeptics, we also had no business proposing such a thing. Some people called us crazy, and that was putting it politely,” said Hitt. “So what was America’s leading partnership university to do? We joined forces with others in this community and elsewhere with vision and common cause. Together, we fought hard for our dream and refused to give up. Eventually, the impossible – a new medical college for UCF – became the inevitable.”

The community raised money– lots of it– to build a state-of-the-art facility at Lake Nona and then another $6.5 million to give the charter class of students four-year scholarships, the first time in the United States an entire class was given a full ride. The scholarships were used to recruit students with pioneering spirits who would not only learn medicine but would help build the school and eventually become leaders in their respective fields.

The community took a chance, and so did the students who arrived and began studying at a yet-t0-be accredited school.

The gamble paid off Friday. Students earned their degrees from a fully accredited medical school, and many are headed to some of the best residency programs in the nation.

The community won, too. Several outstanding students decided to stay in Florida, and those who are leaving will become ambassadors for the program. Their excellence will make others wonder what UCF and Orlando are doing to produce such stellar stars.

Students, families, faculty, staff and community volunteer doctors who supported the charter class were all smiles as they heard about the journey from various speakers and realized they were at the finish line.

Dr. Deborah German, vice president for medical affairs and founding dean of the College of Medicine, reminded graduates that they helped the college become what it is and that they have left their imprint forever. And she gave them this advice in a letter printed in the commencement program.

“Be persistent, seek answers, solve problems, and create solutions when others give up,” German said. “Above all, I hope that you will always focus your energy and attention on the patient. Remember that you cannot fail unless you quit. Your patients are counting on you to succeed on their behalf.”

Many students credit German as the visionary who inspired them to take a chance on a new school. Some, like Sarina Amin, who will be completing her residency training at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, said being part of UCF and its innovative approach to medicine actually was an advantage, not a hindrance, when applying to residencies.

Amin and her classmates walked across the stage, were hooded, shook hands with the Hitt and German, and then received their diplomas from the donors who made their individual scholarship possible. The graduates then signed the Hippocratic Oath and recited it as a group.

Amin, an Orlando native who wants to return to Orlando to teach or work at a local hospital, was thrilled to see her family in the audience as well her extended family – the entire office staff from the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, which paid for her scholarship. The staffers, who she got to know over the four years, rearranged their schedules so they could all attend.

The charter class scholarships were German’s idea. She was the recipient of a full scholarship to Harvard Medical School, and her support and enthusiasm have inspired the graduates to do their part, too. The class this week established a $50,000 scholarship at the college and pledged to raise the needed $300,000 over the next 10 years to make the scholarship permanent.

Students weren’t the only ones celebrating. Guests at the ceremony who helped raise money to build the college and who helped convince the legislature that the school was a good idea also were on hand.

Once the Legislature approved the college in 2006, individuals, government groups and businesses began pulling together to turn the vision into reality. The Tavistock Company, owners and developers of Lake Nona, donated $12.5 million plus land for the new medical school and what would become the Medical City. Today, it is home to Nemours Children’s Hospital, M.D. Anderson Orlando’s Cancer Research Institute, UCF’s Health Sciences campus, Sanford-Burnham Institute for Medical Research’s east coast campus, and a University of Florida research facility. The Orlando VA Medical Center is expected to open in 2014.

Medical City is expected to generate 30,000 jobs and $7.8 billion in annual economic activity by the year 2017, and has been compared to Walt Disney World in terms of its economic impact on Central Florida.

As many have said, this is only the beginning. A burgeoning biomedical cluster is forming at Medical City. Once the celebrations are over, it’s back to work for everyone.

The College of Medicine is betting even bigger: this August, 120 students—the class of 2017—will begin their studies.

UCF President John C. Hitt shakes Dr. Romeo Joseph’s hand during the College of Medicine’s first commencement ceremony.

The College of Medicine’s charter class includes 36 physicians who will go on to work in 13 different fields, including ophthalmology, surgery and emergency medicine.

A concert violinist, he played with the Louisiana Philharmonic and the Florida Orchestra when the injury that sidelined him for a few months made him wonder what he would ever do if he found out he couldn’t play anymore.

Instead of using his hands to make music, he decided to use them to heal, enrolling in medical school in 2009. Today, he will earn his degree from the UCF College of Medicine. While his days of playing concerts may be over, music will continue to be a very important part of his life, as will caring for people beyond the clinical setting.

To learn more about the medical school’s charter class click here.

During his time at UCF, Kang spent many a Friday night at the MD Anderson Cancer Clinic in downtown Orlando, playing his violin for patients following their chemotherapy treatments. He conducted a study to see if music had an impact on memory in an Alzheimer’s study he completed in 2012. And when he wasn’t playing for patients he was helping other parts of the community.

He taught preschoolers about the benefits of exercise and diet for their hearts and he helped homeless veterans navigate paperwork so they could access medical services during an event sponsored by an organization in Orlando. He also volunteered at St. Thomas Aquinas Free Medical Clinic in Osceola County and helped organize activities for victims of domestic violence at a residential and counseling center in Orlando.

Kang worked with fellow classmates to help create several medical school clubs and traditions. He started the UCF chapter of the American Medical Student Association and was class president this year. He helped organize intramural sports at the medical school including football, basketball and volleyball and helped launch Coffee with the COM (College of Medicine), a mentoring program for premedical students.

The 31-year-old did all this while completing what he calls a “challenging curriculum.”

Throughout the four years, he’s remained grounded — humble. He said he will forever be grateful to his donors, Judy and David Albertson, who donated the money that made his full scholarship possible. Community residents raised more than $6.5 million to give every member of UCF’s charter medical school class full scholarships. That means each one will graduate with no debt from medical school.

The Albertsons have been with Kang every step of the way of his journey, asking him to join them for lunch, dinner and UCF football games at Bright House Networks Stadium.

“They have treated me like family,” Kang said. “I feel really lucky to have had such a close relationship with my donors.”

When the day came for students to find out where they will complete their residency training after graduation, Kang asked his donors to open the envelope that contained his residency match.

At noon on March 15, Judy Albertson tore open the envelope.

When Kang heard that he had matched his first choice and was going back to his home state, he gave the Albertsons a tearful hug. They were tears of joy.

Kang is headed to the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans where he will complete a residency in orthopedic surgery.

“I think it is an incredibly honorable field,” Kang said. “Ortho surgeons help parents get back to work to take care of their families; help grandparents keep walking to stay independent, and help kids grow up to be normal kids. It’s not just shoulder scopes, hip replacements and casts. It is the stories behind them that mean the most to me.”

And if his past is any indication, he’ll continue to help his community wherever he goes.

“Teaching has always been a big part of my life,” Kang said. “I want to be an attending working with residents and medical students one day. I think that’s an important way to give back. And I will always look for ways to help my patients and my community. That’s just part of who I am.”