麻豆原创 honored 39 such faculty members during 麻豆原创鈥檚 second Authors Celebration on Feb. 5 at the Live Oak Ballroom. The , and co-sponsor the affair every two years. Interim Provost Michael D. Johnson also attended to cheer faculty on.

鈥淎s a kid, I used to jump on my bicycle and pedal to the library as fast as I could just so I could borrow books,鈥� says Elizabeth Klonoff, vice president for Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies. 鈥淏ooks are incredible. They open up whole new worlds. It is no easy thing to publish a book. That鈥檚 why what you do is so cool and we wanted to recognize you.鈥�

The celebration included a reading by one of this year鈥檚 honorees, Professor of writing and rhetoric Martha Catherine Brenckle. During her talk she spoke about the steps necessary to writing poetry and read excerpts from her book Hard Letters and Folded Wings.

She shared many of her poems, some that rhymed and some that did not, to weave a tapestry of colors and shapes that evoked emotions. Brenckle concluded with perhaps the most important lesson: 鈥淭here is no one way or right way to write poetry. Commitment, lots of hard work and to get [started] writing is what is needed.鈥�

About 80 people attended the event, including some previous honorees. They shared conversation and food while browsing tables that showcased some of the books written by the author honored.

The collection included works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and textbooks. They covered a variety of topics including: women鈥檚 contributions to journalism in the post-World War II era, invasive plants in Florida, spacecraft Cassinis鈥� voyage to Saturn, sports heroes, and marketing for tourism and hospitality, among others.

This year鈥檚 recognized authors are:

• Jonathan Beever,

• Steven Berman,

• Martha Catherine Brenckle, College of Arts and Humanities

• Cheryl Briggs, College of Arts and Humanities

• Sarah Bush,

• Michael Callaghan, College of Sciences

• Ilenia Colon Mendoza, College of Arts and Humanities

• Joshua Colwell, College of Sciences

• Sai Deng, John C. Hitt Library

• Tyler Fisher, College of Arts and Humanities

• David Fukuda,

• Alan Fyall,

• Martha Garcia, College of Arts and Humanities

• Edward Gonzalez-Tennant, College of Sciences

• David Head, College of Arts and Humanities

• Micah Dean Hicks, College of Arts and Humanities

• Nathan Holic, College of Arts and Humanities

• Aubrey Jewett, College of Sciences

• Anthony Pak-Hin Kong, College of Health Professions and Sciences

• Richard Lapchick,

• Julia Listengarten, College of Arts and Humanities

• Humberto Lopez Cruz, College of Arts and Humanities

• Luis Martinez-Fernandez, College of Arts and Humanities

• Rudy McDaniel, College of Arts and Humanities

• Tison Pugh, College of Arts and Humanities

• Beatriz Reyes-Foster, College of Sciences

• Kyle Riding,

• Fernando Rivera, College of Sciences

• John Solow, College of Business

• Nancy Stanlick, College of Arts and Humanities

• Michael Stawser, College of Sciences

• Stella Sung, College of Arts and Humanities

• Gunes Murat Tezcur, College of Sciences

• Kimberly Wilmot Voss, College of Sciences

• Linda Walters, College of Sciences

• Ross Wolf, College of Community Innovation and Education

• Melissa Worley, College of Medicine

• Margaret Ann Zaho, College of Arts and Humanities

• Richard Zraick, College of Health Professions and Sciences

麻豆原创 also was ranked as the No. 3 higher-education institution in Florida and No. 21 in the South region using the factors that WalletHub looks at, such as student-faculty ratio, graduation rate and post-attendance median salary. For the national rankings, more than 1,000 schools were reviewed; 麻豆原创 was No. 97.

“We are pleased to be gaining recognition for advancing student success and faculty excellence as we offer broad access to a high-value education,” says Elizabeth A. Dooley, 麻豆原创’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “麻豆原创’s affordability allows students to enjoy an optimal educational experience that prepares them well for a bright future.”

To determine the top-performing schools at the lowest possible costs to undergraduates, WalletHub also analyzed post-attendance metrics 鈥� such as the student-loan default rate and the share of former students out-earning high school graduates 鈥� to show the value of the education that students can expect to receive beyond their commencement.

鈥淪tudents want to know they are getting a good deal,鈥� WalletHub says.

The University of Florida and Florida State University were the other top-performing schools in the state, according to the WalletHub rankings.

In August, Washington Monthly magazine ranked 麻豆原创 the 55th best national university and 25^th 鈥淏est Bang for the Buck鈥� university in the southeast. Those rankings were based on the metrics of social mobility, research and service. The social mobility scores looked at graduation rates, number of first-generation students, tuition costs and other factors.

In the 鈥淏est Bang for the Buck鈥� category, the magazine recognized schools that help lower- and middle-income students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices.

Kiplinger and Forbes also both rank 麻豆原创 among the nation鈥檚 best education values.

Led by Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Elizabeth A. Dooley, the strategic alignment results from months of planning by our academic leaders with input from faculty, staff and students. It also follows various reports and assessments over the years that encouraged 麻豆原创 to take bold steps to enhance, reform and reimagine ways to better support students and their journey to achieving a degree.

The changes address priorities that include:

• strengthening advising, especially through the role of faculty and advising enabled by data analytics;
• defining a shared philosophy for student success; and
• aligning shared ownership, accountability and impact to deliver on our student success goals.

鈥淪tudent success is much more than just reaching target metrics. Our collective efforts must focus on creating a culture of student success that goes beyond the numbers and gets straight to why we are each here: to help students graduate and be successful, productive and global lifelong learners,鈥� Dooley says. 鈥淭o achieve this goal, an area we will strive to be recognized for is our distinctive commitment to student success.鈥�

The organizational adjustments underway seek to better align student success with academics and university support units. Here鈥檚 more on the changes:

Division of Teaching and Learning and the College of Undergraduate Studies: The Division of Teaching and Learning and the College of Undergraduate Studies will be renamed the division of Student Learning and Academic Success and College of Undergraduate Studies. As part of this alignment, the Office of Student Success, First Year Advising and Exploration, Transfer and Transition Services, Student Academic Resource Center, and the Registrar鈥檚 Office will transition from the division of Student Development and Enrollment Services to the Division of Student Learning and Academic Success. The changes will strengthen the links between academics and student success; enhance our retention, persistence and graduation rates; and increase our students鈥� achievements in post-graduation pursuits.

Analytics and Integrated Planning:聽This new division in Academic Affairs includes the Institutional Knowledge Management unit. The new division is responsible for advancing the university鈥檚 analytics capabilities, sharing new success insights and enhancing data information use. The change will align institutional planning efforts and performance accountability.

Faculty Excellence: The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (formerly under Teaching and Learning) will now report to the vice provost for Faculty Excellence. The change will help better support faculty development, student success and academic excellence.

Academic Affairs: The Operational Excellence and Assessment Support and Academic Planning units (formerly under Teaching and Learning), along with Academic Program Quality (formerly under Analytics and Integrated Planning), and the Center for Higher Education Innovation now report to the senior associate provost. The changes will help consolidate resources and improve collaboration.

This alignment does not impact the structure of the academic colleges and the budgetary impact is minimal. Rather, the changes focus on the structures of the organizational units that support the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs.

To support this initiative, Dooley has established implementation teams. They are charged with operationalizing a new student success model and structure that will ensure a student-centric approach throughout 麻豆原创鈥檚 operations. She asked the teams to complete their work by January 2020.

The alignment seeks to build on 麻豆原创鈥檚 major strides in boosting student retention and degree completion. Last fall, for the first time, 麻豆原创 surpassed a 90 percent first-year student retention rate. This fall, the university has topped 91 percent.

In addition, over the past decade, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Hispanic and African American students have bucked national trends and significantly outperformed national averages for retention and completing a degree, particularly in addressing disparities with white majority counterparts.

As a result, 麻豆原创 was recently named a finalist for the聽prestigious 2019 Degree Completion Award聽from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.

麻豆原创 holds of the distinction of being the No. 1 producer of talent among public universities in the nation, with more than 16,000 degrees awarded last year. Also, 麻豆原创 ranks second among all public and private institutions in bachelor鈥檚 degrees awarded to African American and Hispanic students.

Join campus leaders for an open discussion about campus safety and well-being that will start at 10 a.m. Monday, April 9, in the Cape Florida Ballroom, Room 316AB of the Student Union.

The one-hour forum will include an overview of resources available on campus and future safety enhancements. Most importantly, the forum is the place for the campus community to ask questions and offer feedback.

Panelists will include 麻豆原创 Police Chief Richard Beary;聽Adrienne Frame, associate vice president and dean of students; Karen Hofmann, director for Counseling and Psychological Services; and Jana Jasinski, interim vice provost for Faculty Excellence.

The event will be live-streamed on , and the recording will be posted there for those who cannot attend.

Downstairs in the Pegasus Ballroom, campus safety, health and wellness partners at 麻豆原创’s Big Blood Drive will share information and resources available to the 麻豆原创 community. The drive will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Donors will receive a 麻豆原创 blood donor T-shirt, and donors who make an appointment will receive free OneBlood earbuds.

He was at the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of the Rhineland during World War II, and he received a Purple Heart for his service during the 1945 Battle for Remagen Bridge in Germany, a key victory for the Allies.

Recently, he was bestowed another honor, Knight of the Legion of Honor, France鈥檚 highest decoration, for his courage and selfless service to France while serving in the Army鈥檚 276th Engineer Combat Battalion.

鈥淲e were sometimes out in front of our own infantry doing projects,鈥� said Gambrell, who left 麻豆原创 in 1978. 鈥淲e swept fields for mines, built bridges and did road work.鈥�

Gambrell enlisted in 1942 while he was a student at the University of Alabama. He said he is still in contact with a couple other men who served with him.聽聽

He was nominated for the award about 18 months聽ago, he said, and a background check from French officials in the United States followed. During the presentation in Orlando, 10 people were given the award by a French admiral.

鈥淵our decision to fight for freedom was an admirable act,鈥� Elaine Machado of the Legion of Honor wrote in a letter for the presentation. 鈥淭he solidarity you lent our country and people as a soldier will never be forgotten; be assured that we are eternally grateful.鈥�

During his tenure at 麻豆原创, Gambrell was also a faculty member in the College of Engineering. He received his Bachelor of Arts at Florida Southern College; Bachelor of Science at Clemson University; MBA at West Coast University; Master of Science and Engineering at the University of Florida; an honorary LL.D. at Southern California Institute of Law; and Ph.D. at Purdue University.

After leaving 麻豆原创, Gambrell held positions at West Coast University, Mercer University and Mercer Engineering Research Center. He now lives with his wife, Olive, in Lakeland.

Gambrell, a retired lieutenant colonel of the Army Reserve, said the Legion of Honor presentation made him reflect on days past.

鈥淚t鈥檚 easier now to see and realize what we accomplished, and that the sacrifices we made were worthwhile,鈥� he said.

Or maybe you wondered what happened to the Dinky Line railroad that traveled between Orlando and Oviedo. (Formally known as the Orlando-Winter Park Railroad Co., the line started in 1889, but by 1969 all the tracks were removed because of the popularity of the automobile.)

The 麻豆原创鈥檚 new RICHES Mosaic Interface, an innovative online project that just went live, taps into places, people and events like these that shaped the region鈥檚 history.

RICHES (the Regional Initiative for Collecting History, Experiences and Stories) of Central Florida is a growing catalog of information that can be searched in a way that Dr. Connie Lester hopes becomes a digital model for others.

The interdisciplinary project started about two years ago, bringing together 麻豆原创 departments, faculty members and students working with partners in the community to preserve the region鈥檚 history. And now, the databases are being presented in the project鈥檚 digital, interactive RICHES Mosaic Interface.

Lester, an associate professor of history and director of the project, said people can search the archives by using filters to find documents, photographs, podcasts, videos and other information pinpointed on maps and within certain time windows.

When she started meshing the history project with the most up-to-date technical capabilities, the goal was to tell Central Florida鈥檚 story and provide a way to easily zero in on a specific topic.

鈥淲e began to think about this together; we talked about how historians think and how people in the digital world think, and then we got them to work together,鈥� Lester said.

As a result, searchers can look for keywords within certain categories 鈥� such as business and economy, social and cultural, and government and military 鈥� and even delve into a specific time frame reaching back to 1840. (Florida became a state in 1845.)

Today there are 27 partners from the university, the community and beyond driving the project. Partners include the University of West Florida, Florida Atlantic University, historical societies and museums in the region, and organizations such as the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Hannibal Square Heritage Center, Celery Soup/Creative Sanford and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council.

Individuals, businesses and organizations can help build the site by electronically uploading photos, documents, and other items. Submitted information will be reviewed by the RICHES staff before the items are added to the site.

Much of the website so far has been compiled with data collected by 麻豆原创 students through class projects and by working under the supervision of project directors.

Cataloging the history of Sanford is one of the pilot projects for the network, which later hopes to expand its collection about other Central Florida communities.

鈥淲e picked Sanford because it was the 鈥楪ateway City,鈥欌�� Lester said. That was the town鈥檚 early nickname because it was the jump-off point on the St. Johns River to open up the rest of central and south Florida after founder Henry Sanford incorporated the community in 1877. The city also has a history in the development of agriculture, industry and arts in the region.

RICHES developed the system with 麻豆原创鈥檚 Institute for Simulation & Training and Adaptive Assessment Services Inc., a company that specializes in web-based training and assessments. The RICHES Interactive Team is: Connie Harper, senior programmer analyst; Katherine Marra, metadata editor; Dr. Paul Wiegand, research associate; and Dr. Larry Davis, senior vice president of research and development of Adaptive Assessment Services.

The next phase of the project is to create a system that not only searches geography and time, but also can search for relationships between subjects, said Davis.

Funding for the project has come from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities Council, Winter Park Health Foundation, Florida High Tech Corridor Council, the 麻豆原创 College of Arts聽& Humanities, and 麻豆原创 Academic Affairs.