聽鈥淲e are very grateful to the Williams family for this generous gift,鈥� said 麻豆原创 Vice President and Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury. 鈥淭hanks to their commitment, our current and future student-athletes will be able to utilize all the benefits the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership will provide for years to come.鈥�

聽鈥淥n behalf of my family and in support of the Wayne Densch Charitable Trust, I felt there was a need to ensure this project became a reality,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淭he leadership at 麻豆原创, Todd Stansbury and Rick Walsh shared with me how important it is not only to have competitive sports facilities, but also how critical it is to make a big investment in the academic, personal and professional development of 麻豆原创 student-athletes,鈥� he said. 鈥淯nder Dr. Hitt鈥檚 leadership, 麻豆原创 has grown significantly. Our family is proud to make this investment.鈥�

聽The Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership will serve as the headquarters for personal, professional and academic development of nearly 500 Knights student-athletes. The project cost is estimated at $6 million for the three-story, 22,000-square-foot structure. The Center will house 麻豆原创鈥檚 Academic Services for Student-Athletes, Student Services and Compliance departments. The building will include a multi-purpose classroom with space for up to 200 students, a computer lab, tutoring and mentoring rooms, study space and conference and resource rooms. It will be located just east of and adjacent to Bright House Networks Stadium.

聽Construction is set to begin in January, with the project slated for completion in fall 2015.

We live in a world where clear, crisp communication is a must, where community and customer relations are critical to building and maintaining a loyal customer base, and teamwork is so important that corporations are actually consulting with successful athletics coaches to train departments to function as a team.

This brings up some very important questions: What is the cost of a bad hire? How much does the 鈥渂ottom line鈥� suffer when a new hire has difficulty acclimating and functioning in a team environment?

According to my colleagues, one bad hire can cost tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention the reduction in productivity and lowered company morale. Just think how much easier it would be if an employer could simply select from a highly qualified candidate pool already vetted over four or five years?

Critics seize every opportunity to say that 鈥渆ntitled鈥� student-athletes receive preferential treatment because they score points or bring in booster dollars.

Completely lost in the message of 鈥渨hat is wrong鈥� with college athletes is the monumental and uplifting story about 鈥渨hat is great鈥� about collegiate athletics. 麻豆原创 Athletics is pioneering an innovative program that will revolutionize how colleges and universities treat their student-athletes.

Thanks to a generous gift from the Wayne Densch Charitable Trust, work toward the 麻豆原创 Student-Athlete Leadership Institute has begun.聽We are identifying our best and brightest student-athletes as freshman and sophomores. Once identified, we are investing significant amounts of time and resources by placing them in highly specialized seminars and training sessions. With the mantra of 鈥淒eveloping World-Class Leaders for a lifetime of Service and Success,鈥� the concept of the leadership institute will transcend the importance of wins and losses on the field of play. The only focus is to prepare those student-athletes for their first four years after graduation.

Once these high-potential student-athletes complete the four to five years of training, 麻豆原创 will create an entire genre of student-athletes who are 鈥渕arket-ready graduates.鈥澛燭hrough several partnerships, our athletic department has created the 鈥淔irst Round Draft Pick鈥� program in which companies have the opportunity to mentor and track these elite student-athletes, and be among the first to offer them employment upon graduation.

Now back to the question I asked you to ponder earlier: How expensive is a bad hire? And then consider: What if you had a candidate who has already proven beyond a shadow of a doubt he or she can be a synergistic leader in a cohesive team environment?聽 What if you could hire a person who has already demonstrated the mastery of communication skills in a stressful and competitive environment? What if you had first pick of a candidate pool that has already has lived up to the standards of excellence and achievement demanded by their coaches and teammates?

My job isn鈥檛 just to win games鈥攖hat鈥檚 only part of my job. The most important part of my work is to make sure that I help shape and mold the mind of my student-athletes in a way that prepares them for life after their collegiate experience. Believe me, they have already survived and prospered under the toughest boss they will ever have. Balancing life issues, coping with stress, managing time and working with a team are already programmed into a student-athlete鈥檚 character.聽Competitiveness, excellence, respect of authority and problem solving are already a part of their work culture.

Hire a high-achieving student-athlete and the chances are you will never have to worry about making one of those dreaded bad hires.

Todd Dagenais is 麻豆原创鈥檚 head volleyball coach. He can be reached at tdagenais@athletics.ucf.edu.

The festival, in its second year, will include two short movies by 麻豆原创 Film students and will enlist a 麻豆原创 professor as a judge.

The event will screen 70 short films from 13 countries at the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center. Among the films selected from more than 220 submissions were the student movies Bubblegum Smackers, directed by Lindsay Garvin, and Italian Life, directed by Eric Coppa-Cross.

Bubblegum Smackers is a 17-minute film noir version of a 1940s detective caper, except child actors are the characters wearing the trench coats and acting as tough guys.

Italian Life is a nine-minute story about a young woman working in a caf茅 who has trouble making espresso.

Garvin, of Orlando, said she has been shooting film since she was 6 鈥� 鈥淢y dad had a camera and I took it from him.鈥�

What she has learned at 麻豆原创 is that successful filmmaking is not as easy as it looks on the screen. She said the techniques she has learned helped her secure a job as a TV production assistant in Miami that she will start after she graduates this semester.

Coppa-Cross, of Melbourne, said he has learned the technical aspects of film and how the industry runs.

鈥淢ore interesting is the experience,鈥� he said 鈥淲hen working on a film set you鈥檙e gaining so much more experience, and the school has given me the opportunity for that.鈥�

From the other side of the classroom, Assistant Professor Lisa Mills is returning to the festival as a judge for the second year. She has worked at 麻豆原创 since 2006, teaching documentary production, foundations of story, and other courses.

鈥淚 try to encourage my students to nurture their creativity and take time to think about what they want to create and why,鈥� Mills said. 鈥淚 encourage them to enter festivals.鈥�

Another 麻豆原创 connection is the festival鈥檚 media director, Christina Grace, who is a 麻豆原创 graphic designer and graduate.

鈥淪tudent filmmakers don鈥檛 jump right out of the gate producing feature-length films,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he short film is really where they get their start and get noticed.鈥�

She said the Sanford festival also is a good opportunity for students to network with other filmmakers from around the country and world. Last year there were filmmakers and film fans at the festival from as far away as California and Canada.

Wayne Densch Inc. is the presenting sponsor of the event, which will be held in the historic 1923 Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center.

The festival will show an opening-night block of movies; a final-night Best of the Fest; and, in between, seven 90-minute blocks of animation, comedy, drama, documentary, sci-fi/horror, Florida Flavor and E for Everyone, which is for families and children.

A free panel discussion with filmmakers will be held Saturday, Feb. 11.

A schedule and description of the movies is at http://LoveYourShorts.com.

The plan will soon be presented to the 麻豆原创 Board of Trustees for final approval before the fundraising process begins.

All of the construction detailed in the 麻豆原创 Athletics’ Facility Development Plan will occur within the athletics village quadrant on the northeast side of campus, furthering 麻豆原创’s commitment to achieve excellence on a national level. The plan includes a total of eight projects:

1. Bright House Networks Stadium expansion (multiple phases)
2. 麻豆原创 Academics/Athletics Support Center
3. 麻豆原创 Baseball Complex stadium expansion (multiple phases)
4. 麻豆原创 Baseball Clubhouse expansion and renovation
5. 麻豆原创 Intercollegiate Tennis Center
6. 麻豆原创 Track and Soccer Complex stadium expansion
7. 麻豆原创 Track and Soccer Complex clubhouse
8. Wayne Densch Sports Center expansion and renovation

The 50,000-square-foot 麻豆原创 Academics/Athletics Center is to be constructed on the vacant site between the new Wayne Densch Sports Center and residential tower four. The facility will be anchored by an academic support center for 麻豆原创’s student-athletes providing computer labs, tutoring and mentoring rooms, and offices for counselors and staff. Office space will also be provided for athletics administrators and coaches. Presently, both Academic Services for Student-Athletes (ASSA) and athletics administration are headquartered in the original Wayne Densch Sports Center, built in 1982-83, on the southern side of campus.

Expansion of the 麻豆原创 baseball complex is slated for construction in three separate phases and will bring an additional 3,380 seats to the present 800 seating capacity. The first phase calls for 1,200 bleacher seats, with 600 seats to be added beyond each dugout. The second phase includes a new elevated press box, seven luxury suites and club level seating. The final phase will add 2,000 seats on the present concourse, along with the addition of new public restrooms and concession space.

In addition to a larger stadium, the baseball complex is also slated to include expansion and renovation to the team clubhouse. Included in this project will be upgrades to the playing field, converting the present bench seating to chair-back, adding a canopy for shaded seating and a children’s activity area.

A 1,500-seat stadium located on the west side of the 麻豆原创 Track and Soccer Complex is projected to be the first project to begin as a part of the facility development plan. The new stadium will contain a press box and public restroom building and will be clad with a red brick and stucco facade. When completed, the complex will have a seating capacity of over 2,000.

Adjacent to the current soccer/track complex a 7,500 square-foot clubhouse will be constructed for the track and field and soccer programs. The facility will include locker rooms, meeting space, an athletic training room and equipment storage for these programs. Locker rooms will also be included for visiting teams and officials.

The 麻豆原创 Intercollegiate Tennis Complex, to be built adjacent to the east side of the current 麻豆原创 Softball Stadium, will include 12 championship-caliber courts and a 1,000-seat grandstand. The new tennis complex will also contain a clubhouse with locker rooms and other amenities for both the men’s and women’s programs. It is also planned that the complex will include three to four covered courts.

Expansion and renovation is planned for the Wayne Densch Sports Center, which houses football operations, as well as the main weight room and athletic training center. This 12,000 square-foot addition will be located between the current building and the Nicholson Fieldhouse. Planned upgrades include an expanded football locker room with a student-athlete lounge area, a larger equipment storage room, expansion to the current weight room and additional office space.

Expansion to Bright House Networks Stadium is also considered within the 10-year plan. This project would be comprised of two components. The first component would be an addition to the Roth Tower (west side) to provide more suites, club seating and operational space. The second component would be an expansion to the seating bowl by adding 10,000 seats to the east side of the stadium, which would bring the overall seating capacity of Bright House Networks Stadium to over 56,000. The second component may also include an east side stadium club.

This group of five outstanding individuals from 麻豆原创 Athletics’ past will be honored at a dinner event the evening of Friday, April 16, in the J. Rolfe Davis Recruiting Room at Bright House Networks Stadium. Joining a list of 54 previous 麻豆原创 athletics greats to be enshrined into the 麻豆原创 Athletics Hall of Fame will be former letterwinners Elgin Davis (football) and Kim Wyant (women’s soccer) in the Legendary Knights category; Michael O’Shaughnessy (football) in the Distinguished Letterwinner category; and a pair of Honorary Letterwinners, the late Wayne Densch, for his tremendous philanthropy throughout the history of 麻豆原创 Athletics, and 麻豆原创 men’s tennis founder Lex Wood.

Now is your chance to be a part of the entire weekend for just $60, through the Hall of Fame Pass, which includes a ticket to the Hall of Fame Induction Dinner on Friday night, the 麻豆原创 Spring Football Game and a barbecue plate at the 麻豆原创 Pigskin Barbecue & Fan Day on Saturday and a weekend pass to the 麻豆原创 baseball vs. Rice series.

To purchase a Hall of Fame Pass through the Golden Knights Club, please call (407) 823-2086 or e-mail GoldenKnightsClub@athletics.ucf.edu.

In addition to the Induction Dinner on Friday, the class will be honored during the 麻豆原创 Spring Football Game on Saturday, with on-field recognition to the audience of thousands in attendance at Bright House Networks Stadium.

The 麻豆原创 Athletics Hall of Fame was established in 1998 and has now honored 59 former coaches, athletes and administrators.

For a bio on each new Hall of Fame member visit 麻豆原创 Athletics.