Professional Achievement Awards ... Congratulations to the college's recipients of the Professional Achievement Awards for 2005: Sidney A. Roman (Legal Studies ’91), president, Professional Paralegal Services, and Kenneth W. Dion (Nursing ’81), founder and CEO, Decision Critical, Inc. They will receive the awards at UCF's Black and Gold Gala on November 3rd.

Class Project Yields $20,000 Grant ... Majorie Ceballos, a student in the Master of Public Administration program, wrote a grant proposal for her fall 2004 course, Grant and Contract Management, that has earned a Superintendent's Competitive Grant award of $20,000 from the Orange County School District. The grant will enable Carver Middle School in Orlando to provide teacher training and obtain supplies, software and equipment used during intensive reading instruction for students in Exceptional Student Education and Limited English Proficiency programs.

National Award for Legal Studies Article ... Lucille Ponte, associate professor of legal studies, received the 2005 Hoeber Memorial Award for most outstanding article in the Journal of Legal Studies Education for "Troubled Times at Upturn Records: Getting Traditional Legal Concepts to Dance to the New Online Beat," which she coauthored with colleagues from the University of Connecticut and Bentley College. The national award is given each year by the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, the premier professional organization for undergraduate law professors. Ponte was also a finalist for the 2005 Holmes-Cardozo Award for excellence in legal scholarship for her paper, "The Emperor Has No Clothes: How Digital Sampling Infringement Cases Are Exposing Weaknesses in Traditional Copyright Law and the Need for Substantive Statutory Reform."

UCF Alumni Event Award … The Health Services Administration Alumni Club Symposium received an award for the Most Outstanding Event for 2004-2005 from the UCF Alumni Association. The symposium, held March 23, 2005, at the UCF Orlando campus, featured a panel of 10 prominent health-care professionals from Central Florida who responded to questions on a variety of topics related to health care. The event was the first one sponsored by the club, which was founded in 2004.

2005 Who's Who at UCF Awardees ... The following COHPA students are among 100 students selected as the best and brightest at UCF in academics, athletics, leadership or service by a Student Government Association committee. They will be profiled in the annual Who's Who at UCF publication, which is distributed to Fortune 500 companies, state and national legislators, and local businesses.

Academics
    Patricia Weinstein (Nursing Ph.D.)
Leadership
    Oluwaseun Aduloju (Legal Studies)
    Victor Perez (Legal Studies)
    Evan Rosenberg (Legal Studies)
    Carmen Stokes (Public Administration M.P.A.)
Service
    Donya-Gay Dyce (Legal Studies)
    Samantha Gottschalch (Health Services Administration M.S.)
    Hans Meyer (Social Work)
    Amber Vance (Health Services Administration)

Founders' Day Award Recipients ... Congratulations to the following recipients of collegewide awards presented at UCF's annual Founders' Day honors convocation on April 13: Hans Meyer (Social Work undergraduate), Founders' Award Student; Lisa Smith (Nursing), Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching; Janice Peterson (Nursing), Excellence in Graduate Teaching; and Karen Dennis (Nursing), Excellence in Distinguished Research. In addition, Peter Colby (Public Administration), David Fabianic (Criminal Justice and Legal Studies), Jean Kijek (Nursing) and David Ratusnik (Communicative Disorders) received 20-Year Service Awards.

COHPA Employees of the Year ... Congratulations to Katie Pomp, office manager for the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies, and Sue Divan, office assistant for the Communicative Disorders Clinic, for being selected as the college's Employees of the Year. Each year, the college recognizes a USPS employee for her or his outstanding contributions. This year's selection, which is made by college employees, resulted in a tie. Pomp was cited for her outstanding performance in managing the department office after two staff members left because of relocation. Divan was cited for the her outstanding performance in keeping the clinic's busy office running smoothly.

Bookstore Scholarship Winners ...Hans Meyer, a social work undergraduate who will enter the Master of Social Work program this fall, and Elizabeth Medina, a UCF student who will enter the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program this fall, were selected to receive UCF Bookstore Scholarships, which will cover the costs of their books for the 2005-2006 academic year. Both were winners in the Bookstore's "If I were a book, my title would be ..." essay competition.

UCF USPS Employee of the Month ... Sue Divan, an office assistant in the Communicative Disorders Clinic, has been named the UCF USPS Employee of the Month for March 2005. Her coworkers describe her as "truly remarkable." "She keeps everything working so well. Sue is loved dearly by all who know her and work with her."

National Curriculum Innovation Award ... The Master of Nonprofit Management program at the University of Central Florida was selected to receive the 2005 Curriculum Innovation Award from the American Society for Public Administration on Sunday, April 3, at the society's annual conference in Milwaukee, Wis. Established in 2004, the program is offered completely online and provides students with the management and analytical skills needed for successful careers in the nonprofit sector.

Legal Aid Service Award ... Kathy Cook, a lawyer and an instructor and internship coordinator in the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies, recently received an award for outstanding and dedicated service to the community from the Seminole County Bar Legal Aid Society.

New UCF Study Body President ... Legal studies major Willie Bentley, Jr., was elected as next year's student body president on Feb. 23, following three weeks of active campaigning. He is currently this year's student body vice president.

Nursing Research Poster Award ... Nursing Professor Mary Lou Sole and Adjunct Instructor E. Daleen Aragon received an award for their poster, "Outcomes Measurement in an Infection Prevention Project," at the 34th annual Critical Care Congress hosted by the Society for Critical Care Medicine. The congress was held Jan. 15-19, 2005 in Phoenix, Ariz.

2005 Rising Star Award...2001 nursing alumna Louise Damon received the college's 2005 Rising Star Award in recognition of her progress and achievement in nursing and the community. The Rising Star Award is for recent UCF graduates who were involved in student leadership positions during their tenure at UCF and continue to be active members of the Alumni Association.

2005 Order of Pegasus...Legal studies senior Oluwaseun Aduloju was one of 11 undergraduate recipients of the Order of Pegasus for 2005. The Order of Pegasus recognizes exemplary UCF students who demonstrate outstanding university involvement, leadership, academic achievement and community service.

Student Social Worker of the Year Award ... Social work senior Hans Meyer was selected as the Student Social Worker of the Year for 2005 by the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. He was selected from among social work undergraduate and graduate students from 11 universities in the state.

Service-Learning Faculty Recognition Award ... Diane Wink, professor of nursing, is one of five UCF faculty members to receive the university's first ever "Service-Learning Faculty Recognition Award." The award recognizes her "distinguished service and outstanding commitment to service learning at UCF."

Teaching/Tenured Faculty Leadership Award ... Naim Kapucu, assistant professor of public administration, is this year's recipient of the "Teaching/Tenured Faculty Leadership Award." He will be formally honored with the award at the university's 2005 Leadership Week Awards Ceremony on February 24.

Health Informatics Distinguished Paper Award... A paper by public affairs Director and Professor Thomas Wan titled, "Healthcare Informatics Research: From Data to Evidence-Based Management," has been nominated for the Distinguished Paper Award for 2004 by the Midwest Business and Health Administration Association. Wan will present the paper on March 16, 2005, at the association's annual meeting in Chicago. The paper will be published in a 2005 issue of the Journal of Medical Systems.

National Public Administration Student Award ... The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) recently awarded public administration graduate student Kevin O'Farrell one of four $250 grants available nationwide to enable him to attend the ASPA National Conference in Milwaukee, Wis., April 2-5, 2005.

National American Humanics Award ... The American Humanics program received a national Excellence in Community Relations Award at the American Humanics Management Institute in Atlanta in January 2005.

Criminal Justice Regional Competition Ribbons ... The UCF student chapter of the American Criminal Justice Association brought home seven first-place ribbons from the association's southeastern United States regional competition in Nashville in November 2004.

New National Nonprofit Board Member ... Judge David Gray Ross, an executive-in-residence in the college and former commissioner of the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, has joined the Board of Trustees of the Children's Rights Council, a national nonprofit organization.