This year, the UCF Office of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) continued the Faculty Awards Program, supporting 25 exciting faculty and staff projects focused on helping undergraduate students prepare for success after college. Proposals were judged — in two categories Enhancement and Program Innovation — based on their ability to advance the QEP’s theme “What’s Next: Integrative Learning for Professional and Civic Preparation.”
- The 9 Enhancement project awardees received up to $3,500 for improving existing or creating new resources for undergraduate students, such as developing courses, designing high-impact learning activities, or enhancing career preparation.
- The 16 Program Innovation project awardees received up to $10,000 for projects that enhance existing programs or create new ones to advance undergraduate student learning outcomes, such as mapping and revising curriculum, implementing new technologies (e.g., e-portfolios), or providing faculty and staff training.
Including the 2016 awardees and the 2017 selected projects, the What’s Next: Integrative Learning for Professional and Civic Preparation initiative has supported 50 projects from 11 different colleges across the UCF community.
Project submissions for next year’s “What’s Next” awards begin in early January, 2018, and awards will be announced in April. For questions concerning the Funded Awards program, please contact us at QEP@ucf.edu.
The list of winners are below.
2017 Program Innovation Awards:
Title: Augmentation and Amplification of the new Plant Science Track in Biology through Integrative Learning Experiences
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Rani Vajravelu (Biology)
Other Members: Eric Hoffman, Chase Mason, Laurie von Kalm (Biology)
Title: Evolution of High-Impact Experiences Imbedded in UCF Curriculum: Institutionalizing the Coach Model for Undergraduate Student Success
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Linda Walters (Biology)
Other Members: Mary Tripp (Writing & Rhetoric), Martha Garcia (Modern Languages & Literatures), Michael Rovito (Public Health), Amanda Anthony (Sociology), Kimberly Schneider (Undergraduate Research)
Title: Getting Social Work Seniors Ready for the Profession: The Use of High Impact Integrative Learning Strategies
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $9,550.00
Project Lead: Ana Leon (Social Work)
Other Members: Robin Kohn (Social Work), Belinda Boyd (Theater), Alexander Moore (SVAD Student)
Title: Graduate School Preparation Online Modules and Curriculum
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Michael Aldarondo-Jeffries (Academic Advancement Programs)
Other Members: Natalia Toro (Academic Advancement Programs)
Title: IDEAS and Active Learning: Preparing the Engineering Student for Success
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $9,500.00
Project Lead: Ricardo Zaurin (Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering)
Other Members: F. Necati Catbas (Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering)
Title: Incorporating Career-Readiness Learning in Foundational STEM Curricula via Integrative
Assessments
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Baiyun Chen (Instructional Design)
Other Members: Ronald DeMara (Electrical & Computer Engineering), Richard Hartshorne (Instructional, Design, and Technology)
Title: Incorporating Integrative Learning into the Anthropology Major
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $7,500.00
Project Lead: Sarah Barber (Anthropology)
Other Members: Chinyen Chuo (Experiential Learning), Neil Duncan, Amanda Groff, Beatriz Reyes-Foster, John Schultz, Lana Williams (Anthropology)
Title: Increasing Readiness for Practice: Using a High-Impact Experience in Simulation
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Kelly Allred (Nursing)
Other Members: Desiree Diaz, Joyce DeGennaro, Jon Decker, Mindi Anderson, Laura Gonzalez, Frank Guido-Sanz (Nursing).
Title: Integrated Learning for Future Public Service Professionals
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $8,000.00
Project Lead: Stephanie Krick (Public Administration)
Other Members: Steven Carrillo, Nasrin Lakhani, Mirtha Bailey (Public Administration)
Title: Modernizing Applied Industrial Microbiology
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Sean Moore (Biomedical Sciences)
Other Members: Woo Hyong Lee, Steve Duranceau (Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering), Shibu Yooseph (Computer Science)
Title: The MT² (Men Teach Too) Project
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Andrea Small (College of Education and Human Performance–Undergraduate Affairs)
Other Members: Caroline Marrett, Jorri Bright (College of Education and Human Performance–Undergraduate Affairs)
Title: Online Learning Readiness Program
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Jennifer Sumner (Regional Campuses)
Other Members: Pam Cavanaugh (Regional Campuses)
Title: Opening the Digital Door: New Paths to Engagement in Undergraduate Research
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Aubrey Kuperman (Undergraduate Research)
Other Members: Kimberly Schneider, Colleen Smith, Kevin Jardaneh (Undergraduate Research)
Title: Taking the UCF-Hillcrest Foreign Language Club to the Next Level: Curricular Development to Grow Service Learning Opportunities for UCF Students
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Kacie Tartt (Modern Languages & Literatures)
Other Members: Amelia Lyons (History), Marie Léticée, Anne Prucha, Rita De Luca Guerriero (Modern Languages & Literatures)
Title: Transfer Year Experience
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: Jason Dodge (Transfer and Transition Services)
Title: What’s Next for Biomedical Scientists?
Award Type: Program Innovation
Amount Funded: $10,000.00
Project Lead: William Self (Burnett School of Biomedical Science)
Other Members: Alecia Hawthorne (Burnett School of Biomedical Science)
2017 Enhancement Awards:
Title: Career PREP (Psychology Readiness Enhancement Program)
Award Type: Enhancement
Amount Funded: $3,500.00
Project Lead: Lynn Hansen (Career Services)
Other Members: Clint Bowers (Psychology), Jason Smith (Experiential Learning), Gian-Karlo Alvarez (Career Services)
Title: Developing Culturally Competent Hospitality Leaders for Global Opportunities
Award Type: Enhancement
Amount Funded: $3,500.00
Project Lead: Sheila Vargas (Career Services)
Other Members: Fazal Jameer (Study Abroad), Jessica Wickey (Rosen Professional Internships)
Title: Faculty Handbook of Classroom Activities and Assignments Connecting Course and Program Learning Outcomes with Career Readiness
Award Type: Enhancement
Amount Funded: $3,500.00
Project Lead: Susan Jardaneh (English)
Other Members: Alisha Janowsky (Psychology), Anna Turner (Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning)
Title: From the Armchair to the Office: Shedding Light on Our Students’ Variety of Career Options
Award Type: Enhancement
Amount Funded: $3,500.00
Project Lead: Christian Ravela (Philosophy)
Other Members: Luis Favela (Philosophy)
Title: Innovation of Online Training Program with the Implementation of High-impact Integrative Learning Structure for the Hospitality Faculty
Award Type: Enhancement
Amount Funded: $3,500.00
Project Lead: Murat Kizildag (Hospitality Services)
Other Members: Nan Hua, Ahmet Bulent Ozturk (Hospitality Services), Baiyun Chen, Beth Nettles (Center for Distributed Learning).
Title: Interdisciplinary Curating and Museum Studies Minor
Award Type: Enhancement
Amount Funded: $3,500.00
Project Lead: Barry Mauer (English)
Other Members: Keri Watson, Melissa Geppert, Ilenia Colon Mendoza, Molly Reilly (SVAD), Jon Venecek, David Benjamin, Carrie Moran (Libraries), Connie Lester, Scot French, Caroline Cheong (History)
Title: Interdisciplinary Florida Review, Phase 2
Award Type: Enhancement
Amount Funded: $3,500.00
Project Lead: Lisa Roney (English)
Other Members: Natalie Underberg-Goode (SVAD Digital Media), Keri Watson (SVAD Visual Arts), Katherine Shults (SVAD Film), Nathan Holic (Writing & Rhetoric).
Title: UCF Adaptive Community Project
Award Type: Enhancement
Amount Funded: $3,500.00
Project Lead: Megan Sherod (Psychology)
Other Members: Janet Whiteside (Communication Sciences & Disorders), Patrick Pabian, Jennifer Tucker, Rick Beato (Health Professions), Derick Brown (Academic Services for Student Athletes)
Title: Women in STEM: Aim Higher
Award Type: Enhancement
Amount Funded: $3,500.00
Project Lead: Jonathan Hall (School of Teaching, Learning and Leadership)
Other Members: William Blank, Jessica Carter (Career Services), Melissa Dagley (Center for Initiatives in STEM), Malcolm Butler (School of Teaching, Learning and Leadership)