The forum will be hosted by President John C. Hitt; Provost and Executive Vice President Tony Waldrop; and Vice Presidents Maribeth Ehasz (Student Development and Enrollment Services); Al Harms (Strategy, Marketing, Communications & Admissions); Dan Holsenbeck (海角直播 Relations), and Bill Merck (Administration & Finance).

The forum will be 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Key West Ballroom, Room 218 of the Student Union.

Trustees learned that the freshman class includes 67 National Merit Scholars, 14 National Hispanic Scholars, four National Achievement Scholars and 53 high school valedictorians.

鈥淲e are continuing to attract top-notch students from across the country,鈥� said Al Harms, vice president of Strategy, Marketing, Communications and Admissions.

Eighteen percent of freshmen are the first in their families to attend a four-year college or university. That figure rises to 26 percent for the entire UCF student body.

鈥淭his is great for them, but also for their children,鈥� President John C. Hitt said during the State of the 海角直播 Address on Tuesday. 鈥淒ata show that children of college graduates are 12 times more likely to go to college than children of parents who have not attended college.鈥�

Other key statistics for the fall freshman class of 3,640 students include:

In other action Thursday, the Board of Trustees:

Learned that UCF鈥檚 purchase of the WMFE TV broadcast license and production equipment is now final. The sale ensures that, through ,聽public broadcasting will remain in Central Florida and will lead to a stronger broadcast signal, meaning PBS will be accessible to more people in Central Florida and others will enjoy better viewing reception. Additionally, more educational opportunities will be available for UCF students in broadcast engineering, digital film and media, communications and other fields.

Discussed the success of UCF鈥檚 online learning initiatives, including the university鈥檚 emphasis on providing the resources faculty members need to develop highly effective online courses. The Sloan Consortium, a higher-education association that promotes online learning, recognized UCF this year with its top institution-wide award for creating and delivering high-quality courses online.

Approved naming the presentation room in the Graduate Student Center in Colbourn Hall after Patricia Bishop, who retired in January as vice provost and dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

Remembered Al Burnett, a highly respected entrepreneur and one of the university鈥檚 most generous supporters. Burnett, who passed away this month, and his wife Nancy, who died last year, donated $12.8 million over more than 30 years to support UCF students and programs, and the impact of their gifts plus state matching funds totaled nearly $25 million. The university president鈥檚 home, honors college and school of biomedical sciences are named in their honor. Trustees watched a video tribute created by Burnett Honors College students.

Learned that the U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $1.1 million grant to continue the UCF , which prepares juniors and seniors for a doctoral education. Participants are low-income or first-generation students or are from underrepresented groups.

Honored Physics Professor Dan Britt for developing the technology that allowed scientists and the public to get close-up views of Mars鈥� minerals and textures with the proper color.

Applauded the women鈥檚 soccer team for ranking as high as No. 6 in the nation this fall. The team has been ranked in the top 10 for six consecutive weeks.

UCF faculty and staff, along with other faculty, staff and college administrators from as far away as Massachusetts, gathered Aug. 3 to talk about improving the academic success of veterans on campus. The conference was hosted by Student Development and Enrollment Services, the Veterans Academic Resource Center, and Registrar’s Office.

Opening remarks from UCF Vice President Al Harms, a retired Navy vice admiral, set the tone for the importance in recognizing the challenges that student veterans often face when transitioning from military to civilian life.

Breakout sessions included topics such as the challenges faced by returning veterans with disabilities, programs designed for veterans transitioning from boots to books, and serving veterans with little money.

Conference speakers and participants shared their insightful leadership in recognizing the need for preparing and sustaining student veterans towards academic success. Networking was a bonus as participants were able to share their knowledge and gain resourceful information from one another.聽聽聽聽

The keynote remarks from Dr. John Schupp, creator of the Supportive Education for the Returning Veteran program and an instructor at Tiffin 海角直播 in Ohio, reinforced that reforms and new ideas are needed to serve the new generation of student veterans.

Conference participants also toured the UCF Veterans Academic Resource Center and learned about the resources offered.

The forum will be hosted by UCF President John C. Hitt, Provost and Executive Vice President Tony Waldrop, and Vice Presidents Maribeth Ehasz, Al Harms, Dan Holsenbeck and Bill Merck.

The event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union.

“We are cooperating fully with the NCAA and addressing these issues in a responsible manner,” said Interim Director of Athletics Al Harms. “UCF is on the path to rebuilding a strong ‘culture of compliance’ that is consistent with our high standards of professional and personal conduct and our responsibilities to the NCAA.

“Our considerable self-imposed penalties, along with our previous personnel actions, are important parts of that process.”

Upon receiving the NCAA report in November, the university took several personnel actions as an immediate response. UCF also required that the Athletics Association’s compliance office report to the university’s chief compliance and ethics officer, as well as to the director of athletics.

As detailed in the response filed today, UCF also will move forward with several self-imposed penalties for the football and men’s basketball programs.

The most significant self-imposed penalties include the following: reductions in financial aid awards for men’s basketball, the vacation of wins from prior men’s basketball seasons and a reduction in recruiting days for football and men’s basketball.

The NCAA report did not involve any other sports. The NCAA will hold a hearing about the allegations and UCF’s responses in April in Indianapolis.

Copies of the introduction to UCF’s response and the details of the self-imposed penalties can be found here and here. Please note that UCF is also proposing vacating men鈥檚 basketball victories from 2010-11 as well as 2009-10 and 2008-09. The original document excluded 2010-11. To ensure compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the names of students and prospective students have been redacted.

Head coach Terry Rooney challenged his team to play more fundamentally sound on Saturday and they did just that.

“I’m very proud of the effort of our guys,” Rooney said. “We talk about it every time that we are going to be better in March than February and we are going to be better in June than we are in May. That was the challenge yesterday. Fundamentally we did not play a very good game of baseball yesterday. There were a lot of great individual efforts, but as a team, we played better today.

“Winning college baseball games is not easy. Anytime you put yourself in a position to win a series, and potentially sweep a series, it is a great weekend.”

Preseason Conference USA Player of the Year D.J. Hicks (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) ended the weekend batting .538 with seven RBI and his back-to-back two-strike homers in game two Saturday gave him his fourth-career two-dinger game.

Next up for the Knights is a trip to Gainesville Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against the No. 1 Gators. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Florida.

Friday, Season Opener

A little rain prior to Opening Knight wouldn’t stop baseball fans from central Florida from coming out and seeing the No. 21 Knights claim a 13-7 victory over LIU Brooklyn in the newly renovated UCF baseball complex. A crowd of 2,038, the six-largest in school history and second-most on Opening Day, witnessed the fifth-straight season-opening triumph.

The many fans in attendance were treated to a festive night at the ballpark as 海角直播 President John C. Hitt, interim director of athletics Al Harms and head coach Terry Rooney conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony prior to the game to celebrate the addition of 1,100 brand-new bench-back seats along the first base line.

Spectators were also treated to a tight game throughout. Heading into the seventh inning, the Knights and Blackbirds were tied 7-7 before two runs in the seventh, and four more in eighth, sealed the win. Rooney, a winner in each season-opener at UCF, was pleased with his team’s effort to ensure a victory in the last three innings.

“Everyday I tell our guys, `No matter what, win the last three (innings),'” Rooney said after the game. “The first six are important, but no matter what happens if you are down, you have to have confidence to battle your way back, and if you are up, you have to have the poise to hold onto it. We did that tonight. I told our guys that we did a good job of battling back. The reason we did that was because of our confidence.”

Junior Brian Adkins (Orlando, Fla.) took to the mound for his first-career Opening Day start. The 海角直播 High School grad logged five innings, allowing four runs while fanning five batters. Adkins, 2011’s leader in innings pitched, ran into trouble in the first, but used a nasty breaking ball to strike out Julian Castro to leave the bases loaded.

The Knights would take an early 1-0 lead after a double-steal attempt by juniors Darnell Sweeney (Miramar, Fla.) and Ronnie Richardson (Eagle Lake, Fla.) saw LIU Brooklyn catcher Tyler Jones send the throw to second into center field allowing Sweeney to advance home on the error.

UCF pounced on Blackbirds starter Chris Franzese in the second inning, tagging him for three runs on one hit. Freshman James Vasquez (Palm City, Fla.) started off his UCF career with an RBI in his first plate appearance after an error by second baseman Diego Perez pulled first baseman Tito Marrero off the bag to allow junior Nick Carrillo (Glendale, Ariz.) to score. He would later come home on a Franzese wild pitch.

Allowing 10 free passes to UCF hitters, Franzese got into trouble in the fourth when he walked junior D.J. Hicks (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) for his ninth base on balls of the evening. Fellow junior Chris Taladay (Windermere, Fla.) came through with a single to right that brought in Richardson. Junior Ryan Breen (Palm City, Fla.) followed with his second-career triple down the right-field line that brought Hicks and Taladay around, knocking Franzese out of the game.

The Blackbirds would tie up the game in the sixth after striking for three runs on a bases-loaded walk and two-run single by Chris Untereiner.

UCF bounced back in the bottom of the seventh taking advantage of Rafael Guerrero’s free passes. Richardson and Taladay both coaxed bases-loaded walks to give the Knights a 9-7 lead.

In the top of the eighth, junior Roman Madrid (Victoria, Texas), with the lead in hand, struck out a pair of Blackbirds in his UCF debut. The bottom of the eighth saw the Knights open it up after two-more free passes gave way to Richardson who drilled a shot to left to plate both senior Travis Shreve (Auburn, Wash.) and Sweeney for his third and fourth RBI of the game. Hicks followed that at-bat up with his first RBI of the year, sending a single to right center.

Junior closer Joe Rogers (Winter Haven, Fla.) came out in the ninth and converted the inning with two-consecutive swinging-strikeouts to end the game.

Overall, Taladay snagged a team-high three hits in four at-bats with two RBI and two walks. Both middle infielders Sweeney and Shreve coaxed four walks apiece from the No. 1 and No. 9 spots in the lineup.

Saturday, Game 1

Game one was an impressive showing by the underclassmen on the UCF pitching staff. Sophomore Ben Lively (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) turned in a solid afternoon on the mound going five innings, surrendering only three hits, one run while striking out four.

Rookie relievers Eric Skoglund (Sarasota, Fla.) and Garrett Nuss (Sorrento, Fla.) followed suit by shutting down the Blackbirds over the last four innings to preserve the win for Lively, the sixth of his career.

Junior Darnell Sweeney (Miramar, Fla.) got the offense started Saturday after he connected on the first pitch of the afternoon, sending the ball to deep right and out of reach of LIU’s Mike Garcia for a triple. Ronnie Richardson (Eagle Lake, Fla.) stepped up to the plate and sent the first pitch to right for a sacrifice fly to bring Sweeney home.

UCF took advantage of a second-straight inning with the bases juiced, plating four runs total on five hits in the bottom of the second.

Senior Travis Shreve (Auburn, Wash.) brought in the first run of the frame with a shot up the middle to bring home fellow senior Alex Friedrich (Orlando, Fla.) after he led the inning off with a double. After a Richardson fielder’s choice brought home rookie James Vasquez (Palm City, Fla.), Hicks stepped up to the plate and sent a two-strike pitch the opposite way into left for a two-run double.

Shreve plated his second run of the afternoon with a bloop single to right, bringing a hustling Friedrich all the way home from second base.

Hicks added to his RBI total in the fourth after sending a shot up the middle to bring home the speedy Richardson from second.

Friedrich continued his punishment of the ball in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff triple, the second of his career and first since 2010, to the power ally in left center. He’d come around to score on a Vasquez double over the head of left fielder Julian Castro.

Skoglund and Nuss both made impressive collegiate debuts in relief of Lively. Skoglund, a 6-foot-7 lefty, surrendered only one hit and struck out three while pitching both the sixth and seventh frame. Nuss followed his teammate’s lead, stifling the Blackbirds to the tune of no hits allowed and three punch-outs.

Saturday, Game 2

After hitting 14 home runs in 2011, Hicks stepped up to the plate in the first inning and grooved a Brad Reimer two-strike pitch off of the video board in right for his first of the year.

UCF continued its hot hitting in the second inning of the series, tagging LIU starter Brad Reimer for five earned runs and knocking him out of the game. Overall, the Knights totaled 12 RBI in the second frame for the series.

Friedrich got the party started with a single up the middle to bring home Carrillo who walked to start the frame. A JoMarcos Wood’s (Orlando, Fla.) single gave way to a Shreve double over left fielder Castro’s head to bring home Friedrich and Woods. The senior second baseman would score on a Reimer wild pitch and see Hicks step up to the plate and smack his second two-strike homer of the evening.

UCF added another run in the fourth with a Hicks sacrifice fly to push his weekend total up to seven. Shreve added his third RBI of game on a single to right and Richardson walked to bring home Friedrich for his seventh RBI of the three-game set.

Redshirt junior Chris Matulis (Boynton Beach, Fla.) earned his first collegiate victory in nearly two years after going six innings while allowing four hits, one run and striking out five in his UCF debut. Senior Matt Collins (DeLand, Fla.) tossed two hitless innings, and junior college transfer Jimmy Reed (Spokane, Wash.) preserved the sweep in his UCF debut.

He joked that he wore it because it matched his black-and-gold tie. He earned the ring in 1990 while at Georgia Tech, and he said the jewelry was a beacon for how he wants to run the athletics department at UCF.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great illustration of a program that did it the right way, and we were still able to win at the highest level,鈥� Stansbury said. 鈥淭here is cynicism that says being a great student-athlete and being able to compete at the highest level are mutually exclusive. But I don鈥檛 believe that at all.

Stansbury鈥檚 positive attitude and commitment to running the athletics department with integrity appealed to UCF administrators.

He comes to UCF from Oregon State 海角直播, where he has supervised business operations, including a $56 million budget and ticket sales, since 2003. He also has earned two more national championship rings, courtesy of the Beavers鈥� baseball team.

More than half of Oregon State鈥檚 student-athletes boast grade point averages of 3.0 or higher. The Beavers鈥� athletics annual fund has grown 155 percent since 2003, and ticket sales have grown 80 percent.

UCF President John C. Hitt said about 80 people applied for the UCF AD job, demonstrating the university鈥檚 vast appeal nationwide. He praised Stansbury as a 鈥渄ynamic leader.鈥�

鈥淲e began this search with the promise that we would hire a director of athletics who would lead us in a manner consistent with our responsibilities as members of the NCAA and follow our own high standards of conduct and performance,鈥� Dr. Hitt said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e keeping that promise. Todd is an innovative leader who stresses the importance of character and integrity to his coaches, staff and student-athletes.鈥�

鈥淭odd will lead our athletics program on a path of success on the field and in the classroom and in the community.鈥�

UCF interim Director of Athletics Admiral Al Harms, who took over the program on Nov. 8, was impressed with Stansbury鈥檚 enthusiasm and commitment to integrity. Harms will continue to oversee UCF Athletics until Stansbury takes over on March 1, and he鈥檚 looking forward to working with UCF鈥檚 new AD.

鈥淭odd has spoken passionately about doing things the right way 鈥� and I鈥檓 excited about being on this team and watching him deliver on that promise,鈥� Admiral Harms said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I鈥檝e met a guy in a long time who is as genuine and authentic as Todd Stansbury, and that shines through in every word and every action.鈥�

Prior to his time at Oregon State, Stansbury 鈥� an Oakville, Ontario native 鈥� established some deep roots in the Southeast and became quite familiar with UCF. He was the director of athletics at East Tennessee State 海角直播 from 2000-03 and associate director of athletics at the 海角直播 of Houston from 1997-2000. He played linebacker at Georgia Tech and then worked in the athletics department there from 1988-1995.

UCF head football coach George O鈥橪eary worked with Stansbury when both were at Georgia Tech. O鈥橪eary said he believes Stansbury is the right man to lead UCF into the next generation of athletics success.

鈥淭odd鈥檚 a very sincere person. It鈥檚 a very good hire by UCF from what I know of Todd and know of the job he will do here,鈥� O鈥橪eary said. 鈥淲e are busy right now recruiting, and hopefully he gets back quickly enough so I can introduce him to some of our recruits.鈥�

Stansbury said he is impressed with the progress UCF鈥檚 athletics program has made in such a short time and with the surrounding community, which he said has 鈥渟o much going for it.鈥� He said he plans to meet with university and community leaders, as well as students, soon after his arrival.

Stansbury also said UCF鈥檚 appeal was heightened by the school鈥檚 pending entry into the BIG EAST in 2013-14. He said he will spend the coming months studying what UCF needs to do to best be prepared for the conference move.

鈥淕oing into the BIG EAST is an incredible opportunity, and we鈥檝e got to be ready to compete at that level right away,鈥� he said.

We deeply value your strong support of the UCF Knights, and I feel it is important that you hear directly from me about the latest news concerning our Athletics Association.

It has been just over a week since the university took immediate action in response to the NCAA鈥檚 report about alleged infractions committed by several members of the UCF Athletics Association.

During this time, we started a comprehensive review of the Athletics Association. Our goals are to discover, analyze and fix program deficiencies and to help strengthen our commitment to compliance with NCAA rules and regulations.

President Hitt recently recorded this video update about the Knights, which I strongly encourage you to view at your earliest convenience.

I strongly echo President Hitt鈥檚 thoughts that our best days lie ahead, and I have been encouraged by the actions of the hard-working and dedicated staff members whom I have met during the past week.

I am proud that the staff is handling this difficult transition so well, with a sharp focus on what is best for our great university, our many student-athletes and our fervent fans. Working together, I am fully confident that we have the knowledge, focus and determination to rebuild an unwavering 鈥渃ulture of compliance鈥� throughout the Athletics Association. We have some heavy lifting ahead, but we are moving forward.

We are truly committed to restoring the credibility and professional reputation of our Athletics program, earning the full confidence of our fans and supporters, and strengthening our relationships across the university and throughout the community. As we go forward, our goal remains the same: to operate a first-class Athletics program that makes you proud and is worthy of your support.

Warmest regards,

Al Harms
Interim Director of Athletics