The service, held in the Pegasus Ballroom, recognized 11 students and gave each of them the title of “Eternal Knight.”

In its 12th year, Eternal Knights invites students’ family and friends to join the university community in remembering loved ones and offering condolences. In addition to the ceremony, students and faculty and staff members from across UCF’s campuses commemorated the lives of lost students by participating in a moment of silence at 3 p.m.

“Although our university is one of the largest in the country, every student plays a role in making our university special and unique,” said SGA President Cortez Whatley. “When we lose a fellow Knight, we also experience pain together and mourn together, as a community does.”

The following were recognized:

The presidents highlighted the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą System’s powerful economic impact— nearly $80 billion statewide annually— and its vital role in training Florida’s future workforce. They supported tying the additional state investment to performance goals, such as increased graduation rates.

The presidents’ announcement at the Capitol kicked off the “Aim Higher” initiative, a student-led campaign focused on uniting students and community leaders in supporting more funding for higher education and raising awareness of the universities’ strong returns on public investments.

“We encourage all Floridians to stand with us and our 330,000 students,” said şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą of West Florida President Judy Bense. “Let’s invest in future doctors and scientists who someday could save our lives, future engineers who will build safe roads and bridges, and future teachers who will provide our children with first-class educations. Let’s invest in the future of our great state.”

Although tuition at Florida’s public universities remains among the lowest in the country, students and their families have faced double-digit tuition increases in recent years as universities have coped with severe state budget cuts. Funding to the State şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą System has been cut nearly 40 percent during the past five years.

A state investment of $118 million would generate the revenue of a 15 percent tuition increase across the System next year.

“Students and their families have invested in our universities more than ever during the past few years to help us maintain a high-quality education,” said Cortez Whatley, president of the Florida Student Association and student body president at the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą. “For the sake of our students, our businesses and our communities, we need to keep college education affordable and accessible.”

State funding, which once covered about three-fourths of the cost of a student’s higher education, now pays for less than half at most state universities.

Florida’s public universities have a strong track record of spending tax and tuition dollars efficiently. As state funding has shrunk and enrollment has risen, universities have saved millions of dollars through cost-cutting efforts and the elimination or consolidation of academic programs.

“We cannot continue to tighten our belts without impacting our students,” Bense said. “For many of us, that may mean fewer class sections and students waiting longer to graduate.”

şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą of Florida President Bernie Machen focused on state universities’ roles as economic powerhouses and hotbeds of innovation.

Florida’s universities attract more than a billion dollars of research money to the state each year, which helps to find cures for diseases, develop new technologies and prepare students for a variety of jobs and industries.

Just last week, the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą of Florida opened its Research and Academic Center at Lake Nona in Orlando, anchored by UCF’s College of Medicine. The center joins a burgeoning Medical City that has been described as the biggest economic game changer for Central Florida since Walt Disney World. It’s projected to generate 30,000 jobs and a total annual impact of $7.6 billion by the end of 2017.

“Our universities are heavily invested in our communities and our state,” Machen said. “We are leading job creators and innovators, and we are the key to our state meeting industry’ demands for highly qualified employees. An investment in Florida’s public universities is an investment our state’s economic future.”

President Hitt will discuss opportunities and challenges at UCF along with his vision for the university’s future.

His address will be followed by remarks from Dr. Ida Cook, chair of the Faculty Senate, and Cortez Whatley, president of the Student Government Association.

Doors for the event will open at 2:30 p.m. A reception will be held after the remarks.

The state has cut $144 million from UCF’s budget during the past five years, including $52 million this year. Tuition increases have made up for only a portion of those cuts.

“None of us wants to impose additional burdens on our students, but we want to provide them with the best education possible,” said Olga Calvet, vice chair of the Board of Trustees. “We cannot continue to pass on these costs to the students.”

Even with the increases, UCF’s tuition costs would remain among the lowest in the nation. UCF also has been named among the nation’s universities offering the best-value educations by Kiplinger and The Princeton Review, and 49 percent of UCF students graduating last year left with no debt from their time at UCF compared to 33 percent nationally.

Tuition and fees combined for an undergraduate in-state student taking 30 credit hours of courses would increase from $5,584 to $6,247 if the Florida Board of Governors votes next month to approve the amounts set by the Board of Trustees.

Tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student would increase 4 percent, bringing the total tuition and fees to $8,816 for a student taking 24 credit hours.

Trustees and administrators said nobody wants to raise tuition, but they said the impact on students would be severe if the university could not increase tuition and was forced to cut course sections in response to the state cuts. The 2012-13 tuition increase would raise about $20 million, which would support additional class sections, new faculty hires and need-based financial aid.

UCF already has made significant strides in operating as efficiently as possible. Administrative expenses total 39 percent less per student compared with the State şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą System average, and the university is saving $4.5 million annually by making campus buildings more energy efficient. However, trustees and administrators said they will continue to look for innovative ways to save money.

Smoke-Free Campus

Trustees also approved a policy to establish smoke-free campuses starting Aug. 20, the first day of classes in the fall. More than 600 other colleges and universities around the country already have smoke-free policies in place.

The new policy covers employees, students, visitors, vendors and others while on all UCF-owned or leased property, including in university vehicles. Out of concern for the health and safety of the UCF community, President John C. Hitt laid the groundwork for the campaign last fall.

Groups such as the Faculty Senate, Student Government Association, USPS Staff Council and Greek Council have supported the initiative, which is designed to encourage a wholesome lifestyle and a change in behavior so that everyone’s right to clean air is respected. It is not designed as a punishment for those who smoke, as there are no fines or other penalties.

To help those who want to stop smoking, UCF is offering cessation services and resources, including individual and group classes, support groups, telephone and online counseling, self-help materials and medications.

For details, visit www.ucf.edu/smokefree.

Honoring Valencia’s President

Trustees approved awarding an honorary doctorate to Valencia College President Sanford C. Shugart. Shugart has served as Valencia’s president since 2000, and Valencia was recognized nationally last year with the Aspen Award for Community College Excellence.

“President Shugart has been a long and valued partner of UCF,” President Hitt said. “His support and engagement with DirectConnect to UCF and the students served through that program are testimony to his commitment to provide access to baccalaureate education and to promote student success.”

Notebook

Trustees voted to grant tenure to more than 30 faculty members from eight colleges and the NanoScience Technology Center.

Navy Capt. William H. “Roto” Rooter IV gave a presentation about the impact of Team Orlando, a community of organizations including UCF, that work together to improve human performance through simulation and provide high-quality training for military personnel. Central Florida is nationally recognized as a hub for modeling and simulation.

New Student Government Association President Cortez Whatley participated in his first Board of Trustees meeting. Whatley also has been elected chair of the Florida Student Association, and he will serve on the Florida Board of Governors.

Trustee Ida Cook was elected to her fourth one-year term as president of the Faculty Senate, and she will continue to serve on the Board of Trustees during 2012-13.

Manoj Chopra, former chair of the Faculty Senate and a former UCF trustee, has been elected chair of the Advisory Council of Faculty Senates of Florida. In this capacity, he also will serve on the Florida Board of Governors.

President Hitt congratulated the six winners of the Pegasus Professor Award, UCF’s most prestigious faculty honor. They are Sudipta Seal and Donald Malocha of the College of Engineering and Computer Science; Stella Sung and Talat Rahman from the College of Sciences; Stella Sung from the College of Arts and Humanities; and Martin Richardson from the College of Optics and Photonics.

Trustees applauded students from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, who won the top prize of $100,000 in a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Team members Brandon Lojewski, Johan Rodriguez, Cheng Li and Thomas Yang will compete in the National Clean Energy Business Plan Finals in Washington, D.C., in June.

Trustees recognized four Burnett Honors College spring graduates who have received prestigious national scholarships. The graduates are Jennifer Bencivenga, who was chosen for a Fulbright English teaching assistantship in Germany; Ashley Ewh, who won a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship; Christopher Frye, who earned the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship; and Gabriel Willman, who received the David L. Boren Scholarship for Undergraduate Studies to study in Israel.

President Hitt recognized several UCF teams for their success this spring. The women’s track team won the Conference USA championship; the men’s golf team placed fifth in the NCAA’s Stanford Regional and will compete next week in the national championships; and the softball and women’s golf teams also earned spots in their respective NCAA tournaments. The baseball team finished second in Conference USA and was ranked as high as No. 7 this season.