“It’s been a wild ride,” he says.

Raised in Baltimore and educated in the Ivy League. Told in high school to settle rather than climb. Hired as associate vice president for enrollment services at a university he barely knew existed in 1999 and retiring from it 23 years later as the largest public university by student enrollment in the U.S. Chavis turns and proudly points out a football with a UCF logo on it.

“Who would have thought?” Chavis says. Then he answers his own question. “Everyone needs someone in their life to believe in them. When that happens, it can inspire amazing results.”

Former UCF President John C. Hitt and Vice President Tom Huddleston believed in Chavis when they hired him to manage the university’s enrollment, which in the late 1990s totaled 32,000 students. And Chavis believed in Hitt when he described his vision for a university that everyone in all 50 states would recognize, with a nationally ranked football program, a stadium on campus, a medical school, and twice as many students excelling in everything from hospitality to engineering to nursing.

But the believer who showed Chavis he could pursue anything he set his mind to was the person whose mere presence made him feel that he could accomplish anything: “My mom.” Chavis starts a lot of thoughts with those two words. If it hadn’t been for the belief she had in her son at a most crucial time in high school, there’s no telling where the squiggly path of life would have taken him.

Chavis grew up as the oldest of four children in a close-knit family. His parents didn’t have the opportunity to attend college, but there was never any question that Gordon and his siblings would. Their futures became a nightly topic at the dinner table.

“Being a first-generation college student wasn’t really a ‘thing’ back then,” Chavis says. “We talked about going to college as if it were a foregone conclusion. I thought I might even go to medical school at some point.”

In the fall of his senior year, Chavis went to meet his high-school counselor so they could discuss his plans after graduation. Chavis had done his research. He sat in the counselor’s office and said he planned to attend either Penn or Maryland. Then he awaited advice for his next steps.

“I remember the counselor looked up at me and flat-out said, ‘You won’t get into those schools. Be realistic. Look at local colleges.’ And that was it,” he says.

Chavis left school that day with disappointment and embarrassment replacing the space that hours earlier had been occupied with confidence and self-worth. He avoided everyone except one person.

“My mom,” Chavis says, “told me there will always be people in life who will not be supportive of your goals. You need to move beyond those people and pursue what you want to do.”

Chavis had an example in his own home. His dad, Gordon Chavis Sr., was one of the first five Black men to play on the Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour. There were far more doubters than believers in the early 1960s, but Gordon Sr. paid more attention to the latter — most of whom were also Black golfers who had chosen a path known to be full of resistance.

“Everyone needs a motivator to help imagine what the future could hold,” Chavis says. “I can point back to my experiences with the counselor and my mom as the reasons I got into enrollment management. I didn’t want anyone else to go through that.”

With the lift from his parents, Chavis received acceptance letters from Penn and Maryland. He chose Penn. After graduating from there, he earned his J.D. from Georgetown. At both schools he worked in the admissions departments, learning about data and details, but mostly providing a source of encouragement as he traveled the country to meet high school counselors, students and their families.

Then, in 1999 he heard from a colleague that a position had opened at UCF. Chavis wasn’t exactly sure where UCF was located on the map.

“I had no idea what the institution was all about,” he says. “So, I did some research and it looked as if they had some interesting strategies for growth.”

He met with Hitt and Huddleston and liked what he heard about building a brand, earning a reputation for excellence, creating partnerships, and opening pathways into communities where high school students might simply need a glimpse of what could be possible.

“I often say we had to be a scrappy institution. We aren’t tied to traditional ways of doing things, so we’ve had the freedom to try new ideas and set high goals. Back in 1999 UCF was number four or five in the state pecking order for kids looking at colleges. We set out to be the number-one destination. I’m sure the people on our team were the only ones who believed it could happen.”

For a gauge, the enrollment staff used the colleges chosen by high schoolers on their SAT and ACT tests. By 2007-08, UCF had already risen to number-one among Florida colleges and universities. Fall 2021 marked the one of the most accomplished incoming freshman classes in the university’s history with a class average GPA of 4.22 and SAT and ACT scores of 1323 and 28.6 respectively. Students of color made up 46% of Fall 2021 first-year students.

“I had no idea we’d get there so quickly,” Chavis says. “And we’re still there, 14 years later.”

The sheer numbers tell us that enrollment has more than doubled to more than 70,000 in Chavis’ 23 years at UCF. But more important is a culture among a student development and enrollment staff that’s now 690 strong to never lose sight of this: every prospective student needs to feel important.

“We have an 80-20 rule,” Chavis says. “When a question comes up from a family that’s considering UCF, 80%of our response should be direct information. But the other 20% is knowing what the family is really trying to ask. If they ask about the student-faculty ratio, we provide the facts. But what they’re really asking is, ‘What will my child’s experience be like with the professors?’ We need to provide the personal encouragement they need.”

He’s never forgotten what it meant for 18-year-old Gordon Chavis.

In addition to mom’s words of support, Chavis laughs when he remembers another piece of advice she gave: “Don’t overstay your welcome.”

Chavis has not overstayed, but he wants to do some traveling. In June, he’ll pack up the pennant, the baseball, and the football from the school he knew so little about 23 years ago, and he’ll find special places for them at home. Wherever he goes, he’ll hear reminders of the amazing ride.

“Last year I was playing golf in a remote area of New Hampshire. A caddie saw on my bag that I’m from Florida. Out of nowhere, he says, ‘I’d like to go to UCF someday.’ Stories like that give me so much joy. They make me proud of how far we’ve come just by believing in each other.”

The $999,994 grant – STEM TRansfer Students Opportunity for Nurtured Growth, or STRONG for short – was awarded to the Office of Research & Commercialization to run from next month to February 2023.

More than half of UCF’s new undergraduates are transfer students. The recipients of the new scholarships must demonstrate academic potential or ability, and demonstrate a financial need. Project STRONG will support about 30 scholarships per year in the disciplines of engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics, statistics, chemistry and biology.

“Students entering the university in STEM programs will receive the support needed to feel at home in their fields of study, at a time when they are 90 percent more likely to leave STEM than at any other time,” according to the program overview. “Talented, low-income students, of whom one out of three would otherwise leave STEM within six years, will develop interest and proficiency in STEM disciplines through opportunities provided by the program.”

UCF will provide one-on-one faculty-student mentoring, regular discipline-specific seminars, research lab internship opportunities, financial-literacy counseling and other services. The overview also says the project for STEM transfers will be conducted as “a model to be tested, improved, and ready for dissemination nationwide.”

The interdisciplinary project will be under the direction of Mubarak Shah, Trustee Chair Professor of computer science; Brian Moore, associate professor of mathematics; Malcolm B. Butler, professor of secondary education; Nazanin Rahnavar, associate professor of electric and computer engineering; and Gordon Chavis, associate vice president for enrollment services.

Faculty members can choose from a variety of ways to verify whether students are actively engaged, including tests, assignments, or active participation in an online discussion. Students are responsible for completing any academic activity that the instructor has developed for the course.  If students do not see an activity to complete then they should make sure to attend class because that instructor has likely chosen physical attendance as the form to verify that students are engaged in class.

Students who do not engage in the manner set by their professors will be at risk of losing their financial aid for that course.

This new process is the result of a federal policy that holds universities accountable for determining that students are engaged in their classes. Under the policy, universities are in jeopardy of losing federal financial aid, which they disburse to students who have failed to prove they are engaged.

“In order to succeed in college, students have to show up and engage,” said Gordon Chavis, associate vice president for enrollment services. “It’s common sense. It goes hand in hand with planning, studying and being successful academically. Now we have a process in place to make sure we’re tracking engagement and reaching students before they get penalized academically and financially.”

Students who have questions about the required form of academic engagement for a particular course should ask their professors.  Students who have general questions about their financial aid should call the Office of Student Financial Assistance at 407-823-2827.

The new initiative, Top 10 Knights, was developed to recognize academic achievement in high school. Top 10 Knights also protects against budget uncertainty and potential legislative changes by providing Florida residents with guaranteed access to an affordable, quality college education.

The first class of Top 10 Knights will start at UCF in summer 2014.

“This effort, among the few of its kind in the nation, rewards academic success, streamlines the university selection process and promises to attract more of Florida’s best and brightest students to UCF,” said UCF President John C. Hitt. “Top 10 Knights is a winner for high-achieving students, for their families and for UCF.”

Top 10 Knights will have an impact upon Florida high schoolers like Rosa Elena Alcantar, who ranks second out of 430 seniors in her class at Evans High School in Orange County. Alcantar, a would-be first-generation college student, is a native of Mexico who grew up in Orlando and hopes to one day go on to UCF’s College of Medicine.

“Most people say that what you do in high school doesn’t have the same rigor as college,” said Alcantar. “When I heard about Top 10 Knights, it shows that everything I’ve done so far means something. I’m happy there’s an opportunity to be recognized for what I’ve done in high school.”

To become a Top 10 Knight, students must first apply for admission into UCF. To qualify for the program, applications must be completed by Dec. 31 of students’ senior years.

Students also must meet criteria such as a top 10 percent ranking in their high school class or a GPA of 3.9 or above if the high school does not rank; the completion of high-level math courses; and a minimum of 1010 (1500-3 score) on the SAT or 21 on the ACT.

UCF Undergraduate Admissions will determine which students qualify as Top 10 Knights, and students who meet the criteria will be notified by Feb. 15.

“As admission into Florida universities becomes more competitive, we’re responding to the students and families seeking a quality education by making admission to UCF certain for the state’s top students,” said Gordon Chavis, associate vice president for Undergraduate Admissions. “The Top 10 Knights are among the best students at UCF, and we’re excited to see what they will contribute here.”

Top 10 Knights is UCF’s latest effort to expand college access and opportunity. More than 31,000 students have been admitted to UCF since 2006 through the DirectConnect partnership with regional state colleges, which helps students smoothly transition to UCF to complete their bachelor’s degrees.

California and Texas offer similar initiatives to their highest-achieving high schoolers, but Top 10 Knights is among the first of its kind in Florida.

UCF hopes to announce scholarship opportunities for Top 10 Knights in the near future. Earlier this semester, representatives from Undergraduate Admissions met with high school counselors from across the state to explain Top 10 Knights and provide guidance on acceptance into UCF.

The first is that our modern, beautiful campus “already feels like home.” The second is that UCF offers a personal touch to students more commonly found in much smaller institutions – even though we are the second-largest university in the nation.

The third topic that students and families talk about is the cost of a college education. When addressing cost, my answer is simple: Consider cost, but also focus on value.

When you focus on value, the benefits of a college degree are clear: A college degree continues to be the most important investment you can make for a successful career and a brighter future.

From 2007 to 2012, during very tough employment times, people with baccalaureate degrees as a group experienced no net loss of jobs. Those who did not attend college, as a group, experienced a 10 percent decline in employment.

And a UCF degree, in particular, is an excellent investment that is affordable and valuable. For example, The Princeton Review, one of America’s best-known education services and test-preparation companies, has joined Kiplinger magazine in ranking a UCF education as one of the best academic buys in the nation.

Being a “best buy” has helped 49 percent of our students graduate without any UCF educational debt. Nationally, just 33 percent of students graduate debt-free.

And despite recent tuition increases across the state, Florida universities still have some of the least expensive tuition costs in the nation. The cost of an education at a Florida state university ranks 45th in the nation.  This means students have an opportunity to receive an outstanding education at one of the most affordable prices in the country.

Students and their families, however, know there is more to college costs than just tuition. Student fees fund important projects such as computer labs, academic services, recreational facilities and more.

These are services that students expect and also add value to their overall educational experiences. Further, UCF students play a key role in approving fees. Committees equally divided between students and employees annually review most fees, and students hold the tie-breaking vote in most committees.

At an affordable campus that “already feels like home,” UCF students learn to succeed in their studies, the workforce and in the community.

Dr. Gordon D. Chavis is the ����ֱ��’s associate vice president for Undergraduate Admissions, Student Financial Assistance and Student Outreach programs.

Dr. Gordon Chavis with UCF Admissions and Dr. Raymond Wang with Rosen College, presented information about the Hospitality Management and Restaurant & Foodservice Management degrees, and how educators could better inform student populations of these opportunities.  In addition to an overview of the educational component, the visit included a campus and apartment tour.

Rosen College was proud to share UCF’s degree opportunities with the LMP delegation in order to prepare students for academic success in the hospitality industry.