While geared toward faculty and staff, the forums are open to the campus community. In addition to hosting featured speakers from across the university, each forum also will be an opportunity for discussion around important topics, such as student success or research.

The first forum will be at 3 p.m. today,  Oct. 10, in the Morgridge International Reading Center. It will focus on growing our graduate programs and elevating our research enterprise – with the opportunity to hear from Liz Klonoff, UCF’s new Vice President for Research and Dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

For those who cannot attend in person, each of the forums will be live streamed on

These hour-long “Provost Forums” will involve leaders from across the university, and spotlight faculty or staff members from a program, group or initiative that are helping us reach our goals – from student success and faculty excellence to philanthropy and research.

Refreshments will be served.

Visit the for updates and details on the forum schedule:

Research and Graduate Studies

Monday, Oct. 10, at 3 p.m.

Morgridge International Reading Center – GRC room

Faculty Prominence and Excellence

Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 9 a.m.

Global UCF Building, 101AB Collaborative Space

Student Success

Monday, Feb. 13, at 9 a.m.

Morgridge International Reading Center – GRC room

Funding and Philanthropy

Thursday, April 13, at 9 a.m.

Morgridge International Reading Center – GRC room

This year’s keynote author, Terry McMillan, is a bestselling author whose books have not only been loved by millions of fans but have also been successfully adapted into major motion pictures (Waiting to ExhaleĚý˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚýHow Stella Got Her Groove Back). With her latest release, Who Asked You?, Terry McMillan continues to highlight her ability to tell emotional and moving stories that feature relatable, real-life characters. Her talk at this year’s festival will give Ms. McMillan a chance to share her life, her work, and her inspirations with new and longtime fans alike.

With 2015 marking the 150th anniversary of the end of the U.S. Civil War, author S.C. Gwynne’s book Rebel Yell, an in-depth look at the life and career of Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson, comes at the perfect time. Going beyond the history of events during and after the Civil War, Gwynne’s book examines how a once relatively unknown general with little experience came to be the successful battle leader and historic figure we know of today.

Contemporary histories are featured as well, from Sheri Fink’s depiction of the hurricane Katrina aftermath at Memorial Hospital in Five Days at Memorial, to Luis Martinez-Fernandez’s complete history of Revolutionary Cuba; from the little-known story of women journalists and the early days of food writing in Kim Voss’ The Food Section, to the untold fate of Florida farmworkers in Dale Slongwhite’s Fed Up: The High Costs of Cheap Food, to the history of how America’s game took shape in Richard Crepeau’s NFL Football: A History of America’s New National Pastime.

Moving from history to memoir, the 2015 UCF Book Festival is also excited to welcome Yamma Brown, daughter of the legendary “Godfather of Soul” James Brown, to the event. Her book, Cold Sweat: My Father James Brown and Me, offers a revealing look at a daughter searching for the love and approval of a complicated father – who also happened to be one of the most legendary musicians and performers of our time.

With science and mathematics education making headway and headlines across the country, it makes sense to bring in an expert who specializes in advancing the study of science by making it fun. Dr. Ainissa Ramirez, author of Save Our ScienceĚý˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚýNewton’s Football: The Science Behind America’s Game, does just that through her series of science education web videos, her books, and her presentations across the country. A tireless evangelist who encourages students of all ages to pursue science, math, and engineering, Dr. Ramirez’s talks are always interesting, exciting, and engaging.

Food and fun go hand in hand, and several authors this year focus on food, nutrition, and refreshment. , author of The Fallacy of the Calorie, will offer attendees a unique cooking demonstration that illustrates his book’s guide to healthy eating that is as enjoyable as it is easy. Jen Karetnick, the “Mango Mama” of Miami, offers up a fresh take on the humble mango, and recipes from world-renowned chefs who prominently feature the tropical fruit in her book Mango. And since a cold beverage goes great with any meal, Mark DeNote, author of The Great Florida Craft Beer Guide, takes craft beer fans and travelers on a journey to the unique small-scale breweries throughout the sunshine state.

Murder, mystery, and intrigue are perfect fodder for page-turning stories, and several authors this year have thrilling books to share with readers. Randy Rawls, Carla Norton, Patrick Kendrick, James O. Born, Bob Williams, and Steph Post have all crafted fascinating fiction that will have you glued to the stories. Their discussions will offer insight into how they find their inspiration for stories, and how the setting of each book is as important to the action as the characters.

Teen readers and adults alike will enjoy hearing from young adult writers Michelle Madow, Ella Martin, Jessica Martinez, and Ellen Hopkins. From friendships to faith, from escaping fear to fitting in, each of these authors’ books features gripping storylines and tackles real problems that book lovers young and old can enjoy.

Powerful poetry from Carol Frost, Ashely Inguanta, and J. Bradley, science fiction and dystopian tales from Chris Hejmanowski and Stephanie Erickson, short stories from Cecilia Rodriguez-Milanes, fascinating fiction from Ann Hood, Nathan Holic, and Chantel Acevedo, career advice for returning troops from John W. Phillips, discussions with horror film and sci-fi filmmakers from Chris and Kathleen Vander Kaay, imaginative tales from several children’s writers – More than 30 authors are taking part in the 2015 UCF Book Festival, truly offering something for everyone.

Mark your calendars and make plans to learn more from these great authors about their books at the 6th Annual UCF Book Festival, April 18th at the UCF Teaching Academy, Morgridge International Reading Center, and Education Complex.

For the 10th anniversary event, Dr. Karen Verkler and interim Dean Grant Hayes hosted Carrie Morgridge, Vice President of the , who gave a special address to the teacher candidates, staff, and faculty in attendance. Ms. Morgridge explained the Foundation’s commitment to education, telling the students in attendance that they we entering “the most honorable field in the country.”

“The Morgridge Family Foundation holds teachers in the highest regard,” Ms. Morgridge stated. “You are going to be the change agents for our future kids. You are our future; you are making a difference each and every day.”

She also urged the room full of teacher candidates to “look to each other, lean on each other. Look here, to the people here” for the support, advice, and guidance that will be needed in a changing education landscape.

“The Morgridge Family Foundation has been one of the partner organizations at the forefront of advancing the field, especially here at the College of Education and Human Performance,” interim Dean said. “Ms. Morgridge has for many years shown her passion for and commitment to the improvement of education, and that enthusiasm and hope for the future were evident in her presentation to our HAPPY Hour Student Showcase attendees. It is a wonderful gift to have an ally that believes in and works towards the advancement of education in partnership with our faculty, staff, and students.”

Ms. Morgridge’s philanthropic efforts focus on all fields of education, including science, arts, mathematics, and more, including gifts to several colleges of education (UCF being among them). Her experiences with the Morgridge Family Foundation led her to recently publish a book, “,” which relates stories about the power of charitable giving, from the smallest contributions to larger foundation efforts. The book also touches on how strategy and networking can make even small donations exceptionally effective. In recognition of her many projects focused on developing future generations of teachers, the College of Education and Human Performance presented Ms. Morgridge with the inaugural Luminary Leadership Award, which is conferred annually to individuals and organizations that inspire and influence the transformation of education.

This year the conference’s theme focuses on collaboration across the helping professions, and the internationalization of the counseling field – recognizing and preparing for the needs of students, clients, and professionals throughout the different regions and cultures of the world. Nearly all of the sessions will incorporate information related to the internationalization of counseling and other helping professions, including the blending of best practices and various approaches to global issues.

“A lot of international students are coming into the United States for training, so how do we prepare them to make the lessons applicable both here and back home? When it comes to international counseling, the lines are not as clearly defined as they are in the United States,” says , doctoral student in UCF’s Counselor Education program and lead coordinator for this year’s counseling conference. “So a conference like this is meant to bring all of the helping professions in the United States together. Some of them have had international experiences that they share with us, and the international students are able to take this information home and apply it.”

This year’s keynote speaker, Dr. Jeffrey Kottler, is professor of counseling at California State şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą in Fullerton, and has authored dozens of highly regarded books about the counseling profession. His presentation, entitled Stories We’ve Heard, Stories We’ve Told: Life-Changing Narratives in the Helping Professions, will offer attendees an expansive view of one of the universal parts of human experience that can be extremely useful to the counseling profession – storytelling. The stories that we tell, live, see, hear, and experience all influence our ways of thinking and understanding, and utilizing that shared human practice can be beneficial to counselors and clients alike.

“One of the unique things about this conference is how intentionally we have sought to collaborate with colleagues from the other helping professions,” says Dr. Bryce Hagedorn, program director of Counselor Education at UCF. “Another aspect that makes this conference unique is its emphasis on international issues and how those impact the clients we serve. Students and practitioners alike will be exposed to some of the newer, evidence-based practices in an effort to equip them to better serve clients in the community.”

Additional presentations will include cultural immersion and the counselor trainee, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and its application at home and abroad, discussions about the part that each of the helping professionals plays in addressing client problems, and the academic needs of international students in US counseling programs.

°Őłó±đĚý7th Annual UCF Counseling Conference takes place at the UCF  and buildings on the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą campus. On-site registration will be available, and students, faculty, and professionals in the counseling fields are encouraged to attend.

The 6th Annual UCF Book Festival will feature a Teen Zone specifically for adolescent and teen readers, giving young readers an opportunity to connect with authors, foster their own love of reading, and even participate in a writing workshop specifically for their age group.

“Give kids the opportunity to read, write, share, have fun, and explore their creativity, and they will find their inner voice,” says Dr. Elsie Olan, assistant professor of language arts education. “That’s what we try to offer as part of the UCF Book Festival each year – a chance for teenagers to turn their love of reading and their enthusiasm for a good story into becoming writers themselves.”

Tweens and teens will also be invited to join Camp Half Blood where they will train and prepare for an epic quest, searching for objects that have gone missing from Mt. Olympus. The young readers and aspiring heroes in grades 5-12 will get to experience events from both the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and the Heroes of Olympus series. The activity is free but spaces are limited.

“It is important for teens to immerse themselves in literature, especially when they are reading old favorites that they come back to again and again,” Dr. Yolanda Hood, Department Head of the Curriculum Materials Center, tells us. “Bringing books to life allows teens the opportunity to understand their favorite stories on a whole other level, to dig a little deeper. Becoming a character and experiencing what the characters do helps teens think more about the motivations of the character; teens have to work through the symbolism and metaphor in order to problem solve – all while having a whole lot of fun. And, kids or teens who have never read the books leave wanting to get their hands on those books as quickly as possible. It’s a great way to reach reluctant readers.”

The Teen Writing Workshop will be open to young readers and aspiring authors ages 13-18, and offers them a chance to work with UCF faculty in small-group writing activities, get feedback from peers and published authors, and explore new genres with their own writing. The writing workshop is also free of charge, and teens can register now to reserve their spot.

The 2015 UCF Book Festival takes place April 18th, 2015, on the UCF campus. Festival activities will take place in all three buildings on the education campus – the Teaching Academy, , and Education Complex. There will also be food trucks for everyone to enjoy in between panels, readings, and activities.

UCF’s College of Education and Human Performance and the Morgridge International Reading Center have hosted the annual book festival for the past five years, showcasing different authors and illustrators from around the country.

When authors apply to be part of the festival, they must submit samples of their work for approval. After five festivals, the sample books started to pile up.

“We were running out of room,” said Sandra McCall, outreach coordinator at the Morgridge Center.

The idea to donate the books to the hospital came about when Enrique Puig, director of the Morgridge Center, visited a family member at the hospital and noticed that the reading selection in the visitor waiting area was sparse.

He reached out to the manager of the hospital’s medical library, Nancy Aldrich, and the hospital welcomed the donation with plans to make the books available to its patients and visitors.

“These books will contribute to a positive experience for our patients and their families,” Aldrich said of the books, which come from a variety of genres, including mystery, romance and children’s storybooks.

There is the possibility of expanding the donation to help other hospitals as the festival receives more books each year.

“Our hope is that people enjoy them,” said Puig.

The sixth annual UCF Book Festival will be Saturday, April 18, 2015, at the CFE Arena. Admission and parking will be free.

Authors who would like to participate must submit their titles for consideration by Dec. 31. Additional details are available at .

Facilitated through UCF’s Morgridge International Reading Center, the MIRC-Istation project will examine the effects of the Istation Reading program on elementary school students’ reading comprehension, text fluency, vocabulary and phonics performance.

Istation Reading is a multimedia program piloted in Dallas that tracks students’ academic progress and provides curriculum to help them succeed. The computer-delivered technology includes assessments, interactive intervention curriculum, immediate online reports and a library of web-based training and teaching resources.

The study will focus on students in Florida’s public and state-assessed charter schools who are enrolled in grades pre-K through 5 during the 2014-15 school year. Istation will recruit Florida school districts and schools to participate in the study, and data collected will be sent to UCF for analysis. Participation in the research study is voluntary and free for up to 500,000 students.

Data evaluation will be led by College of Education and Human Performance Dean Sandra L. Robinson, who on Aug. 8 will transition into the new role of executive director of the Morgridge International Reading Center and the Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute. Grant Hayes, associate dean for academic affairs and a professor of counselor education, will serve as interim dean for the college.

Robinson will lead a team of four education faculty in reviewing the data and evaluating the efficacy of the tool.

“The Morgridge International Reading Center opened in 2011 with the goal of improving literacy across the globe, and this new project is a giant leap toward achieving that,” said Robinson. “This innovative project will collect important information that can contribute to the worldwide conversation about reading and how the skills associated with it can most effectively be taught.”

According to the World Literacy Foundation, illiteracy costs the global economy more than $1 trillion every year. Nearly 800 million children and adults across the world lack basic reading and writing skills.

In 2009, philanthropists John and Carrie Morgridge contributed $2.5 million to the construction of UCF’s Morgridge International Reading Center with the goal of creating a space dedicated to the art, craft and science of teaching reading. The building is a hub for research, collaboration and community involvement to advance international literacy.

During her 17-year tenure as dean, Robinson oversaw the creation of the Morgridge Center, as well as the establishment of the UCF Teaching Academy and the remodeling of the Education Complex. Under her leadership, the Counselor Education Program earned a No. 7 spot on U.S. News and World Report’s Best Graduate Schools 2015 list, the highest ranking in UCF history. UCF’s Special Education program also earned a top 20 ranking.

Hayes has held several leadership positions in the College of Education and Human Performance during the past 10 years. A former public school teacher and counselor, Hayes’ research focuses on counselor education, youth counseling and character development in schools and youth settings.

To learn more about the MIRC-Istation Research Project, visit .

The festival will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the CFE Arena. Admission and parking will be free.

The festival is hosted by UCF’s College of Education and Human Performance in partnership with UCF’s Morgridge International Reading Center. Attendees are invited to meet with the authors—whose works are featured in classrooms and libraries around the country—and learn about their creative processes and how they bring their characters to life.

The keynote author will be Andre Dubus III, who wrote The New York Times bestseller House of Sand and Fog. His most recent book, Dirty Love, was released in October.

Other notable authors include Capt. Luis Carlos Montalván, The New York Times-bestselling author of Until Tuesday:  A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him, and David Menasche, author of The Priority List: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons.

Throughout the day guests can attend author forums, listen to readings, attend book signings and receive free book appraisals.

There are activities planned for all ages, with special events for teens and children. Advanced registration is required for the free teen activities, which include a writing workshop led by UCF faculty and young adult author Kristen Simmons, and a live-action game based on the book Divergent.

Local chefs John Rivers of 4Rivers Smokehouse and Hollis Wilder of Sweet! By Good Golly Miss Holly will demonstrate recipes from their cookbooks.

UCF faculty participating in the festival include David James Poissant and Nathan Holic from the English Department. Authors Ward Larsen and Will Wright are UCF alumni.

To register for the teen workshops, view a schedule of events, or for more information, visit www.bookfestival.ucf.edu.

The festival will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the CFE Arena. Admission and parking will be free.

The festival is hosted by UCF’s College of Education and Human Performance in partnership with UCF’s Morgridge International Reading Center. Attendees are invited to meet with the authors—whose works are featured in classrooms and libraries around the country—and learn about their creative processes and how they bring their characters to life.

The keynote author will be Andre Dubus III, who wrote The New York Times bestseller House of Sand and Fog. His most recent book, Dirty Love, was released in October.

Other notable authors include Capt. Luis Carlos Montalván, The New York Times-bestselling author of Until Tuesday:  A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him, and David Menasche, author of The Priority List: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons.

Throughout the day guests can attend author forums, listen to readings, attend book signings and receive free book appraisals.

There are activities planned for all ages, with special events for teens and children. Advanced registration is required for the free teen activities, which include a writing workshop led by UCF faculty and young adult author Kristen Simmons, and a live-action game based on the book Divergent.

Local chefs John Rivers of 4Rivers Smokehouse and Hollis Wilder of Sweet! By Good Golly Miss Holly will demonstrate recipes from their cookbooks.

UCF faculty participating in the festival include David James Poissant and Nathan Holic from the English Department. Authors Ward Larsen and Will Wright are UCF alumni.

To register for the teen workshops, view a schedule of events, or for more information, visit www.bookfestival.ucf.edu.

Read for the Record will begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in the Global Communications Room of UCF’s Morgridge International Reading Center. This is the fifth consecutive year that preschoolers from UCF’s Creative School for Children have participated in the event.

With the help of students from the College of Education and Human Performance, the youngsters will read Otis, the story of an old tractor and his farmyard friends by Loren Long.

There also will be sing-alongs, crafts, science activities and milk and cookies for the children in attendance.

Sponsored by Jumpstart and the Pearson Foundation, Read for the Record is an annual national reading event that stresses the importance of high-quality early education in America. More than 2.3 million people participated in last year’s event.

Since 2006, Read for the Record has raised $8 million for early education programs and provided more than 1.2 million books for children in low-income households.

To learn more, visit .