Salas and Karelova started their first semester at UCF this fall and plan to attend medical school after their 2016 graduation.

Salas, who is from Miami, attended and will continue classes at UCF鈥檚 shared campus there. Careers in physical therapy or cardiovascular surgery are two areas of his interest.

Karelova, who is from the country of Georgia, attended and will continue classes at the main UCF campus, Karelova moved to the United States on an international study program when she was 16. She aspired to be a journalist and received an Associate in Business degree from Everest 海角直播. Soon after, she changed her career goals and applied to Valencia to pursue a career as an anesthesiologist after medical school.

鈥淭here were other options, but DirectConnect to UCF was the best option possible,鈥� said Karelova about deciding on her plan for college.

The UCF College of Medicine at Lake Nona is among the medical schools the two scholars intend on applying to. Johnson Scholars are a cohort of students chosen by the partner colleges. Once selected, they will receive the scholarship until graduation as long as they continue to meet the criteria set by the school. Recipients of the scholarship are deemed 鈥淛ohnson Scholars,鈥� and throughout their college careers they will have special program requirements that emphasize leadership development.

The Johnson Scholarship Foundation is a national, private foundation with a mission to assist deserving people in achieving higher education and a belief in education as a means to help people succeed in life.

Each of the four partner state colleges are responsible for raising $500,000 that the Johnson Scholarship Foundation will match for a total of $1 million for the individual colleges to disburse while the scholars earn their associate degrees.

In addition, the partner colleges are fundraising collectively for $1 million in scholarships to support their students once they transfer to UCF. The n is also fundraising for $1 million with the agreement that Johnson Scholarship Foundation will match these contributions with a goal of raising $3 million over five years. These contributions will be held by the UCF Foundation and disbursed to the scholars while attending one of the partner colleges and will continue until completion of their baccalaureate degree at UCF. The JSF Endowment scholarships are designed to assist with unmet financial need and only available to students who participate in the DirectConnect to UCF program.

The first Johnson Scholars will be recognized at the Johnson Scholars inaugural luncheon on Oct. 14, hosted by Valencia College. The scholars will receive medallions and have the opportunity to meet with the president of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, Malcolm Macleod.

鈥淭he JSF Endowment is the first joint philanthropy between community and state colleges and a state university,鈥� said Angela Peterson, associate vice president of UCF regional campuses. The partnership was encouraged by JSF based on the success of the DirectConnect program, which UCF began in 2006 to guarantee entrance and accelerated admission to UCF after students complete associate degrees from one of the four partner colleges.

For more information about the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, click here.

To learn more about the DirectConnect to UCF program,

Biden, who has been a community college teacher for 18 years, participated in a roundtable discussion with UCF student Pamela Garcia and Provost and Executive Vice President Tony Waldrop, as well as Central Florida employers and Valencia students and administrators.

Biden鈥檚 visit was part of a national 鈥淐ommunity College to Career鈥� tour, highlighting successful workforce partnerships between community colleges and employers.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you how thrilled I am that the (Obama) administration has focused the nation鈥檚 attention on community colleges,鈥� Biden said. “You all here know how great聽community colleges are. We live it day by day. We see students. We see where they start, where they finish, what they go on to.鈥�

Sandy Shugart, the president of Valencia College, moderated the discussion.聽 He noted that students use college to achieve their goals 鈥� including finding good jobs. 鈥淣either Valencia nor UCF are destinations; we鈥檙e just bridges,鈥� he said. 鈥淪tudents want to go somewhere, they have a goal in their minds, and we鈥檙e here to help them reach that goal.鈥�

Through the DirectConnect to UCF partnership, UCF guarantees admission to graduates of Valencia College, as well as Brevard Community College, Lake-Sumter Community College and Seminole State College of Florida. UCF academic advisers work closely with students to help them make a smooth transition to the university.

Garcia earned two A.S. degrees in electronics and engineering聽at Valencia and an A.A. degree before enrolling at UCF. She is a senior majoring in electrical engineering.

鈥淎fter I got an A.S., I got a job with a defense contractor, which offered educational reimbursement, so I thought I should take advantage of that,鈥� Garcia told Biden. 鈥淚 came back and got my A.A. and, thanks to DirectConnect to UCF, I鈥檓 over there now, and I love it. They鈥檙e both really good colleges.鈥�

Smith played from 2005 to 2007, rushing for 2,448 yards and 30 touchdowns in his final season with the Knights, before he was drafted by the Detroit Lions.

A week of traditional Homecoming events, including Comedy Knight and Spirit Splash,聽has led up to the Homecoming parade and football game on Saturday. The Knights will kick off against the Memphis Tigers at 4 p.m. at Bright House Networks Stadium.

On Saturday, the campus will open for game day activities at 8 a.m. Staging for the 11 a.m. parade will be held along Central Florida Boulevard, and the parade will travel clockwise along Gemini Boulevard, Greek Park Drive and Gemini Boulevard North before ending in front of the UCF Arena.

To accommodate student float building, parking lot B5 will be closed Friday, Oct. 28, and will remain closed on Saturday until all of the Homecoming floats have been taken apart after the parade. Central Florida Boulevard will be closed from 6 a.m. Saturday through the end of the parade. Campus entrances at 海角直播, Centaurus and North Gemini boulevards will be closed during the times when the parade is passing through those areas.

To learn more about Homecoming events, go to . For information on game day traffic and parking, go to http://www.ucfgameday.com.

Homecoming events kicked off Saturday, Oct. 22, with a free child-friendly carnival benefiting the families of Children鈥檚 Miracle Network. Carnival rides and arts and crafts booths hosted by student teams were set up on Memory Mall on UCF鈥檚 main campus. Monday’s activities included a Harry Potter movie night.

Check out more events during Homecoming week, Black & Gold Revolution:

-UCF alumni who have 鈥渞eached for the stars鈥� will be celebrated at the annual Black & Gold Gala, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, at the UCF Arena. The evening includes a cocktail reception, dinner and silent auction to benefit the UCF Alumni Trust Scholarship Fund. The cost is $70 per person, and corporate table sponsorships are available. To purchase tickets, go to .

-The UCF volleyball team will face Houston at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, at the Venue.

-UCF鈥檚 Young Alumni Chapter invites UCF graduates to downtown Orlando for the Black & Gold Takeover party. The festivities begin at 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, at Wall Street Plaza. Admission is free. RSVP at .

-The UCF Alumni Association will host its game day tailgate from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, inside the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center. The event is free for alumni and their guests of all ages. Alumni keycards must be shown at the door.

The Knights Give Back, UCF’s annual campuswide day of service, has been a tradition since 2007. The goal is to bring UCF Knights together for one day to make a difference in the Central Florida community.

On October 15, Volunteer UCF held its fifth annual Knights Give Back with over 1,000 students, alumni, faculty and staff including, for the first time, volunteers from UCF鈥檚 Regional Campuses, volunteering at 22 sites throughout the Central Florida community.

Participants provided a number of services to the community, from helping to clean the Wekiva River, restoring a local natural area in Oviedo and setting up a festival for the residents of Winter Park Towers to volunteering at Give Kids the World.

鈥淭his event helps to ignite the volunteers鈥� passion for service. Knights Give Back allows participants to really see the impact they can make on the lives of their neighbors,鈥� said Mark Baker, Knights Give Back site leader at Give Kids the World.

The event serves as a way to promote civic engagement between UCF and Orlando and helps to build partnerships with local non-profits. In the five years the program has existed, Knights Give Back has provided over 3,000 volunteers, participated in almost 11,000 hours of service, and saved Central Florida over $219,200.

Student Profile: Kelli Lipscomb is a true leader at UCF鈥檚 Daytona Beach campus. She served as vice president for the Student Nurses Association in her junior year and then president during her senior year. She created, organized and implemented community outreach projects, including an orientation and mentorship program for the incoming class of nursing students. She has exquisitely represented UCF Nursing at the Florida Nursing Student Association State Convention and at the national meeting. Lipscomb is not only a full-time student. She is the mother of two children, a Sunday school teacher and a volunteer at local public schools and with the Girl Scouts. Lipscomb wants to work in a large hospital system focusing on adult health.

Thanks to a three-year grant from the Promise of Nursing, more than 170 registered nurses from 10 hospitals in Brevard, Flagler and Volusia counties completed a new online preceptor education program developed by Judith Ruland, an associate professor in UCF鈥檚 College of Nursing.

Ruland, who is a certified nurse educator and has a Ph.D. in education, curriculum and instruction, developed the program in consultation with the college鈥檚 clinical agency partners at Bert Fish Memorial Center, Cape Canaveral Hospital, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial, Florida Hospital Flagler, Florida Hospital Ormond Memorial, Florida Hospital Oceanside, Halifax Medical Center, Holmes Regional Medical Center, Palm Bay Hospital and Parrish Medical Center.

The 10-week course teaches participants how to assess individual learning needs, how to evaluate a student鈥檚 performance, best practices for nurse-to-nurse or nurse-to-physician communication, and teaching and learning theories and strategies, to name just a few. The online lessons, including 15 videos, are available to the participants for up to two years.

According to the Florida Center for Nursing, the existing shortage of nurse preceptors at clinical sites affects the overall nursing shortage. 鈥淥ur program is helping to address this shortage by expanding the preceptor pool available to nursing programs throughout the region,鈥� said Jean Leuner, dean of UCF鈥檚 College of Nursing. 鈥淥ur hope is that we spark their interest in teaching. We would love it if the preceptors decided to go back to school for their master鈥檚 degree or doctorate and became our next generation of nurse educators,鈥� Ruland added.

鈥淢ost nursing schools utilize preceptors to deliver interactive learning experiences at clinical sites. It鈥檚 a vital component of an accredited nursing program,鈥� explains Leuner, who secured the funding for the development and initial implementation of the preceptor education program. The student nurse works the same hours as their preceptor, receiving important hands-on experience and valuable mentoring. As the semester progresses, the student gradually takes on more patient care responsibility, transitioning them from student nurse to professional nurse.

The next class of 120 participants will complete the preceptor education program this fall. 鈥淲e鈥檇 like to expand the program to our clinical partners in Orange and Seminole counties, and eventually to hospitals across the state and nation should additional funding be secured,鈥� Leuner said. 鈥淭he program can be tailored for any health care facility in any market,鈥� she added.

The Promise of Nursing for Central Florida Nursing School Grant Program is administered by the Foundation of the National Student Nurses鈥� Association. Funding for the grant program was contributed by several hospitals and health care agencies in the Central Florida area, by Johnson & Johnson, and by national companies with an interest in supporting nursing education. The funds were raised at a gala fundraising event sponsored by Johnson & Johnson.

The partnership between Valencia and UCF allows students to take two years of classes as Valencia students and two years as UCF students. Students then have the option to pursue a master’s degree at the 海角直播 of Florida (UF) College of Design program based in UCF’s Center for Emerging Media in downtown Orlando or at another institution.

Admission decisions for the Bachelor of Design in Architecture program will be announced on April 30. The program starts this fall at UCF Valencia West with a class of at least 32 students.

For more information, visit.

The student nurses partnered with the Flagler County Health Department to provide six health promotion and prevention booths at the event. These booths consisted of stroke education, H1N1 vaccinations, dental care, blood pressure screening, proper handwashing demonstrations, and STD/HIV education.

The event was part of a targeted effort, called The Red Butterfly Project, which is a subcommittee of the Focus on Flagler Youth Coalition. The Red Butterfly Project is funded by the Advocates for Youth, Youth of Color Initiative and aims to reduce the incidence of STDs, HIV and teen pregnancy among young women of color through outreach, education and community endeavors. Only five communities in the U.S. received funding to address health disparity issues among underserved populations.

Ariana Gross and Sarah Landreville, nursing instructors on UCF’s Daytona Beach campus and coordinators of the CNCs for Flagler and Daytona respectively, supervised the student nurses at the event. Gross, who is board-certified as a sexual assault nurse examiner, will also help The Red Butterfly Project develop curriculum that will be used to educate teens on sexual violence. “We believe this project will positively impact the community as well as provide our students with the understanding that through health education and promotion they can change lives,” Gross explained.

Danielle Cortese, a junior in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program at UCF Daytona agreed, “This experience has left me with a greater compassion and understanding of the citizens in underserved communities. In areas of lower socioeconomic status, such as Bunnell, events of this nature are extremely beneficial to the citizens, and I now have a better understanding of the factors that affect health care.”

The CNCs for Flagler and Daytona have been involved in several activities from the Focus on Flagler Youth Coalition since the summer of 2009. These initiatives, along with The Red Butterfly Project, coincide with the service-learning components of the curriculum at UCF College of Nursing.

Students enrolled in the BSN program on UCF’s Orlando, Cocoa and Daytona campuses spend their first and last semesters assigned to a CNC. Each CNC is supervised by a UCF College of Nursing faculty member and is comprised of 12-15 nursing students. The student nurses receive important “real-world” education while working in public schools, community centers, Boys and Girls Clubs, and senior centers – to name just a few. There they provide vital health education and screenings to some of Central Florida’s most economically disadvantaged residents. UCF College of Nursing currently has 16 CNCs actively serving Brevard, Flagler, Orange, Seminole, and Volusia counties.

Focus on Flagler Youth Coalition was established in January 2003 to raise awareness and prevent tobacco, alcohol and other drug use among the youth. Its mission is to support and create initiatives to achieve growth and fulfillment for Flagler youth, by supporting programs that have provided educational outlets for both the youth and parents to aid in improving their relationships. By collaborating amongst local schools and health departments, Focus on Flagler Youth Coalition strives to build a stronger community.

Contributing writer: Kristin Soto, UCF College of Nursing communications intern

In addition to UCF聽classes, the Partnership Center houses the DirectConnect聽to UCF聽Center where students can meet with a UCF advisor, explore degree programs, and connect with admission and financial aid representatives.

Since 2006, UCF has guaranteed admission to all Seminole State graduates through . The partnership provides students a seamless transition to UCF through shared academic programs, advising and financial aid resources.

A grand opening ceremony for the Partnership Center聽is scheduled for late Spring. To learn more about UCF Sanford/Lake Mary, or call聽407.708.2471.