On Wednesday, October 3, 2012, the Graduate Student Center held an all-day open house and invited the graduate community to stop by and tour the space located in Colbourn Hall, Suite 146.

Visitors heard from special guest speakers during a mid-afternoon reception of refreshments and mingling. Speakers included University of Central Florida President Dr. John C. Hitt, Interim Vice Provost and College of Graduate Studies Dean Dr. Ross Hinkle, Provost and Executive Vice President Dr. Tony Waldrop, and Graduate Student Association (GSA) President Matt Bagwell.

Speakers stressed the significance of graduate students’ contributions to the university, and highlighted the various technologies available for graduate students within the Graduate Student Center.

GSA officers Elizabeth Sanz (Vice President), Karim Alizad (Treasurer), and Rahmatollah Beheshti (Secretary), as well as Student Government Association President Cortez Whatley also dropped in to commemorate the occasion.

Though the Graduate Student Center has been open since the fall semester began, Wednesday was the official celebration, announcing to the entire UCF community that the Center was open.

The Center provides a comfortable, multiuse, high-tech haven for graduate students to study and collaborate. The space was designed by graduate students, with the graduate community’s needs in mind.

Centrally located in Suite 146 of Colbourn Hall, the Graduate Student Center is minutes from the Student Union, Bookstore, Library, and Millican Hall services, and just down the hall from the University Writing Center.

The Graduate Student Center contains four main areas:

  • Multipurpose Study Area– furnished with inviting couches, a 65” LCD presentation screen, and offers wireless access and numerous laptop outlets. This area is suitable for small study groups and group collaboration, individual study, and any reception gathering.
  • Presentation Room- features ultra-ergonomic desks, digital video recording capabilities, projection screen, Blu-Ray player, document viewer, teaching podium, and seating for 38. This room is recommended for professional or academic workshops and seminars, practice presentations, and thesis and dissertation defenses.
  • Conference Room- houses video conferencing equipment, a 65” LCD screen, two document readers, ceiling-mounted microphone, and a conference table with seating for 14. It is perfect for long distance meetings and presentations, visual collaboration, or just a private room for group discussions.
  • Study and Data Analysis Rooms- contain 12 quiet computer workstations, printers, and specialized software to support graduate students’ research. The computers are outfitted with statistical analyses software, publication-quality graphing software, programming and numerical computation software, and many others.

    • The rooms and computers are available for any graduate student to reserve.

    Please visit the website for more information on reservations, hours of operation, and a calendar of events: www.graduate.ucf.edu/gradcenter.