UCF in the News

The University of Central Florida (UCF) has announced it will be renaming its football stadium to the "Acrisure Bounce House" come July. UCF to rename football stadium What we know: On Thursday, UCF Athletics announced that its on-campus football stadium, previously known as the "FBC Mortgage Stadium," will be renamed to the "Acrisure Bounce House." The decision was formally approved at today's UCF Board of Trustees meeting. What does the new name mean? FBC Mortgage joined the Acrisure family in 2022. UCF Athletics leaders said the updated stadium name reflects FBC Mortgage’s transition to Acrisure Mortgage. The transition is a move that strengthens the company’s alignment with Acrisure LLC, a global fintech leader with operations in 23 countries and more than 19,000 team members. While the name is changing, UCF leaders said the strong relationship between UCF Athletics and Acrisure Mortgage — and the shared commitment to excellence — remains unchanged. What's next: Signage and branding updates with the new stadium name are expected to begin this summer ahead of the Knights’ 2025 football season. The stadium name change will go into effect on July 1.

WFTV-TV (Orlando, FL) | 627,268 unique visitors per month For decades, the University of Central Florida has been a pipeline to the entertainment industry, churning out students into theme parks across central Florida. One of them is Karlyn Leander. She’s a figure finish artist.“Each of those figures has different aesthetic needs,” said Leander. “So it’s like silicone skin, fiberglass shells, show set painting, all that stuff. We go in and make sure those figures are looking as good as they did on opening day.” And that experience is gained through real world knowledge. “We’re required to do the same kind of work that you would do as a theme park designer,” Leander said. “We’re putting together a pitch deck. We’re learning how to present it and then we’re actually given the chance to present it to the very executives and creative directors and people that work at Universal.” But UCF’s impact on theme park storytelling goes beyond what you see. It also extends to what you taste. At UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, professor Jonathon Judy teaches students how food itself can be a storytelling tool. “They really learn about it from the perspective of how does food go from the kernel of an idea to something that creates an immersive concept,” said Judy.

How much will it cost to visit a museum, zoo or aquarium this summer? The answer, increasingly, is: It depends. John Linehan can rattle off almost two dozen factors that Zoo New England's dynamic pricing contractor, Digonex, uses to recommend what to charge guests. Steeper prices during peak periods and for short-notice visits could rankle guests — who may see anything less than a top-notch experience as a rip-off, said Stephen Pratt, a professor at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management who studies tourism. “Because of the higher prices, you want an experience that’s really great,” he said, transforming a low-key day at the zoo into a big-ticket, high-stakes outing. “You’ve invested this money into family time, into creating memories, and you don’t want any service mishaps.”

John Buckwalter, a 20-year veteran in the field of academia, has been named the next provost at the University of Central Florida. Buckwalter, who also will serve as executive vice president, most recently served as provost at Boise State University, where he led interdisciplinary initiatives and student achievement, according to a UCF release. He begins his position with the university on Aug. 1 and succeeds Provost Michael D. Johnson, who will retire this summer after serving 35 years with UCF as a faculty member and dean before taking on the provost role.

The Walt Disney Company and Universal, two of the biggest names in theme parks, are both undertaking historic expansions to their experiences businesses. Universal Orlando Resort in May opened the gates to Epic Universe, its fourth theme park at its flagship resort. Epic cost an estimated $7 billion to build, according to numbers provided by the University of Central Florida. Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Universal parent company Comcast, called it the “single-largest investment Comcast NBCUniversal has made in its theme park business”. “If you’re uncertain how the economy is going to develop, then you’re going to try to be more cautious in your spending,” said Jorge Ridderstaat, associate professor at UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

I just returned from the third annual Teaching and Learning with AI conference, hosted by the University of Central Florida. And, as I did last year, I wanted to share some of what I heard and observed. This year’s conference drew nearly 1,000 attendees and included more than 250 presentations. So there’s plenty to talk about. What became immediately clear, after sitting in on the first few presentations, is that people are hungry for practical information on how to understand AI and its relationships to learning.

Knights shine brightly at Universal Epic Universe. Students at the University of Central Florida gained firsthand experience through the development of Universal Orlando's newest theme park. Only WESH 2 was invited to witness how Central Florida's newest theme park helped share students' future. The first class we visited was at UCF's Rosen College of Hospitality Management. Dr. Carissa Baker leads the undergraduate theme park and attractions management class. "We just started our program in fall of 2023, and it was just perfect timing. We swear it wasn't on purpose to coincide with the opening of Universal Epic Universe, but it started with our students brand new in this program and then seeing a dirt lot across the street," she said. Many of Baker's students are already working at Epic, while others, like UCF senior Elisa Saldias-Leon, are still pursuing their dreams. "People are like, 'Oh, my dreams are, like, in my hands.' And my dream is within like a minute, like two-minute walk that way. I'm like, what is that? It's insane," Saldias-Leon said. Saldias-Leon aims to further her education through the themed experience graduate program at UCF's main campus, led by Professor Peter Weishar. Students in this program also get to partake in the UCF/Universal Creative Lab, where they work directly with Universal Creative’s show producers, engineers and designers, gaining rare access to behind-the-scenes development processes. WESH 2 was there as current students presented their attraction ideas directly to Universal Creative executives. "It's so exciting to see these people have a dream of creating memorable themed experiences, really impacting lives, and they come here to Orlando, the epicenter of the themed entertainment industry and the first new major park in their lives, and they're part of it," Weishar said.

Even for good students, it’s simply too tempting to use AI to “do the work” for you as opposed to assisting you. At this point, educators need to refactor courses with the assumption that students are using AI. The only exception on essays would be courses that specifically focus on writing, such as English Composition. Even then, great care needs to be taken in planning coursework not performed in a classroom or proctored setting. An interesting side note is that a UCF survey showed that students want human feedback, not AI grading or comments. If we flip the script and call this out to students, it can perhaps better illustrate how instructors also want student’s actual thoughts versus those of an AI.

Florida is known for its gorgeous skies, but — let's be honest — the daytime scenery kind of steals the spotlight. Thanks to its cerulean afternoons and bright winters, Florida has earned the name "The Sunshine State." In fact, contrary to what some visitors believe, the Sunshine State boasts some truly stunning spots for appreciating nature and stargazing. Observing the night sky is one thing, but studying it is something else altogether. Folks who are interested in taking a deep dive into all things celestial should definitely stop by the Robinson Observatory at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Despite its location in a big city, this structure provides fantastic views of the night sky. Thanks to its high-powered telescopes, visitors can view stars that aren't necessarily visible to the naked eye. The best part is that the observatory organizes educational stargazing events for the public. Grab a light sweater, a blanket, and your learning cap. Robinson Observatory is one of the best places in Florida to stargaze and learn. According to the amateur astronomers who have attended these events in the past, the experience provides a fantastic view of the skies. As one visitor gushed on Google, "UCF astronomy team had multiple telescopes set up to observe. Big close-up view of the moon – very high resolution. One telescope on Venus, another on Mars, and the Orion Cluster." A second Google reviewer recommended the events fully, sharing, "If you are a [stargazer] plan on attending their public events. We have been twice since we found it a few months ago and had a great time."