In case you missed it, the Director’s Update can be found here.

The deadline for Fall 2020 textbook orders is Friday, May 1.

Things to remember:

1. Textbook orders do not carry over from the previous semester. If you do not submit orders by the deadline, you will not have textbooks.
2. If a textbook is not going to be required, an order MUST be submitted stating ‘No Text Material Required For This Course.’

If you need more information, contact Debbie Doyle.

NSCM wants to hear from you! Awards, events, partnerships, efforts towards diversity and inclusivity aims by faculty, staff, students, and alumni – NSCM wants to hear all about it and you can let us know through our new NSCM Reporting Tool. Here you provide us with all of the information to ensure that our upcoming annual report and accurately shows all of the amazing work and accomplishments being done by the members of the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. The NSCM Reporting Tool allows you to report one or several items at a time and is easy to use. You can access this on the Nicholson Resource at any point; follow the image below.

Can’t wait to see all the amazing things we have done this year!

A very valuable resource for victims of sexual or domestic/dating violence during these difficult times is UCF Victim Services, which is available 24/7 to provide support, safety planning, and resources to all UCF Victims to include students, faculty and staff. Victim Services is a confidential resource and can be contacted via the 24/7 Hotline at 407-823-1200, Text 407-823-6868 and video conferencing can be coordinated based on the needs of the client. As many of our community members are working and learning remotely most incidents will not fall under Title IX. Accessing appropriate resources quickly can be life-saving and life-changing.

As more companies and organizations begin using Zoom and other teleconferencing software for online collaboration due to increased activity in working and studying remotely, the FBI has received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language.

If you are using Zoom for instruction, here are some steps you can take to mitigate disruptions:

• Do not make meetings or classrooms public: Zoom can require a password or the use of a waiting room feature to control admittance. For UCF meetings, both options are on by default.
• When possible use a random meeting ID when scheduling. Do not share a personal ID link to a meeting or classroom on publicly available social media; instead, provide meeting links to specific people.
• Ensure screen sharing is set to "Host-Only" under Zoom's Advanced Features. This should be on by default.
• Make sure you, and those in your meeting, are running the latest version of the Zoom client to benefit from the latest security updates. To manually update your client, click your profile picture after logging in and select "Check for Updates."

To learn about other features available in Zoom to secure your meetings, please click here.

There are alternatives to Zoom, such as Teams and Skype, that are supported by UCF IT. Learn more by clicking here.

For more information, please refer to the FBI release.

The minutes from the March 8 COS Chairs' and Director's meeting are now available. You can access these minutes via the Nicholson Resource web page, or by clicking the button below