In case you missed it, the Director’s Updates can be found below

•  April 7, 2020
•  April 17, 2020

We know that this is a difficult time for everyone, which is why it is more important than ever for us to join together and take care of our UCF family.

Our faculty and staff have worked hard to keep our university running as smoothly as possible through remote teaching and working. Even before my arrival, I have been so impressed by your innovative spirit and commitment to our students — and each other — during these challenges.

Through the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, UCF employees are eligible to receive up to two weeks of paid sick leave. But some members of our UCF family already need extended leaves of absence to take care of themselves or their families, while others are unable to work remotely.

That’s why we are launching the Knights Care Leave Share. Through this program, you are able to donate your annual and sick leave into a UCF-sponsored leave bank for your fellow employees who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and have exhausted all of their personal leave. Eligible recipients will be paid their normal rate.

Leave donations will be accepted through April 24. The program is entirely voluntary. If you would like to and are able to donate your time to your colleagues, you can do so by submitting a donation form. If you need a donation, please ask for help by completing an application.
Remember, we’re all in this together.

Please continue to take care of yourselves and each other. And, as always, Charge On!

Dr. Alexander Cartwright, 
President

Check-in with family, friends, and mentees. We can’t be there in person but a text, email, Zoom chat, or even playing online games together can help bridge the distance.

Take advantage of all the wonderful online content the PFSA has access to:

• This episode of Some Good News made my day
  
• Interested in genealogy? Legacy Family Tree has daily free webinars
• Lions Gate will live stream free movies for 4 Fridays, as of Friday, April 17.
• Know that you aren’t obligated to spend this time making yourself “better”. Don’t let “them” tell you that you must spend this time creating, learning, etc. It’s perfectly ok to rest. There are lots of opportunities available but you are the one that knows what is best for you.
• Know that the Employee Assistance Program is now available to all employees and their immediate families. More information can be found here.

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.

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.

To view the new set of committees, please click here or access the Nicholson Resource page, where they'll be updated shortly.

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!

With the deadline for WGST scholarships approaching, the Nicholson School encourages faculty to consider sharing this with their students and/or writing them a letter of nomination.

All scholarships are given in Fall 2020 with the exception of the Dorothy Height (which is given right away before the end of the term), so please nominate a student still register at UCF for fall 2020. Please go to our scholarship page at here for each criteria. All materials are uploaded there too.

Featuring for the first time and honoring our former colleague the Anthony "Tony" Major Race Relations Scholarship will benefit a student with $250.00.

Let's make a difference in a student's life!

Like almost everything else this spring, spring commencement will be unique. The university is hosting several initiatives to make the students feel special and I hope you will participate in some of them.

• First, are the virtual commencement ceremonies.
  • CAH - May 2, 2020 - 2 p.m.
  • COS - May 2, 2020 - 7 p.m.
• Second, UCF is soliciting congratulatory video messages from faculty, staff, and alumni. Please consider sending one yourself and also encourage your former students to do the same. The deadline for submitting is this Monday, April 20.

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.

Bruce Janz and colleagues are conducting research into people’s reactions to measures taken to mitigate the spread of the 2019-20 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease caused by it, Covid-19. In particular, we are interested in responses to social distancing, shelter-in-place practices, self-quarantine, and self-isolation.

They have an online Qualtrics survey that asks demographic, psychological, and contextual questions, and which also asks participants to engage in free writing and reflection about their reactions and experiences to the measures being taken to distance or isolate people from each other. In the free writing area, you are welcome to repurpose your own existing social media posts, if they are relevant, or write something new in response to our writing prompts. They are interested in the ways people experience isolation and how they make or find meaning and construct narratives in these experiences.

This research consists of a survey of 30 questions that will take approximately 40 minutes to complete. You must be 18 years of age or older to fill out the survey. This survey has been cleared by UCF IRB.

Survey: http://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5ptTFu1BAbvz1sx

Since the COVID-19 shutdown canceled FCTL Summer Conference, Team QEP has been working to develop an online alternative. They are pleased to announce they'll be offering a HIP Course Designation Virtual Bootcamp, on May 4–7, for faculty to develop applications for either the Integrative-Learning Experience (IE) or Research-Intensive (RI) HIP course designation. The Bootcamp will include some daily Zoom meetings for participants to check in with their cohort leaders and colleagues, and also a great deal of flexible time for participants to work on their projects and to provide feedback to each other in small-group peer workshops, either synchronously or asynchronously. Participants will receive $500 upon completion of the Bootcamp and its deliverables.

Attached is the flyer, but you can also access the application via our Website. Send your completed applications to Brooks Pingston at QEP@ucf.edu by April 22, 2020. Space is limited.

The minutes from the April 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