Connection Magazine
Spring 2023 Issue
Connection Magazine is a bi-annual publication from the University of West Florida. The Spring 2023 issue highlights unconventional undergraduate and faculty research, the timelessness of education, hidden treasures in Historic Pensacola and so much more. Visit the link below to read the latest issue. If you want to receive printed copies of Connection Magazine, sign up to be a Sustaining Alumni Member.
College Highlights
Click the boxes below for additional highlights from each college.
- Greg Saunders, drawing instructor, has a large solo show at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans.
- A Special Category Grant was won by the Archaeology Institute and Department of Anthropology. It will support the Tristan de Luna archaeological field schools, analysis and report production from Summer 2022 through Summer 2023. The amount of the award is $446,000 and after our match will be in excess of $881,000.
- The Legal Studies program hosted Florida Supreme Court Justice John D. Couriel in October and a state high school Mock Trial Competition in January. Events like these establish the program as a regional hub for current and future legal professionals.
- The EdD program in Curriculum and Instruction awarded its 500th degree in December 2021. Twenty six students successfully defended their dissertations between June 2021 and June 2022.
- The first cohort enrolled in the Spring 2022 Inside-Out Exchange course led by Jennifer Brinkley, J.D., assistant professor of legal studies, and Dr. Nicole Niebuhr, assistant professor in the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice. The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program® is an international initiative that encourages dialogue and education among incarcerated individuals and university students
- Early this fall term, the Army ROTC hosted 300 Junior ROTC cadets from 13 area high schools to participate in the JROTC Argonaut challenge.
- Recently, the College of Education and Professional Studies was awarded three more National Science Foundation grants for a total of six active NSF grants, totaling $3,637,653 in federal grant support supporting a range of research from retention, persistence and effectiveness of STEM teachers in high-need school districts to online practice questioning and discussion techniques of Undergraduate STEM.
- Seven high school and two college students from across the country came to the University of West Florida this summer to attend the Air Force JROTC Flight Academy.
- In the 2021 calendar year, Florida SBDC at UWF led all nine SBDC Regions in most key performance indicators. SBDC at UWF assisted 1,700 clients with 19,000 consulting hours generating $56 million in client capital obtained, $40 million in client government contracts acquired and $263 million in client sales increase. Overall, SBDC at UWF provided $34.2 million in tax revenue generated.
- Drs. Molek, Janosik, and Osusu-Daaku were awarded two NIH supplemental grants to offer inclusive mentoring workshops to HMCSE faculty. The second award includes Inclusive Mentoring and Resilience and Wellness professional development.
- Dr. Sikha Bagui was awarded three grants during the 21-22 academic year (in addition to 10 publications)
- NSF: Computer Science For All: A Continuous Coaching Model for High School Computer Science Teachers ($300,000)
- NCAE-C (NSA): Robust Automated Risk Detection and Mitigation System for Network Intrusion Detection Systems ($375,311)
- PI, Center for Inclusive Computing, Increasing the Representation of Women in Undergraduate Computing ($60,000)
- HMCSE faculty had over 100 publications during 21-22 AY in peer-review journals and conference journals.
- Faculty in the Department of Public Health and the School of Nursing worked with Ascension Health Care and were awarded a HRSA grant. The project total is estimated to be $3 million. The UW portion will be several hundred thousand dollars, led by Dr. Tshiswaka, Dr. Mbizo and Dr. Thomas.
- Faculty across the College, led by Dr. Patricia Barrington, are running poverty simulations as both a HIP for students but also a wonderful opportunity for all to have a deeper understanding of the struggles of those living in poverty.
- The UKCOH achieved its highest enrollment for the Fall of 2022, with over 3,400 students.
Enrollment
- Record overall enrollment the past three fall semesters (2020, 2021, 2022)
- Record 4-year graduation rate (47.4%)
UWF Center for Cybersecurity
- Dr. Guillermo Francia, III, Director of Research and Innovation, was one of a few U.S. researchers selected to present at the prestigious Transatlantic (U.S.-Ireland-Northern Ireland) Workshop on Collaborative IT/CPS Cybersecurity Research. The workshop is supported by the National Science Foundation (USA), Department for the Economy (Northern Ireland), and Science Foundation of Ireland (Republic of Ireland).
Got an idea for a story?
Institutional Communications and Alumni Relations are always accepting story ideas for Connection Magazine. We’re looking for big, transformative stories that showcase UWF students, faculty, staff and alumni making an impact around the world. Submit your story ideas by clicking the link below. Please limit one idea per submission form.
Submit a Class Note
Did you recently get a promotion, write a book or earn an award? Share a milestone in your life with your UWF family! Submit a class note using the link below and you may be included in an upcoming edition of Connection magazine! Questions? Email alumni@uwf.edu.
