In a town not known for much outside of tourism, UCF's growth is helping to diversify our economy. The addition of a medical research facility has the potential to radically affect the area. Investments into digital media by Orlando and UCF stand to further Orlando's technology sector. UCF's aggressive push to build state of the art facilities are already attracting major acts that would otherwise find themselves in Tampa. UCF has very quickly become a key ingredient to our booming economic and cultural development.
On Saturday, Orlando's newest venue opens up with a football game against the Texas Longhorns. While UCF has been playing ball in the Citrus Bowl, the move to an on campus stadium will bring a true sense of college football to Orlando for the first time. Affordable family entertainment against a nationally ranked team in a safe, clean environment. It's not just a win for UCF, it's a win for the city.
If you're an Orlando resident, there are numerous reasons to be excited about the developments going on over in East Orlando. Imagine if someone gave you the chance to design your very own university, what kind of campus would you build? Now drive out to UCF and take a look around, because that's exactly what's going down. A modern, clean, advanced college atmosphere.
With all that being said...
It surprises me how many folks look for reasons to talk down UCF, and it seems to almost always be UF alumni doing it. For years, Orlando has been a gator town. Gainesville is only about an hour out of Orlando, and UF is the big name public university. I'm just not sure if I see the threat, the comparison, or the need for college affiliations of a local region to be so exclusive. It comes across as nothing more than defensive.My claim may seem anecdotal, but when you consider Facility Senate member Kathleen Price voted against (successfully) awarding Gov. Jeb Bush with an honorary degree because he approved funds for other state schools to have medical facilities (that is, UCF), or when Orlando Sentinel reporter Jeremy Fowler, who rumor has it is a UF graduate, needlessly bashes the home town team the week of the stadium opening, you have to wonder what their deal is (or, in the later case, if the Sentinel's traffic is truly that bad. Hope the link helps...;). Who, exactly, benefits from bashing and attacking the efforts of UCF to enter the "big time", when the city of Orlando gains so much from them doing so?
I often find myself preaching the Orlando gospel to folks outside of the area. It helps to find cities to compare us to, usually a more club-centric (ugh) version of Austin (in terms of size and tech. sector revenue), or a less sprawling version of Atlanta seem to fit (Charlotte and Atlanta are the only two southern-style cities that have a decent tech presence that come to mind for me).
Atlanta seems to be a fitting situation, and works perfectly in context to this post. UGA, Georgia's name brand university, is located in Athens about an hour out of town. Ga. Tech, an engineering school, is located inside the city. Add in George O'Leary and UCF's uniforms and I think we have a viable comparison. UCF is to Ga. Tech as UF is to UGA.
Maybe USF/UCF is not the budding state rivalry we all thought it was after all... ;) 20 years from now, FSU will be rebuilding after Bowden fires his grand children (even if he should pass, Bowden will still be coaching FSU from the other side), USF and Miami will be fighting over the definition of South Florida and UCF/UF will be engaged in a full out turf war. When it happens, remember that you heard it here first. God knows what the Sentinel's slant will be ;)
Comments...
(Page 1)1. Matt,
You do know that UCF is routinely competitive with Ga. Tech in various computer science metrics, right? In fact, when it comes to things like the ACM programming tests, UCF generally comes out on top.
UCF obviously has a very long road ahead, but considering most of this has taken place in the last ten years, I'd suspect the next 20 are going to be pretty strong. And we're not talking about UF naming a school after Jeb, we're talking about the faculty senate shooting him down as a recipient of an honorary degree, with her reasoning being that he diverted funds that could have gone to UF medical facilities to other schools in the state (read the article linked, google around, etc. made a fairly big stink in local media when it happened).
For reference/citation:
NAGPS National Ranking for Top 20 Computer Science Doctoral Programs Institution Score:
1. University of Washington-Seattle
2. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
3. University of California-San Diego (UCSD)
4. Harvard University
5. Georgia Tech University
6. John Hopkins University
6. Cornell University
6. University of California-Berkeley
6. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
10. Columbia University
10. University of Central Florida
10. University of Cincinnati
10. SUNY-Stony Brook
10. University of Wisconsin-Madison
15. University of Delaware
15. Stanford University
17. Rice University
18. Princeton University
18. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
18. University of Texas-Austin
18. Texas A&M
Best,
Alex
10:29PM on Sep 12th 2007 by Alex Rudloff
2. Actually, I think Ms. Price's opposition to naming the College of Education at UF after Gov. Bush was more of a political statement, not necessarily because of the med-school issue.
Comparing UCF to GT? Ha! Many UCF students could probably barely spell "Georgia Tech." While UCF has certainly bolstered its résumé lately, it's got a ways to go. I do not look forward to UF having to compete for recruits with USF and UCF either!
8:30AM on Sep 13th 2007 by Matt
3. I go to Valencia nowadays...
11:44AM on Sep 13th 2007 by Danny
4. This is merely anecdotal, in the high school college planning conversations guidance counselors have had with incoming freshman (they start you on picking your school in the eighth grade HS orientation) it has been a popular thing to refer to UCF as a second choice state school compared to FSU and UF. In the last 5 years that has changed.
Just last year, the high school orientation classes used UCF as the prime example of needing to have every available high level course and first round grade a scores on ACT or SAT because of the selective admissions. According to the guidance counselor what used to be shoe-in for area kids now rejects more than FSU and is about tied with UF. While this does probably applies to certain subject areas that UCF is focusing on, it is telling.
Considering the true predictor of future success of an institution is the current enrollment and their academic level, it looks like UCF is about to be on par with UF in many areas. That was the reason for the UF specialized rate hike was to provide additional barriers. UCF and FSU may get those soon. FSU has run out of room but UCF is looking at the academic reasons.
That being said, they appear at #13 in the Princeton reviews "Their students (almost) never study" list.
As far as list go, USA Today Best Colleges 2008 has UF ranked Higher (49) versus UGA (59)
11:53AM on Sep 13th 2007 by Tim Welch
5. What a loser this kid is. UCF will NEVER, NEVER, be what UF is...a legitimate national title team every year. Your fans don't care about your team, your city is a dump that only attracts tourists...Florida residents would rather go somewhere that isn't full of lost Eurotrash roaming the streets. And about that campus...it may be new and nice, but it's hidden in a little corner away from everything. If students want a real college experience, they'll go to UF. Gainesville is a city that is built around the university, not a college hiding from the city that houses it. And I think you mean UCF is to UF what GT is to UGA. You suck as a writer...don't make this your profession, or you'll just add to Orlando's growing homeless epidemic. Loser.
5:56PM on Sep 20th 2007 by nate
6. UCF will never be the school that UF is and UCF will never have the football team that UF has.
6:17PM on Sep 20th 2007 by hugh
7. Nate,
Hahahah I'm sorry man, but I grew up a miami fan. UF's two national championships are cute and all, but a "legitimate national title team every year" is a bit of a stretch. 20 years ago, UF was an awful program. These things are cyclical, and if you think other florida schools like USF and UCF aren't going to start building programs, I question your sports knowledge.
I picked UCF over every other school, as well as most of the folks I went there with. Gainesville wasn't, and isn't, for me.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts anyhow, I think the pro-UF comments coming in on here do nothing but prove my point ;)
Best,
Alex
7:30PM on Sep 20th 2007 by Alex Rudloff
8. I would agree with Alex on this one. The comments posted by nate and hugh say it all. UF alumni and football fans seem to be extremely arrogant these days. Its kind of like 'New Money'. They are relatively new to winning championships and I think its gone to their heads. They need to act like they are used to it and relax. When they get 2 or 3 more football rings under their belt (like Miami for example) then it will time to brag. As far as the academics, UCF and UF are now the toughest public schools in FL for admissions. Things HAVE changed in the last few years. UCF has grown by leaps and bounds and I think people that haven't driven through the campus lately don't quite realize what's happening. UCF is no longer a commuter school (6th largest University in the country), their facilities are the best in the state (3 new football fields including one indoors, brand new 10 M gym, new basketball stadium (their 2nd on campus), new dorms, on campus bars / restaurants / stores, ect.. ) They have a new Med school coming, a top-notch computer engineering program, a great hospitality management program (what better place than orlando), and some really exciting plans to develop the Orlando TD Waterhouse area into a programming / video game / graphic design student village (Orlando is home to EA Sports)... I could go on and on. UCF is experiencing enormous growth and most UF fans either haven't taken notice or are too arrogant and high on their new-found winning ways to realize what's happening.
8:22PM on Sep 20th 2007 by John L.
9. Nate, I am a big UF fan with many ties to Gator nation. I love everything about the school, its town, its academics and its athletic programs. There was no need to respond to this article in the unfortunate manner that has become so prevelent on the Sports Chat board venues.
Perhaps the "real college experience" everyone wants is not the same. Whether a student wants to attend a big school or a small school, urban or rural, steeped in tradition or building a new tradition, they are free to choose their own experience.
UCF appears to be an oustading institution that is clearly building its reputation in academic circles as well as upgrading its on campus athletic facilities in order to enhance student life and better compete in a state loaded with BCS conference and quality mid-major athletic programs. I expect that UCF will continue to build on these efforts to become another great acedemic institution of our state, while providing another unique option for students looking for their own "real college experience".
8:29AM on Sep 22nd 2007 by Joe
10. Sorry for the typos in my comment above. Typing with a two year old in your lap trying to help can be a challenge.
9:47AM on Sep 22nd 2007 by Joe
11. I speak from a point of view of having been around a while (older than 35) and seen and evaluated many different universities. Yes, I do have a post-graduate degree in business. I think that UCF will come into it's own in time and surpass other universities sooner rather than later. We have to keep in mind that other major universities in the state have had decades to get where they are today in the way of academic excellence. UCF has come a long way in a very short period of time. It has made exceptional progress on their way to becoming a institution of academic prominence.
This is something that everyone in the state should be proud of--the fact that we have so many great top rated universities (UCF/UF/FSU/UM/UNF/USF).
1:24PM on Oct 4th 2007 by Frank