Collections

This collection contains materials related to the Knights Racing program, which spawned from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) chapter at Florida Technological University, now University of Central Florida. Materials found in this collection include newspaper clippings, chapter documents, photographs, plaques, racing car designs, and more. This collection provides insight into the Knights Racing program at Florida Technological University (University of Central Florida) and the groups involved. The Knights Racing Program has been a staple of the University of Central Florida since the creation of the FTU chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 1972. Before the program became widely known as "Knights Racing," the racing teams were simply referred to as simply the members of the ASME chapter. The program's name, "Knights Racing," originated with UCF's mascot change in 2007 which shortened the UCF's mascot from "The Golden Knights" to "The Knights." The Mini Baja Competition was coined under the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), who began to hold competitions for the Baja carts. This competition consists of students designing, building, and operating a recreational offroading vehicle. At the time of their creation, the Baja Racing Team and the Formula SAE team were one team; however, they separated in 2019 due to Student Government Association funding limitations. Since their divorce in 2019, the teams compete, design, and build their cars independently. As of 2021, the Formula SAE and Baja Racing Teams remain under the umbrella of the "Knights Racing Program" though they act independently.

Mary Monroe was a theatre student at FTU in the 1970s. Her collection of photographs, news clippings, and programs document the theatre performances during that time.

The Orlando Shakespeare Theater Collection contains playbills, programs, reviews, newspaper clippings, films, cassettes, reels, and schedules. It also includes items relating to the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival Partnership (OSF) such as Simply Shakespeare, Central Florida's first Shakespearean troupe, and the UCF Shakespeare Summer Institute as well as the NEH grant funded faculty study project "Hamlet: Exploring the Renaissance Mind in Action" which was presented in the Summer 1991.

The UCF Metro with Linda Chapin television series collection, 2001-2007 contains the physical video recordings for the UCF Metro with Linda Chapin television program produced by Lisa Mills. The original media carriers are VHS tapes until August 2005, then the episodes are only on DVD. Each VHS tape has a DVD copy. This collection is useful for historical research on the University of Central Florida (UCF) and its relationship to the wider Orlando metropolitan area in the 2000s, specifically how UCF supports the regional economy, workforce, and civic engagement. UCF Metro with Linda Chapin is a television series created in partnership with the UCF Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies, WMFE Channel 24, and the UCF Nicholson School of Communications. The series highlighted UCF's partnerships with the Central Florida community and the university's efforts to support regional growth. The series, which aired from 2001 to 2007, was produced by film professor Lisa Mills and hosted by Linda W. Chapin, director of the Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies. Chapin retired from UCF in 2008. As of 2026, Mills continues to teach as a professor at the Nicholson School of Communication and Media.

This collection includes documents pertaining to the formation of the University of Central Florida's Academic Advising Council as well as its administration, initiatives, and achievements. There is also an official Academic Advising Statement and the Academic Advising handbook created for faculty.

The University of Central Florida Athletics Collection documents the history and operation of FTU and UCF sports and how University athletics have been chronicled in the media. The creation of several FTU and UCF sports teams are highlighted here, including the UCF football team in 1979. A large portion of this collection contains publications from most FTU and UCF sporting teams including yearly media guides used by local and national media outlets to aid in reporting on University sports.

This collection contains a wide variety of media used to document, promote, or analyze the University of Central Florida. While the bulk of the collection is video, the collection also contains audio and multi-media. News footage from around Central Florida pertaining to the University can be found here as well as historic media that chronicles the growth of both FTU and UCF. University advertising campaigns as well as University produced media highlight the many academic and athletic organizations that can be found on campus.

The Campus Activities Board is a student-run organization that organizes educational and entertainment activities funded by the Activity and Service Fee. This collection includes informational brochures, event calendars and advertisements for the Campus Activities Board and related university offices.

This collection contains documents, correspondence, newsletters and ephemera relating to the College of Health and Public Affairs (COHPA) and its School of Public Administration. The majority of the collection was given by Dr. Wendell Lawther, who began teaching at UCF in 1984 and was a professor for the COHPA Department of Public Administration (later School of Public Administration) for thirty years.

Florida Technological University, now the University of Central Florida, set out in 1968 to create a program of nursing that would be accessible to students in Central Florida. This collection contains the correspondence, minutes, and curriculum pertaining to the creation and implementation of the Department of Nursing at UCF. In 1995, the Department of Nursing became the School of Nursing and in 2007, the school became the College of Nursing, which is the university's eleventh college.