Collections

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.

The University of Central Florida Commencement Video collection, 1989-2005 contains video recordings of graduation ceremonies for Fall, Spring, and Summer terms at the University of Central Florida (UCF) between the years of 1998 and 2005 on video cassettes and DVDs. The commencement video recordings document these events and provide audiovisual evidence of the university's traditions, leadership, and graduating classes over time. The University of Central Florida (UCF), founded in 1963 as Florida Technological University (FTU), holds commencement ceremonies to recognize and celebrate the academic achievements of its graduates after each Fall, Spring, and Summer semester. Commencements have taken place in the Orlando Municipal Auditorium, inside a drained Reflection Pond, outside Trevor Colbourn Hall, and the Addition Financial Arena. These ceremonies confer degrees and honor student accomplishments. Past commencement speakers include astronaut John Young in 1970 and United States President Richard Nixon in 1973.

The University of Central Florida Department of Housing and Residence Life records, 1966-2015, contain materials collected by the Department of Housing and Residence Life at the University of Central Florida (UCF). It chiefly consists of reports, plans, surveys, studies, designs, programs, guides, manuals, memorabilia, and photographs. These records document the history of the UCF Department of Housing and Residence Life, as well as the development of student housing communities such as the Libra dorms, the Business & Professional Women's (BPW) Scholarship House, Lake Claire Apartments, Academic Villages, and Rosen Apartments, as well as housing for Greek fraternities and sororities and UCF-affiliated off campus housing. The records also contain records related to training for Resident Assistants. The Department of Housing and Residence Life is a subdivision of the University of Central Florida's (UCF) Student Development and Enrollment Services, formerly known as the Division of Student Affairs. Since the main campus opened, the department has managed and developed student housing at the university. UCF offers five housing communities on the main campus, off-campus affiliated housing, and housing at a few other campuses as well. The earliest dormitories at UCF were the Apollo dorms, which opened in 1968. In 1980, the Libra dorms were built. The Lake Claire Apartments were completed in 1994, along with new additional Libra dormitories in 1998. The Academic Village dorms opened in 2001. The Rosen Apartments on the Rosen campus and the Towers on the main campus opened in 2005. The Business Professional Women's Scholarship House opened in 1986, was moved to a new location in 1993, and permanently closed in 2014. UCF has had several housing directors, but Christopher McCray was the longest-serving director who held the position for over 20 years, followed by Christi Hartler who served as director for over 15 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.

The face of the American workforce changed when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. Thus, when Florida Technological University opened in 1968, the university employed J. Phillip Goree, Vice President for Administration and Finance as the Equal Opportunity Officer. From its beginning, the Equal Opportunity Office has facilitated campus policies and programs for students, faculty, staff, applicants, visitors, and community members in accordance with statutes and guidelines. The collection holds materials concerning the University's implementation of federal affirmative action programs and civil rights regulations during the 1970s as well as the effect on faculty, staff, students, recruitment practices, and federal funding to the University.

The University of Central Florida Eternal Knights collection, 2008-2025, documents past University of Central Florida (UCF) Eternal Knights Memorial Services, organized by the Office of Student Involvement. Materials in the collection include service programs, as well as unclaimed certificates of achievement, Student Government letters, name tents, letters of remembrance, and honorary degrees. The collection also contains two glass awards, a diploma cover, and a small ribbon from the ceremony. The collection encompasses services held from 2008 to 2025. The University of Central Florida's first Eternal Knights Memorial Service took place in 2002. Held each spring in the Student Union by the Office of Student Involvement (OSI), the service honors the lives of students who have passed away over the course of the academic year, from the previous spring and summer leading up to the current semester. Students, family, and friends are invited to attend and recognize individuals, along with the broader UCF community. A livestream is available for those who cannot attend in person.  

The University of Central Florida Faculty and Alumni Manuscripts Collection features original manuscript materials for several UCF affiliated writers. Many of the writers presented here are retired history professors of UCF. In some cases, these professors have provided their research notes in addition to their manuscripts. Other writers are UCF alumni who are still professionals in the Central Florida community.

This collection is organized in one chronological series and seven subseries that includes items such as constitutional revisions, meeting minutes, surveys, analyses, reports and correspondence as well as many other miscellaneous senate documents.

This collection contains audits and associated materials created by the University of Central Florida's Office of Finance and Accounting.

Initially founded as the FTU Foundation, Inc. in 1969, the UCF Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization that performs a multitude of services for the University of Central Florida, including acting as financial advisors, real estate consultants, and the university's primary fund-raising arm. This collection contains materials pertaining to the FTU/UCF Foundation, its creation, operation and fund-raising projects.