Message from Vice President, Curtis A. Reynolds |
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Happy Spring!
With beautiful weather and end of semester celebrations, I have many reasons to be grateful as the academic semester comes to a close. In-person graduations are being held at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center for the first time in over a year and many of you have helped to make thousands of eager graduates' special day a reality.
As you read this newsletter you will see that many of your peers have achievements to celebrate. I would like to celebrate all of you! I would like to give away 2 tickets to a baseball game on May 2nd at the new Florida Field. If interested, click here. You will only be eligible if you click the link and fill out the form by 5pm EST today (Wednesday the 28th). A random winner will be selected and notified. Thank you for your continued hard work and dedication.
Go Gators,
Curtis A. Reynolds
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The 2021 University-wide Superior Accomplishment Awards ceremony took place virtually via Zoom on Wednesday, April 14th. William Helms of Transportation and Parking Services won a division Superior Accomplishment Award and then went on to be awarded the highest tier honor, the President's University-Level Award.
This annual program recognizes staff and faculty members who contribute outstanding and meritorious service, efficiency and/or economy, or to the quality of life for students and employees.
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Amy Jones
The Board of Governors and the University asked that all employees participate in "Kognito - At-Risk Student" training, which was a web-based program and aimed largely at the academic side of the University. Once developed, Amy scheduled numerous Zoom sessions so that hundreds of employees could attend the modified training.
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Catherine Ciminillo
Amy and Catherine teamed up to lead the Kognito effort. Catherine was able to streamline the longer version of the training and add a PowerPoint presentation and job aids so that it met the training needs of many staff members that did not have computer access or that would have found the training unrelatable and/or overwhelming. Both Catherine and Amy shared responsibility for delivering the training, and many supervisors helped in setting up classrooms so that their teams could participate remotely. In the end, all required employees attended the training by the January 31 deadline.
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Fiona Hogan
In the past 6-12 months, Fiona Hogan has gone above and beyond in her role as a Strategic Projects Manager with the Office of Sustainability. She is continuously committed to producing work of the highest quality and finding ways to push herself and the team to new levels. This has become especially clear in her role as a key facilitator in the ongoing process to update the UF Climate Action Plan. Her attention to detail and forethought have contributed to ensuring that the process is well-organized and productive for everyone involved. With guidance from our strategic planning consultant, Fiona has applied her own training and skill to the working groups that she oversees and continues to receive positive feedback from these working group members.
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Joe Souza, Director of Physical Security and Erica Gonzaga, Associate Director of Research Services at EH&S has been selected by the COO and SVP Dr. Charlie Lane to participate in his Diversity Equity Inclusion Professional Development Program.
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Ravish Paul was selected as a multicultural mentor this year and was paired with a first year student. As the academic year comes to a close, the 2020/21 mentor program also came to an end. At the program ceremony Ravish was honored with the Best Mentor/Mentee Pair Award.
"This pair was a dynamic duo who consistently uplifted and encouraged one another. Ravish was calm and patient in supporting his mentee’s growth. He shared opportunities and great wisdom, and offered a supportive listening ear," said Danielle Difato, Program Coordinator. Congratulations!
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Students, faculty and staff at the University of Florida will soon have a new transportation option. On Monday, May 3, the City of Gainesville will launch its new Micromobility Pilot Program, allowing three vendors – Bird, Spin and Veo – each to deploy up to 200 electric scooters for rent throughout the City and on campus.
E-scooters will be available for rent from 6 AM – 10 PM daily and provide a sustainable option for short-distance trips with low cost-per-minute rental fees. Students, faculty and staff may sign up for an account using any of the three vendors’ proprietary apps and may begin renting e-scooters immediately. Florida Statutes place e-scooters and bicycles in the same category, meaning that e-scooter operators must follow the same rules of the road as cyclists, including riding in bike lanes wherever possible and obeying all posted roadway signs.
UF has established specific geofenced parking areas on campus for e-scooter parking. Operators must park only in these designated areas. E-scooters parked anywhere on campus outside these designated areas will continue to accrue charges from the vendor until the vehicle is parked correctly or rented by someone else. Please park only in e-scooter areas to avoid a hefty bill!
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On Monday, May 3, UF’s free Campus Connector shuttle service will change both of its routes due to the closure of portions of Museum Road and Newell Drive for upcoming construction in those areas. The road closures are expected to last through Spring 2023, and although our shuttles will not be able to access some areas of campus during the project’s timeframe, service will still be provided to as many locations as possible. In addition, the new routes will allow service to two new locations with stops at the HUB and on Union Road between Turlington and Griffin-Floyd.
The Campus Connector Blue Line will still provide service from Parking Garage 14 to the HPNP/Biomed circle on Center Drive and to the campus core area on Newell Drive and McCarty Drive north of Museum Road. As mentioned above, the Blue Line will also add stops at the Lemerand/Stadium intersection, the HUB and Union Road. However, as of May 3 the Blue Line will no longer provide service on Newell Drive south of Museum Road or to the UF Health Circle of Hope.
Instead, the Campus Connector Orange Line will be modified to provide service from Parking Garage 14 to the Circle of Hope. Outside of the new stop at the Circle of Hope, however, the Orange Line will remain mostly unchanged, keeping its normal stops at Vet Med and Animal Science on Shealy Drive in the south half of campus and at the Lemerand/Stadium intersection and Infirmary parking lot on the north half of campus.
Service intervals for both routes will remain unchanged with shuttles arriving at each stop approximately every 10-15 minutes throughout the day. Passengers wishing to ride the Campus Connector are encouraged to download the free DoubleMap Bus Tracker app in order to receive route updates and track the shuttles in real time so you know exactly when it will arrive at your stop.
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Business Affairs has switched gears and gone electric! Units across Business Affairs have evaluated their fleets and made the switch to electric vehicles.
Hannah Ulloa from the Office of Sustainability states, “Electric vehicles (EVs) are considered a low-carbon mode of transportation and can be an effective way to reduce personal and institutional carbon emissions when replacing conventional vehicles (1 electric vehicle = a conventional vehicle with 110 mpg fuel economy).”
Clean transportation through EV is the future, and UF is just getting started.
There are currently 115 electric/hybrid vehicles at UF. According to Dustin Stephany, Sustainable Building Coordinator, electric vehicles have been doing an excellent job at meeting the needs of the Planning, Design, and Construction Department (PDC). After two and a half years of implementing these vehicles, the results have been incredibly positive. EVs have many unique benefits that gas vehicles do not offer. To read the rest of the article click here.
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The wood-constructed building was built in 1928.The building has been listed in the US National Register of Historic Places since 1989, and its rich history has long been a part of UF.
The building has been utilized as the headquarters for the University of Florida Police Department (UFPD) since 1957. The school has grown exponentially since then. A lot of material from the original historic structure will be repurposed in the updated facility, honoring history in a sustainable fashion. Builders will turn bricks into low-seat walls around the building and within the interior. The trees that cannot be relocated will be turned into a high-quality conference room table, while new replacement trees will be planted on-site and elsewhere on campus. These pieces of history will find a new home in the new and improved Public Safety Complex where UFPD, UFDEM, including the University’s Emergency Operations Center and UF Physical Security’s Global Security Operations Center will call home.
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UF’s Physical Security Department has finally moved into a newly renovated building they can call home. Building 429, previously the home of UF Telecommunications from 1989 until 2018, was identified to be the home of UF Physical Security when the department was formed in December of 2018. After nearly two years of anticipation, the team has an innovative and functional space in which to work and collaborate.
The physical security team has developed a lot in recent years. When the department was first founded in 2018, only four members provided physical security for the whole campus. Vice President of Business Affairs, Curtis Reynolds, knew that Security needed a place to call their own and grow their team to support their mission – to enhance physical security across UF.
Physical Security is responsible for the different security technologies across campus. The team monitors access control (using the Gator1 card with card readers on the building), security cameras, alarm systems, panic buttons, and license plate reader (LPR) technology used by UF Police. They also create the project design for security hardware and help manage the installation of security hardware.
“Our job is to make the campus safer through standardizing security technologies, training the campus community how to use our security systems and software, as well as maintaining the hardware,” stated Joe Souza, Physical Security Department Director. To read more about the effort click here.
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The company that keeps 175 snack machines stocked across the University of Florida and UF Health’s campuses is now filling shelves at The Hitchcock Field & Fork Pantry.
Canteen donated nearly 1,000 snack items to the University grocer, stocking the Pantry with Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies and Zap’s Chips, as well as Garden Veggie Straws, a popular, healthy snack option.
Field & Fork provides groceries to University students, staff, and faculty, who may not have enough to eat—at no cost. Gators are not expected to prove financial need; anyone with a valid Gator 1 Card can shop at the Pantry.
Gators shopping at Field & Fork can enjoy these items in addition to the range of groceries the Pantry typically provides—including non-perishable food items and fresh produce—through grants and donations from community partners like Canteen.
University Director of Food and Beverage Services Matt Mueller was instrumental in securing the donation. First motivated to support the Pantry by a visit to Field & Fork in late summer of 2020, Mueller realized how necessary and vital this unique campus resource is to the UF community.
“I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to be work so hard while being hungry,” says Mueller. “These are our people. We’re feeding our own.”
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"I would like to acknowledge Rick Acosta and the Gator Dining catering team for all of the work they did this year providing COVID supplemental meals for all the UF students in quarantine. They did not miss a beat all year, they not only brought three meals and snacks each day for all students needing meals, they also reacted quickly to any students coming into quarantine at the last minute, or with special needs. They were supportive, and they adapted all year to changing situations and needs from UF Housing." To Rick Acosta and Gator Dining Catering Team
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“You all are our favorite group to work with and we appreciate your willingness to go above and beyond to make our event a success, particularly with this year’s necessary adjustments to our schedule and venue usage. Thank you for your creative problem-solving efforts!” - To the O'Connell Center Dance Marathon Team
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"Robbie took the time to understand what makes this building different and how he can help me better serve the clients in the building when he is assigned my tickets. I really appreciate that he goes above and beyond to make sure the jobs are not only completed, but also that they are done correctly and my client is satisfied with the work. So a big thank you to Robbie for helping the clients of UF Innovate so they can continue to grow their businesses and create new jobs." - To Robbie Grassano of PDC
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Erik Lewis Planning Design & Construction
John Lee Facilities Services
Sophia Robinson Facilities Services
Susan Alyassin TAPS
Thanh Duc Nguyen Facilities Services
William Sasser UFPD
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Business Affairs | 352-392-1336
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