We are an extension of the UCF Legal Studies Department which is housed in the College of Community Innovation and Education which will be moving to the UCF Downtown campus in the Fall of 2019. For those who do not know about the Center, it was created in 2012 as a tool to assist our awesome faculty in their research and scholarship as well as build relationships with the local community. The Center was originally helmed by Dr. Cynthia Schmidt for over six years. She has since moved on to the City of Orlando so the Center has a new Interim Director. That’s me……Marc Consalo. I have been lucky enough to work at UCF since January 1, 2014. Along with Mr. Shawn Richichi, who is the Center’s Coordinator, we will be striving to continue Cindy’s great work while spreading into some new topics.

Since this is my first blog, I am still trying to see which direction the Center will be headed in the next several months. So I would love to hear from any of you in the community if you are working on any cool projects or need help with getting some events off the ground. At the core of the Center’s existence is collaboration. By partnering with the community, we hope to make a positive impact in Central Florida. We also hope to encourage the conversation about hot topics in the law. Whether it’s President’s Trumps new crime bill, changes to Florida’s alimony statute, or just something that happening in the field of law that interests you, let us know so we can talk about it here.

-By Marc Consalo, Director of the Center for Law and Policy