In case you missed it, we published a five-part series this week exploring UF’s Innovation Academy, a program currently in its third year. Basically, students enrolled in the program go to school for the Spring and Summer semesters, as opposed to the traditional Fall and Spring. After hearing from several students who had both positive and negative things to say, we decided to look into five ways IA students are affected by the program: campus involvement, academics, pre-professional opportunities, finances and getting in and getting out.
Our determination: The program has its merits, but it’s clearly flawed. We’ve found obvious inconsistencies in how IA describes itself and its expectations — communication gulfs between students and administration, minimal accommodation for the missed opportunities students encounter with the Spring-Summer academic calendar and, most objectionably, a general unwillingness from IA officials and some students to discuss these issues.
Earlier in the week, we reported in our academics section that IA students were told they were welcome to take classes in the Fall, so long as they took them online. But Gary McGill, director of the Fisher School of Accounting, said his staff was told by the IA administration they should recommend students stick strictly to the Spring-Summer calendar. This is just one example of the inconsistencies present in the program — inconsistencies we had to sift through on behalf of an administration that just couldn’t be bothered to address these issues on its own.
We’ve been told over and over again by advocates for the program that our series wouldn’t add to the conversation because IA officials are already aware of these issues and they’re not all easy to fix. But the very next day, McGill and IA Director Jeff Citty clarified the problem. The student who brought attention to this issue even said herself in the IA Facebook group: “... this problem would not have been fixed without it (the article).”
In fact, a few students posted in the Facebook group to share stories of their own. Some of the posts were promptly deleted by the group administrator — a UF IA student — including one asking why he was deleting the posts. When asked about the posts, the administrator said he remembers deleting one because he considered it offensive but does not remember taking down the others. One student took it into his own hands and created a new IA Facebook group. He wrote, “Started a new group … so we can actually talk about things relevant to IA, not have things deleted, and not just hear how everythings [sic] hunky dorey,” according to a screenshot of the Facebook post before it was deleted.
This is the mindset that seems to exist among IA officials and its student advocates — ignoring issues and pointing fingers at those trying to reveal said issues. When asked about confusion among students in the program, Citty told a reporter he placed fault on “traditional” students for misinforming those in IA.
Overall, we believe the IA program has potential, especially for budding entrepreneurs and business students. IA is still in its infancy, but many students are uncomfortable with the experimental feel. One student described the class as IA’s “guinea pigs.” We understand it’s a young program, but students’ educations shouldn’t be trifled with.
In order to live up to this potential, though, IA needs to change. It needs to be honest about its shortcomings. Our recommendation: IA is subjective to the experiences of individual students. If you have a genuine interest in business or entrepreneurship, and you’re confident that’s what you’d like to do, IA seems like it would be a promising opportunity, especially because so many business classes are offered online, and IA students can take only online classes in the Fall — their equivalent of Summer Break.
IA could affect hundreds of students’ lives for the better — indeed, it already has. But for the program to be its best, it must be honest with its students and itself.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 4/17/2015]
