To Expand Access, U. of Florida Prepares to Roll Out a No-Fall-Semester Option
The Story (Chronice of Higher Ed): The University of Florida is planning to grow again, but in an unusual way—enrolling 2,000 students in a spring and summer cohort. They will be full-fledged undergraduates, but they will be allowed to live and take classes on the campus
only during those semesters for the entire time they're at the university.
Those students could still participate in on-campus activities in the fall—yes, they'd be eligible for football tickets—and would be able to enroll in online courses if they wanted to move more quickly through their coursework. Others might opt to study abroad, work, or do internships away from campus in the fall.
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The Analysis: The news of UofF creating this option has implications that could impact public universities across the country, starting with UofF and those schools in the state of Florida. The UofF alone has 35,000 undergraduates. To give you an idea of how large of campus that is, there are roughly18,000 in Chapel Hill. Offering a spring-summer term alone could impact course offerings, cost to pay faculty to teach, financial aid, and overall budget of the university. Florida administrators I'm sure has thought this over. But what about the overall student experience? Academically, socially? Can you think about the potential risk? Are student athletes eligible for this option, especially the high profile ones?
Social groups/clubs/fraternities/student government take off in the fall, with planning and implementation and some groups initiate new members during that time. During the summer, there is not entirely a lot to do other than to attend class and work. How long will it take to graduate if they are attending only in the spring and summer?
Regardless of some of the questions I've raised, I honestly think this experiment will work although it may take a few years. And as the article details, it may prove profitable for the university in the long run. But at what cost and who expense?
