The end of the semester always brings some student emails expressing concerns about an instructor, course or final exam. With more than 8,000 students taking about 4 courses each on average, mostly in remote environments and during a pandemic, it’s not hard to imagine a few people are going to think not everything went according to plan. Some students fear their dreams are being shattered and are in a panic to find someone who will intervene on their behalf.
Student concerns of these types are supposed to go first to the faculty member and then to the department chair, because it’s the department where problem assessment and real change happens (a topic for a blog post next semester). Feedback of this kind can and does lead to continuous improvement (sometimes for the course, sometimes for the instructor, sometimes for the student). When that doesn’t happen and people skip right to the top, long email and phone call chains go from the dean’s office, to the department chair, then from the chair to the faculty member, then from the faculty member back to the chair, and then back to the dean’s office. A few chains even started with the President or Provost’s office, so you can add in two more layers. Suffice it to say, the week of final exams is always one of my least favorite weeks of the semester.
So it was especially nice to get a thank you from an unlikely place this week— the barber shop. I was checking in at the front desk yesterday when a young alum from 2018 introduced himself and thanked me for everything we do in the college to help students network, meet employers and find the right path to success. He commented on how devoted people in the college are to the professional development of students and that Lonny’s efforts really paid off for him. I have more than a few encounters like this each semester, and while I understand that one thank you does not make a successful curriculum or college, it was a nice pick-me-up. That he mentioned Lonny was especially awesome since Lonny lost his dad, an avid reader of this blog, that very morning, and Lonny is always invigorated by a story like this.
More generally, the encounter made me remember that this week is one of my favorite weeks of the semester—graduation week. If I had one piece of advice for our grads it would be this—Don’t expect things will always go according to plan because they almost never do. If flawless execution is your standard, you will shoot way to low and fail. Remain outside of your comfort zone, use the tools and lessons you have gained from your UCF experience to overcome challenges and charge on. Then you can tell me all about it when our paths cross.
Paul Jarley, Dean 