Traditions Endure

Universities are this odd combination of innovation and tradition. On the one hand, we are seen as places of knowledge creation that advance science, the professions and society in general. On the other hand, we are—because of our longevity—places of tradition with rites of passage: football Saturdays, the Greek system, spirit splash, graduation. Both knowledge creation and tradition give our lives meaning and it is why they have endured during the Pandemic.

Here in the college, one of those rites of passage is the Great Capstone Case Competition. It happens at the end of every semester: Fall, Spring and Summer. It is the last opportunity students get to distinguish themselves in the college by competing in teams to provide a solution to the leadership team of a company that presents them with a problem. We start out with more than 100 teams and finish with just one. Winning is a big achievement. Some teams have even gotten job offers from our corporate sponsor.

This semester’s version of the competition is this week and is sponsored by Verizon. Verizon has partnered with us each spring for a number of years now, thanks in large part to Monty Garrett who is their senior VP of Audit and a member of my Dean’s Advisory Board. Monty loves this event, hires lots of our grads and refuses to let the pandemic deny our students this experience. We even had to pivot to a Wednesday as the first day of Grad Walk unexpectedly bumped us from our time slot.

Monty, thanks for helping to keep this tradition alive. Our students have become pretty adept at virtual presentations (a skill we will probably add to the curriculum), and I’m sure the winning team will give your people the novel solution you’re looking for. As for the winning student team, they not only get bragging rights but will have a great story to tell their children about how to adapt and win even under the most unusual of circumstances. That way when they come to the UCF College of Business some years from now, they will already know what this event is all about.

A Thank You to Our Donors

A few weeks ago, UCF had its day of giving. The College of a Business had a banner day, raising the most by any college with almost $310,000 from 149 donors. Our biggest gift was $250,000 from Jessica and Ken Blume to support first generation scholarships, another $7500 gift came from a first time donor inspired by another recent gift to help meet the technology needs of students during the Pandemic.

Thanks to everyone of you for supporting our students and engagement efforts in the College. We have made great strides in engaging our alums and the community at large over the last several years as we have thrown open the doors of the college and asked you to be a part of the learning environment we have created for our students. While the money raised during our day of giving and throughout the year helps make these efforts possible, it is equally dependent on the army of alums, corporate partners and community leaders who have donated their talents and time to help our students prepare for the professional challenges that lie ahead. Thanks to all of you too. We couldn’t do this without you.

And of course none of this would happen without my amazing team in the Office of Outreach and Engagement. From Susan and Sarah who help people support their passions and leave a legacy, to our tiny marketing team (Erika, Kellie and Josh) who get the word out about the many ways people can contribute to the college and the impact it has on our students and faculty, to Jess who works with our Ambassadors and Alums, to Jennifer (and Lonny) who engage so many people in the Exchange, to Tiffany Hughes who leads the team and engages everyone, every day. It’s an integrated effort that works for our students, faculty, alums, corporate partners and donors. Well done.

If you haven’t yet donated your time, talent or treasure to us, but want to be a part of this, come visit us when things open back up in earnest here in the Fall. The team and I will find you a place where you can make a difference.

Meatball

One of the joys of working in my business is that you get to see people mature, hone their talents and move on to great opportunities. Usually this involves students, but sometimes it’s a member of your team. Nobody likes losing talent, but people need new challenges to continue to grow and do the things in life that they want to do. So I’ve always encouraged my people to explore what’s out there and hope that when they move on that they will remember their time with us fondly. I also hope they will share a bourbon with me once in a while to let me know what’s going on with them. Happily most do (It’s your turn, Bridget. It’s been ages).

This week Josh Miranda moves on. If you don’t know Josh, it’s because he is the guy behind a lot of what we do in the Office of Outreach & Engagement. He is the guy behind the website. The genius behind many of our videos. The producer of the podcast. The poster of content on our social media sites. The technical expert that runs Zoom events… etc., etc. He has been a very big part of our visibility efforts over the past few years. It was only a matter of time before somebody in the private sector with a big checkbook found him. If Erika panicked, she would be in one now. She doesn’t.

But what I will miss most about Josh is his ability to absorb the many indignities that come with being the youngest member of a team full of mean girls. (I admit that I freely participated in this.). Which brings us to the title of this post. At one of the first college events Josh attended, he was photographed scooping up a second plate of meatballs. Erika referred to him as “Meatball Miranda.” I made sure the label stuck.

Everybody who works for me teaches. The students see what they do, how they perform their work and how we operate as a team. Josh was no exception. He taught a lot of young people, especially our Ambassadors, how to handle the demands placed on a young professional, how to develop your own standards of excellence and how to sell your ideas to a group of over-achieving, fast-moving, type A personalities who are in love with their own ideas.

In so doing, the guy behind so much of what we did made all of us better. Thank you, Josh. Now go do great things you can tell us about over a bourbon someday soon. Well, maybe a Shirley Temple for you.

Cheating During the Pandemic

Last week, saw two cases of potential academic misconduct cross my desk. One involved the posting of quiz questions on an on-line study site, the other the presence of identical, unusual wording in multiple responses to the same exam question. Both cases are under investigation.

There hasn’t been a lot of published work on cheating during the pandemic, but there is a general sense that the shift to online learning has cheating on the rise. A recent article on CNBC, notes that a study at the Imperial College London, found that the number of questions and answers posted on Chegg’s homework help section for five STEM subjects between April and August 2020 (when the school shifted to online instruction) was up over 196% from the same time period in pre-CoVID, face to face instruction during 2019 (click here to read the entire article). Perhaps the best evidence that charges of academic misconduct are on the rise, is that some law firms have developed units to specialize in defending students charged with cheating (click here for an example).

Cheating isn’t new. It’s a response to stress, performance anxiety and a sense of desperation.  The pandemic has clearly been stressful for students and the online environment can make it seem like no one is watching. But, one explanation for the rise in academic misconduct is not that students are cheating more, but that faculty are getting better at detecting it in online environments.  That certainly seems to be the case in the college where we share information on the latest cheating innovations and methods to stop it.  We also encourage faculty to pursue misconduct charges in cases where the evidence warrants it.

I’m raising this issue now because Spring Break will be next week and we will shift entirely to remote instruction again when we return through final exams. Finals is an especially stressful time under the best of circumstances. Exams come in rapid succession and doing well on a final may be necessary to pass a course or get into the major of your choice. The temptation to cheat will likely be at its semester peak. But understand that a poor grade is way easier to recover from than a finding of academic misconduct. Classes can be repeated, there is more than one path to a successful career, and people admire persistence in the face adversity. Cheating, on the other hand, damages your reputation and that can take years to rehabilitate. It’s also easier to detect than you think.