A Guide for UCF College of Business Students & Family
Your Role as a Parent
Unlike in primary or secondary school where parents are encouraged to take an active role in their son or daughter’s education, college is a time for students to take ownership of their education. As a parent, your goal should be to provide your son or daughter with the emotional support and counsel they need to learn how to successfully navigate the college, choose the right major, progress through the curriculum in a timely manner and leave us with a good job offer in hand. We have many dedicated faculty and staff whose job it is to provide help to students.
While students can experience stress at any time during the academic year, there are a few key times each semester when it is most likely to occur: after their first set of exams (usually between Weeks 3 and 5), during midterms (around Week 8), as they enter final exams and after grades post. Encourage your son or daughter to get help early if they are struggling in a class by attending office hours and using the various tutoring labs available for specific courses. Frank conversations with an academic advisor can also be helpful. There is no shame in changing majors or educational goals in college. Students do it all the time. The earlier a decision is made to chart a new path, the less likely it will delay their graduation from UCF.
Students Right to Privacy
Federal law prevents us from talking to parents about their son or daughter’s academic record or experiences without the student’s express written consent. FERPA protects the privacy of student educational records. It gives students the right to review their educational records, request amendment to records they believe to be inaccurate and limit disclosure from those records. The act applies to all students who attend institutions that receive federal funding. With certain exceptions, a student has rights of access to those educational records which are directly related to them and which are maintained by UCF. Learn More
The UCF College of Business Mission
At UCF College of Business, our objective is clear: help our students and faculty “Get to the ONE.” For students, we strive to be the place where they can achieve their academic objectives to be the ONE who gets the job, starts a business, makes the sale, makes a contribution and mentors others. Students who graduate from the college will be great communicators and collaborators, risk takers, data-driven decision makers and problem solvers. Our team – faculty, staff, friends, and alumni — is working hard to provide the right resources and environment to ensure we deliver on those promises.
Transfer Shock
Many students come to us after graduating with an associate’s degree from one of our state college partners and enter the college directly as juniors having already successfully completed the pre-core requirements at their previous institution. A primary challenge for these students is the difference in culture and academic policies between our state college partners and the UCF College of Business. Our class sizes are larger, students are expected to do much more on their own, and our academic policies around course repeat options, minimum GPA requirements and grade forgiveness are much more stringent.
To help all of our students successfully transition to the college, we encourage all first semester students to enroll in GEB 3006 – Introduction to Career Development and Financial Planning. Our Student Ambassadors also host “Street Smarts” sessions at the beginning of each semester to provide students with tips on how to succeed in the college. Many of our Ambassadors were transfer students who have first-hand experience on how to overcome the challenges transfer students face. If your son or daughter is a transfer student, we would highly recommend they attend one of these sessions.
Adulting 101: How to Navigate the College Like a Pro
It is imperative for students to learn how to seek out answers to their questions and concerns. By helping your student help themselves, you are setting them up for success in college.
- Go to Class. Showing up is the first rule of business, so get in the habit now. Your classmates and instructors are counting on you and what you can add to the discussion. If your classes are online, make a schedule and stick to it, so you don’t fall behind. Bingeing business classes before is no way to spend a weekend.
- Take Risks. We’re not suggesting you go skydiving or anything that requires you to sign a waiver, but getting out of your comfort zone can be a major key to success. Seeking to meet people who are different from you, taking on a leadership role in a student organization or practicing a skill you’re not great at are all ways to grow and develop.
- Find an Internship. Internships are an excellent and fairly easy way to get resume-building experience, expand your network, find a mentor and discover what you really like doing and what you don’t.
- Go Early and Often…to Office Hours. Whether you have questions about an assignment, a test, a grade or whether you’re cut out for a job in a particular field, get to know your instructors and T.A.s and utilize their scheduled office hours. These office hours are online at the moment, making it even easier to connect with your instructors. Just don’t wait until the day before the test to introduce yourself.
- Get to Know Your Department Chairs. If you have a question or concern your instructor can’t address, contact the department chair for that particular course. Department chairs are in the best position to be able to answer your questions regarding a particular class or major.
- Subscribe to the Dean’s Podcast. You’ll get entertaining and insightful perspectives on a number of emerging topics while getting to hear from top faculty and business leaders, as well as your fellow students. You’ll also have some interesting conversation starters for upcoming networking events, interviews or family gatherings that feel like interviews.
- Be Resilient. A bad test grade, a glitchy presentation or a botched interview are bound to happen. Do the work to prevent against such occurrences but when they do happen, own up to them and take them in stride. Then look for ways to learn and grow from the experience. They’ll make for great responses to that interview question, “Tell me about a time you failed and how you handled it.”
Honestly, They Graduate
Students can graduate from our College two years after being admitted. In fact, we encourage them to do so. The biggest cost of an education is the income a student forgoes while in school. The sooner a student can graduate, the less their education costs. That said, many of our students hold down a job while in school, and this can slow their time to graduation. A full-time job and a full-time class schedule is a burden very few students can successfully handle. Most of our students graduate in 2½ to 3 years. But we do graduate a lot of them…about 2,000 a year. We look forward to seeing them cross that stage, shake the dean’s hand and hear parents and family cheering them on.