Freddie Dozer’s first semester at UF was typical. She lived in a dorm, went to football games and joined a sorority. Aside from being in the university’s Innovation Academy, an undergraduate pathway program preventing students from taking in-person classes during the Fall semester, the 19-year-old biology major was like any other freshman.
Her experience, dubbed “First Fall” by the IA community, was a feature of the IA program allowing students to participate in traditional fall aspects of college life — like on-campus living, football and Greek life — for the first Fall semester, even though the program follows a Spring-Summer semester schedule.
Applicants following in Dozer’s footsteps expected to have the same experience. But in the middle of the academy’s most recent admissions cycles, UF abruptly removed First Fall as an option. The move has left prospective students and their parents feeling duped.
Dozer said the students who applied to IA last Fall and thought they’d have a similar experience to her are now facing limited opportunities.
“They basically got cheated out of [First Fall], and now it's this whole big thing,” she said.
Dozer said First Fall helped her adjust to college, make friends and feel connected to campus, so she’s worried the change will impact IA students’ relationships and trust in UF.
The IA offers students an exclusive entrepreneurship-centric minor program, but is reverting back to its original model, which doesn’t offer First Fall. Instead, students can live off campus and take classes online, take classes at another university, study abroad or stay home.
Students who enroll during the current admissions cycle will arrive on campus this Fall, but they won’t have access to campus activities and resources, including football tickets, Greek life and GATORONE cards, until they begin classes next spring. Their academic options are limited to taking courses online, at another institution or studying abroad.
It’s unclear why and when exactly UF’s administration made the change.
Communications regarding the program were murky, parents said, and prospective students and their families weren’t aware of the switch until after the regular decision application deadline passed Jan. 15. The early action application deadline was Nov. 1 and decisions will come out March 14. Screenshots of the program’s website show First Fall was still being advertised as an option as recently as Feb. 1. The website has since been changed with any mention of First Fall opportunities removed.
One college adviser from an independent advising organization, who spoke to The Alligator anonymously for fear her statements would affect her job, said students feel like the “rug has been pulled out” from under them. So do professionals who were paid to advise students based on information that turned out to be false, the adviser said.
The adviser said they’ve received negative feedback from prospective IA families who are now changing their minds about UF.
“These are phenomenal students that want to grow and learn and contribute and really participate in all the things that UF offers most freshmen,” she said. “Frankly, they just would like to be Gators from day one.”
Following the backlash, interim Provost Joseph Glover issued a statement to students, parents and the campus community Feb. 3 saying central administrators changed the program to reflect “a strong belief in the value of the Spring-Summer schedule.” He said the IA’s unique academic schedule, established a decade ago, provides several advantages that First Fall deviated from.
IA administrators reached by email directed The Alligator to Glover’s statement.
Sophia Vigil, a 19-year old biology freshman and Innovation Academy student, said First Fall allowed her to get a head start on networking and resume-building.
“I just wanted to get a feel for UF before starting in the Spring because I didn’t want to feel behind,” she said. “I wanted to start making connections and making friends.”
Innovation Academy Director Jeff Citty said in a letter to prospective IA families that the Innovation Academy team “fully supports” UF’s decision and taking pre-enrollment Fall courses is “not essential to IA students’ success.”
According to the letter, IA is working with Santa Fe College to “streamline Fall course enrollment” for students. Students can be a part of the UF band if they meet the Santa Fe enrollment requirements, and they can buy a UF RecSports membership.
“Our priority is to ensure this transition has the least impact on our students’ experience,” Citty said.
But some parents are arguing the damage has already been done.
Four parents of current or prospective IA students, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear their opinions could negatively affect their children’s applications, expressed frustration that the change happened in between the current admissions cycle and without warning. Three parents called it a “bait and switch.”
One IA mom who’s also a UF online student said the change was “insulting” and a “slap in the face.”
“I'm sad for the kids coming in…because [UF is] basically saying they’re not a Gator,” she said.
Another mom said taking away the First Fall will “really sour the freshman experience.” Her son, who was interested in IA for its artificial intelligence track, will “completely discount” UF if the change isn’t reversed, she said.
Many parents said they wished UF’s administration had consulted families or guidance counselors before making their decision. One mom with a daughter currently in IA argued the change calls into question the integrity of the entire program.
She said the revocation of First Fall “makes them feel like second-tier students.”
UF has given students the opportunity to withdraw from the program, but one mom who rallied a Facebook group of others to file complaints with the university said it isn’t a good solution. Students feel withdrawing could lower their chances of getting into UF next month, she said.
Administrators should postpone the switch until the next application cycle when applicants will know what the program will look like when they enroll, she added.
“Let these kids who applied IA and got in take the advantage of what was offered to them when they applied,” she said. “Make amends. Figure it out.”
Contact Grace McClung at gmcclung@alligator.org. Follow her on X @gracenmclung
Grace McClung is a third-year journalism major and the university administration reporter for The Alligator. In her free time, Grace can be found running, going to the beach and writing poetry.
