Student Report Name of the University: University of Floirda Exchange semester: Fall 2013 I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION Before leaving Norway - When and how did you receive information from the exchange university, and did you encounter any difficulties? We received information from UF in the beginning of March. They request several documents when applying for their exchange program: Exchange Students SEVIS Questionnaire Certification of Financial Responsibility Non-Degree Registration Course Request Form Copy of most recent transcript Copy of Passport Academic Report Request Form In addition, two items must be submitted within 30 days after the application deadline: Mandatory Immunization and Health History Form Verification of Health Insurance These documents may take time to get ready, so we recommend that you start as early as possible. UF is strict when it comes to the accuracy of the documents, so expect a lot of emailing back and forth. When everything is approved, you receive a welcome package from UF with the necessary documents to apply for a visa. More information about the application process at http://ufic.ufl.edu/SAS/HowtoApplyEx.html. Applying for a visa (if applicable) - How did you apply for your visa, what did it cost and did you have difficulties We paid the Sevis Fee online and scheduled an appointment at the Embassy (the Sevis fee needs to be paid minimum three days before your appointment). The Embassy requests several items to be brought to your appointment, more about this on http://norway.usembassy.gov/visas.html. The International Office at BI provides necessary information about applying for a visa. Travel - How did you travel to your destination? There is an airport in Gainesville. From the airport you can take the bus to get to all housing complexes. Housing - Was housing provided by the university? If not, did you receive support from the school? Housing can be provided by the university but we recommend to live off campus. This way you get more privacy and the option to cook you own meals. Hanne stayed at the Enclave (https://enclavetcc.com/) and Ola at Lexington Crossing (https://www.lexingtoncrossingtcc.com/) . The standard at Enclave is a bit better. Both housings have bus connection with school and it is easy to get to campus. However, most of the Gainesville nightlife happens at midtown and downtown and living at these two housing complexes makes the way home long. We recommend to stay at Museum Walk (https://www.museumwalk.com/) or the Estates (http://estatesgainesville.com/). The housing quality is the same as Enclave and Lexington, but these two are close to the recreational center, and more importantly, within the range of the free SNAP service (http://www.police.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/SNAP%202012.pdf). SNAP is a free service that drive you home from midtown or other places close to campus and is very convenient. Costs - Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food, transportation, and other personal expenses? Rent Books Food Transport Other 3500 NOK 200 NOK 3000 NOK 0 NOK NOK Most courses do not require books, and books can be bought used, or just rent from amazon.com. The bus service in Gainesville is free for all students. Food depends on wether you eat out or make it yourself. In general it is much cheaper than Norway. Culture and language - Did you have any language problems with the faculty or other students? - How were the possibilities to experience the country and the culture? Not surprisingly, English is the language in Florida as all other American states, so this is usually not a problem for Norwegian students. Gainesville has a lot of activities for students. A great recreational center with gym, running track, volleyball courts, squash and tennis is free for UF students. Gainesville is known for its music scene, so downtown has a lot of cool and cute places with live music. Midtown is a typical college bar scene with a lot of activity all week. There is an association for everything you can imagine at UF, and as you walk trough campus, you will be run over by people telling you about all the things happening that week. The Navigator association teams you up with a buddy from UF and arrange trips for the international students. Gainesville is a great hub to discover Florida. With a rental car you can drive to Miami, Key West and Orlando. It is also easy to travel across the country because of the local airport, and the big airport in Orlando. With the UF ride board (https://www.facebook.com/groups/154188317997936/?fref=ts) you can car pool with other students everywhere in Florida. All you have to do is pay 10 dollars for gas. It is usually cheaper to go to Orlando to fly out if you get a ride with the ride board. II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL Please describe: - The school (location, size, study structure, special academic areas etc.) UF is one of the biggest schools in the U.S. both in terms of campus size and student body. It is one of the best schools in the U.S. for sports, they have national championships in football, soccer, basketball, gymnastics, swimming & track and field. The football stadium takes 90,000 spectators and is always full at home games. But Univerisity of Florida is also a very good school for academics. It is considered a “public ivy”, with its colleges ranking high in national rankings. It teaches all diciplines you can imagine, from agriculture to sports management. The teaching staff is very competent and professors come from all over the country to teach at UF. Campus is beautiful with a lot of palm trees and parks and the fraternity and sorority houses surrounds campus. Course registration - When and how did you register for courses? - When did the add/drop period end? Academic calendar Arrival date: First day of the semester: Last day of classes: Examination period: Any special events/holidays: Add/drop periods: 15.08.13 19.08.13 13.12.13 07.10.13-11.10.13 09.12.13-13.12.13 02.09.13: Labor Day – No classes 14.10.13-18.10.13: Fall Break 08.11.13: Homecoming Parade – No classes 11.11.13: Veteran’s Day – No classes 27.11.13-30.11.13: Thanksgiving – No classes Module 1: 19.08.13-23.08.13 Module 2: 07.10.13-25.10.13 The semester is divided into two modules with a week of fall break in between. You have different courses in each module, and are free to decide how to divide the credits between the modules. Adding courses during the add/drop period always has to be done through office 310 at Hough Hall. During the first module you are able to drop courses yourself online during the add/drop-period, while the office has to do this for you in module 2. More information about the academic calendar at http://warrington.ufl.edu/graduate/academics/calendar.asp. Arrival - Describe the introduction week Introduction week is filled with meetings. You meet with Hough Hall representatives and the international office of UF to get information and to settle in. The Navigator program also have a gathering the first week. The International Office - As an exchange student, did you receive sufficient and relevant information? Information is quickly sent when you get accepted. At UF, the international office and the international coordinator with the business school are always at your service if you have any questions or concerns. Secondly, the UF webpages are packed with the information you need. Promoting BI and Norway - What kind of activities were you involved in to promote exchange to Norway at your exchange university? UF had a seminar where all exchange students had the opportunity to “sell” their home university in a pitch lasting three minutes. We also often got the opportunity to talk about BI during classes. Social activities - How was the relationship with native students and that among exchange students? Relationship among exchange students is very good. You spent a lot of time with other international business students from all over the world. American students are very interested and friendly. It is easy to make friends, but you have to put in the effort. If you take no proactive approach, you are likely to hang out with the international students, but the community at UF is tight knit, so you will have the opportunity to meet all kinds of people. - Are there any special activities, student organisations, and gatherings for exchange students? The navigator program is a buddy program for exchange students that arrange trips and events throughout the semester. We would recommend to sign up and meet your buddy. They will help you settle in. III. ACADEMICS In the classroom - Describe the teaching style (practical, theoretical, cases/lectures, formal/informal etc.) Teaching style is more caseoriented and practical compared to BI. Most courses have participation requirements and it affects your grade in the course. The classes are usualy much smaller than at BI. You can have one class with 10 other students one day, and the next day another class with 80. Each course has lectures twice a week, and Friday is usually off. The fall semester is split in half, so you will have two 8 week periods with different courses. The drawback is two final weeks, but with less curriculum than BI, and the beauty of it is that you as a graduate business student is the only students on campus that get a 1 week fall break (an excellent opportunity to do a long trip in the US or Carribean.) - How is the level and workload compared to that at BI? Graduate students at Hough Hall (the graduate business school) have a morve diverse background than master students at BI. Some have never had a business course before. This results in big variation in levels thaught at the business school. Workload is spread out with papers and cases to be completed each week. This results in a less stressful exam period. There is a heavier focus on 1-4 page papers that are more similar to papers you did at high school in Norway. Course materials - Describe the course materials used (books/literature, online articles, Powerpoint, level of course material etc). Many professors are aware of the high costs of books. Hence, many professors do not require you to buy a book, but rely more on power points, class material and free articles. Cases used are similar to the once used at BI (Harvard Business Cases & journal articles). Curriculum is usually covered in the power point slides. Exams - Was the exam based on the course materials or on the lectures? The exams were based on a mix of course materials and lectures. However, the lectures were most important. - How was the course evaluated (include all that apply)? The courses were evaluated differently, but all had several aspects. All courses had final exams, and most courses had midterms, quizzes, homework, class participation and projects in addition. More information on this under description of courses. Library and technology - Describe the facilities We had access to all the libraries at campus, which were great for studying. However, we spent most time at Hough Hall, which had study rooms and reading spaces. Description of courses With a total of 14 courses taken, we include the most relevant here. Course code & name ENT6006 Entrepreneurship ECO 6409 Game Theory Applied to Business Decisions Master/ Bachelor Master Exam form Prerequisites Papers, cases and team presentation None Master Problem sets, class participation and final exam Micro and macro economics from BI makes you qualified. None Elective None Elective MAN 6447 Art and Master Science of Negotiation Final Exam, class participation, peer feedback, videotape analysis REE6045 Introduction In-class quiz Master Approved as Elective Elective Comments Prof. Rossi is very inspiring. The course is very practical and we recommend it. Very practical with a lot of negotiation practises in class. Great way to improve you negotiation skills and practise business English. A great to Real Estate End-of-chapter “test-problems”, homework, midterm, final exam, class participation BUL6852 International Business Law FIN5437 Asset Valuation Risk Return Master GEB5212 Professional Writing way to get insight in the real estate business. The course deals with legal, practical, financial and personal aspects of the industry. Prof. David Ling is very good. Midterm, class None participation and final exam. Midterm, class None project, homework and final exam Elective Master Homework, None class participation and final exam Elective GEB5215 Professional Communication Master Final exam (presentation) None Elective MAN5246 Master Quiz, class project, class None Elective Master Elective A great introductor y finance course. I highly recommend this if you want to get some basic finance skills. Dr. Banko is great! A great course to improve your written business communica tion. A great course to improve your communica tion skills. It includes continuous feedback and analysis. A great and interesting participation and final exam course which was my favorite. I highly recommend Dr. Callahan! On a final note, how will you sum up the exchange experience? Our exchange semester at UF enriched our lives in several ways. It was academically different from BI, which provided new learning opportunities and skills that we can take advantage of in other situations. In addition, we met great people that will remain our friends for the rest of our life. Go Gators!