Industry and academia collaborate to empower Themed Experience students
by Peter Weishar, Professor of Themed Experience; Program Director, Themed Experience MS Degree and MFA Track, University of Central Florida (UCF)
Collaboration between industry and academia can range from sponsoring research labs, endowed chairs, to donating entire buildings. The most common exercise is simply to invite speakers and industry panels to review student work.
As the Director of a graduate Themed Experience program at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, I am always looking for opportunities to collaborate with the best in the industry. These in-depth, multi-year collaborations offer unique, priceless learning opportunities to students.
An extensive collaboration takes many months of planning, a flexible and engaged partner and many hours of work and negotiation to make it happen. This is a step-by step outline of the process behind the successful creation of the UCF/ Universal Creative Lab.
The proposal
Three years ago, I met with Mark Woodbury. Chairman and CEO of Universal Destinations & Experiences. The meeting was facilitated through UCF Advisory Council members Bob Ward and Mike West, with other colleagues. In the time leading up to our meeting, I prepared a short proposal for the collaboration that included budget, an estimated time commitment for Universal subject matter experts, benefits for Universal, proposed timeline, and a clear delineation of responsibilities and deliverables for both UCF and responsibilities and deliverables for both UCF and Universal Creative.
Internal and external approvals
Prior to the meeting I coordinated with the UCF Foundation and upper administration. Every major university has a Foundation that oversees philanthropic gifts and donor relations. They help the institution coordinate relationships and external philanthropic transactions. Many universities have an office of commercialization to deal with outside businesses as well. Due to the scale and proximity of UCF and Universal Creative, we had to ensure there were no conflicts that would jeopardize or cannibalize existing or developing relationships.
The proposal included a dedicated, collaborative class that needed to go through a series of approvals. Universities are divided into Colleges, Schools, Departments, and Majors. The class proposal had to make its way through the Curriculum Committees of each division. Before I could present it to the University Graduate Curriculum Committee, the class needed to be vetted by representatives from all departments to assure the new class did not encroach upon another discipline.
Curriculum approval takes approximately eight months for a temporary, one-off class called a Special Topic. It takes more than a year for a class to be added to the course catalog. Therefore, the new course proposal had to be initiated at the beginning of the process in order to be ready when the agreement was complete.
Following the internal approval process, we then worked with Universal Creative to formalize the program and collaborate on press announcements.
The class
I couldn’t ask for a better partner than Universal. While launching a world-class park in Beijing and building the new Universal Epic Universe, dozens of enthusiastic Universal Team Members went above and beyond to deliver far more than promised. The class meets at Universal Orlando, either in the parks or the design offices and research labs. The logistics of moving 20 students through backstage, sometimes after the park has closed, are quite impressive.
Eliza Lee, Team Member Experience, Universal Creative says, “There are a lot of details running in the background. We need approvals for everything. There are many teams involved to make sure we are providing students with a meaningful experience. We are also documenting the classes with pictures. We work with Universal Creative to identify the right speakers for the occasion and work around some very busy schedules to make sure that we’re showcasing the best talent and content.”
My co-teacher, Chris Oliver, Vice President, Engineering and Safety, Universal Creative, noted, “It surprised me to see what resonated with students. The back-of-house class where we show operation and ride maintenance, the Consumer Insight class, and the class featuring industrial engineers teaching about guest flow and managing attraction capacity are all extremely popular with the students.”
Results
Without a doubt, this multifaceted team effort was worth it. The UCF/Universal Creative Lab was a successful collaboration – well-orchestrated and presented, and beneficial to students in its exclusive access to the workings of the attractions industry. It was a hugely popular offering in the UCF Themed Experience Graduate programs. Many of the students have subsequently been hired for Universal internships or as full-time Team Members.
Chris Oliver commented, “I’m excited to show UCF students what we do behind the scenes to develop an attraction. This is not just the fun storytelling portion of themed entertainment, but everything else that goes into creating an experience for our Guests. This collaboration is also a fantastic recruiting tool as we spread the word about all types of themed entertainment careers. It gives them a chance to see inside of our world and, hopefully, they like it enough to consider a career at Universal or a theme park.”
Susan Cummings, Assistant Director and Executive Producer with Universal Creative said, “For me, it is inspiring that I might help shape their careers and support our industry in a unique way. Graduates don’t get a degree and then immediately go to work at Universal Creative as a Vice President. There are many steps up that ladder. You can take everything that you do in life, or any job you have, and know it might lead you to where you eventually want to be. This is one of the most satisfying projects that I’ve been part of!”
I’m always grateful for our deep industry relationships. For this collaboration, Universal Creative went far beyond the letter of our agreement and exceeded expectations to make an extraordinary experience. But that is no surprise, as creating extraordinary experiences is what they do best. •
