We continue to address the closure of Iowa Wesleyan University in an active manner. We are interviewing three different academic institutions and would likely expand that list next week. While there is a significant interest from the academic side to work with CFS, universities are complex, bureaucratic organizations and tend to move at a very slow pace. This is great for science as it allows the time for a thorough peer review process. It is not so great when trying to make different units of any university work fast. Universities tend to work in time horizons of months or years, not weeks. But we are still cautiously optimistic that we are moving in the right direction.
Some students asked whether 2023 CFS field schools are officially accredited – essential for students who seek jobs at CRM firms or those who plan to apply to graduate programs. It is important to note that CFS already went through the accreditation process with IWU, and regardless of the provision of credit units, all CFS field schools passed a rigorous academic review process. Therefore, all of CFS programs for 2023 are officially accredited.
Students also asked about refunds in case CFS would not be able to get an academic partner on time for the 2023 season. Given that the tuition payment deadline for many programs is set for April 7, this is a relevant and critical question. If we would not be able to get academic credits units for programs this year, students who would elect to withdraw will receive a full refund of their tuition, including the deposit fee. At CFS, we put students at the center of our operation. Despite the fact that IWU’s closure is out of our control, we made a commitment for the credit units. It is, therefore, our responsibility to deliver or allow students to seek other alternatives.
CFS programs will go out to the field this summer regardless of partnership with a new school of record. We have excellent programs directed by leading scholars and none of this change with events at IWU. Given CFS size and academic reputation, there will be no issue with getting a different school of record. The only issue is the timing – how soon can we get such a partnership done.
We will continue to keep the community informed and updated. If you have any questions or comments, please email us at info@fieldscinecs.org or call us at (562) 584-0761.