A Florida university punished student Tim Arnold after he built a service that aimed to make online course enrolment easier for his fellow classmates.
“U Could Finish” immediately notifies students via text when a spot in their desired class has opened up. Arnold, a senior at University of Central Florida, said in a June Reddit post that it checks myUCF, the university’s online portal for course registration, every 60 seconds for free seats.
Arnold launched the service, which costs $0.99, via Facebook on June 2. U Could FInish had 500 users within six days, according to its official website, though university administrators blocked the service shortly after.
Arnold is now facing three semesters of academic probation, among other punishments including essay writing and attending a coaching session on good decision making. A notice from the university’s Office of Student Conduct reveals that he was charged with “misuse of computing and telecommunications resources.”
Officials insisted that U Could Finish disrupted normal technology use, and violated a policy that barred students from profiting with university tools, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
“I just feel that the actions they did were very extreme, considering my intent was to help students and not to intentionally subvert the rules,” Arnold told the Chronicle.