FSU students are older, more experienced

By Ron Matus

Special to the Florida State Times

As a first-semester accounting major, Lametria Cliatt would be the exception to the rule at Florida State's main campus.

Why?

She's 25.

She has two young children.

And she works full time.

"It's going to take me awhile," she said.

But at FSU's Panama City Campus, Cliatt's circumstances make her just another face in the crowd. There, the average student is 32 years old; almost half are married with children; and three out of five work 40 hours a week.

"In Tallahassee you see students - 18 years old, 19 years old - wearing backpacks going to class," said Dean Larry Bland, the top administrator at the branch campus. "With our students, you see many who have a youngster on their hip. That's one big difference."

There are many others.

Panama City may be the No. 1 Spring Break destination for students. But FSU's Panama City campus is not a stronghold for fun and frolic.

"We don't party; we really don't," said Joan Ellis, 29, student-government-council president at the branch campus. "Not to say that we're all nerds and stick our heads in books. But we don't live to party."

The professors can tell.

Business Professor Frank Vickory has been making a weekly trip to teach in Panama City at least one semester a year since the early 1980s. He's one of 80 to 90 professors from the main campus who do.

Although Vickory said he dislikes the lengthy drive through the Panhandle, which many of his peers take together in a campus van, he says the students make it worthwhile.

"They're different," he said. "They bring a lot of real-world experience to class. There's never a problem generating class discussion."

Faculty from the main campus teach 80 percent of the classes at Panama City, Bland said. The Panama City campus is also a leader among branches in distance learning.

While it may be smaller, there's no difference in the quality of education. And the diplomas read the same as the ones they issue in Tallahassee.

"It just made more sense to go to school here than to drive," said Lisa Corrin, a 30-something Panama City resident earning a master's in business administration. "It's the same faculty."

Ellis and Cliatt have compelling reasons for attending the branch campus. Both are single mothers. Neither could pursue four-year degrees without a campus close to home.

Ellis is an elementary-education major who works as a substitute teacher in Bay County. Cliatt, who is taking two accounting classes this summer, works in Panama City. She considered moving to Pensacola to take classes at the University of West Florida.

But, she said, "I didn't want to uproot the family."

Many other students at the branch say the same thing. That's one of the main reasons the campus was established.

Most students in Panama City are returning to school for additional education to build new careers or advance in current ones. But they're "landlocked," said Associate Dean Jerome Barnes.

FSU's main campus is 100 miles away. "What the branch campus does is offer an alternative," Barnes said.

Without it, he said, "the majority of our students would not be able to get additional education because they are working here or living here."

The Panama City branch campus was established as an outpost for UWF in 1972 with 60 students, all elementary education majors. Ten years later, brimming with 500 students, it became a part of FSU.

Today, some 900 students take classes each semester. The branch campus offers 22 degree programs, including 14 graduate programs.

Students commute from as far away as Marianna, Bonifay and Port St. Joe. About two-thirds of them first earn associate of arts degrees at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City.

"We're not a resident campus," said Bland, who's been dean since the center opened. "We don't have dorms."

Or football games.

Or fraternity parties.

Or a flea market in the Union.

Or nap time on The Green.

Or a guy who sells hot dogs by the library.

Those luxuries aside, the branch campus is more than self-sufficient.

There's a bookstore, a post office and a "common area" where people can get together before class for last-minute cramming. Bulletin boards have the kind of information found on the main campus: want-ads for roommates, photos of motorcycles for sale, fliers announcing domestic-violence hotlines.

You can even get the Flambeau.

The branch campus also has six different student organizations, including a Student Reading Council, which promotes literacy in the community.

FSU's main campus does not have such a group, yet the university is receiving a special award for its efforts, thanks to the Panama City campus.

"We're going for the honor and then we're going to rub it in Tallahassee's face," joked Ellis, a council member. "We want to be part of Tallahassee, but we want to stand on our own. We can uphold the same standards, if not higher."

The present campus was built in 1987. Three main buildings, which house classrooms and administrative offices, sit on 26 acres on Panama City's west side. The acreage used to be home to a trailer park.

Some of the land borders scenic North Bay. A wooden deck with tiered seating has been built on the waterfront where tourists would undoubtedly take the opportunity to watch mullet jump for a few minutes, sigh, yawn and then sprawl out for a nap.

It's hard to find Panama City students out here, though, especially in the summer. Since most classes are offered in the evening, the campus is a ghost town until about 4:30 p.m.

"They hit here, go to class, then they're gone," said David Downin, one of two branch campus police officers.

And no one complains about the parking.

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