Last February, representatives of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) came to evaluate our university for accreditation purposes. After a careful review, the oral report informed that there were two areas that FSU-Panama students felt needed to be improved: the Library and the Advising Program.

     Since the SACS visit, the Library has undergone an extensive overhaul. We now possess a new database—WebSafari—as well as direct access to any book from Tallahassee. For more information please refer to Xiao Wei’s article on library improvements.

     Advising, however, still remains a puzzle. This issue has FSU-Panama students worried and confused. Not accustomed to the U.S. system, many students have a hard time fitting into this new university environment, and for those transferring to Tallahassee or another university, a lot of questions still remain unanswered. For instance, as we researched this article, numerous students shared their stories of “having to stay in Panama an extra semester because the appropriate information wasn’t given to them on time.” Many others complained about “not knowing which classes to take because the General Bulletin is incomprehensible.” Other questions such as “What is liberal arts studies?” and “How do I fill a tracking sheet, and why?” are but a few of the students’ concerns. Students express having a difficult time unraveling the system, and what compounds the problem is the general feeling that there aren’t enough people to help out. So what is the university doing about this?

     We spoke to Prof. Alexandra Anyfanti, Acting Vice-rector, who kindly answered more than what we planned to ask. She stressed that First Day Orientation is a crucial part of the integration of new students. It’s mandatory because students are provided with important information regarding resources, classes, syllabi and what students can and can’t do. Despite this, after Orientation huge question marks still hover over the heads of most students.

     She informed us that the Students’ Affairs Office is the one in charge of campus life, keeping track of students, and communicating their individual progress to Tallahassee. The “advisors” at FSU-Panama are supposed to help us if we have any questions. However, students are often told to “read the General Bulletin” whenever they have questions, as well as to memorize this “little” red book as if it were the Bible. As sad as it sounds, it is indeed essential to read the General Bulletin in order to understand what we are being advised, especially regarding the specifics of majors. Advisers at FSU-Panama only know the general information.

     Regarding the Mentoring Program, do we even know what this is about? Students and EVEN professors do not know exactly how this works. Professors are provided with a list of students, their mentees, and in no way whatsoever communicate with them. Students then are left to look for their mentor, but if they do not know what the program is for, why would they even bother? Prof. Anyfanti told us “a mentor is a member of the faculty, but that does not replace the academic counselor. The mentor is just a personal advisor, not for course work.” The mentors are supposedly chosen according a students’s academic interests, but in some cases, this is far from reality. Yet, the idea for this program is great, we just have to work on it to make it efficient.

     Many Panamanian and other Latin American students are even more confused, than their counterparts who studied in the United States. That’s because, unlike in the local systems of higher education, FSU-Panama requires us to “pick” our own courses. This takes a while to get used to, but there’s no way around it. This feature of the US educational system is actually the great advantage of this institution: students have the flexibility of changing majors as we go along and gain greater knowledge about ourselves. Here in Panama, Prof. Anyfanti said, the administration is planning to assign student academic counselors to help fellow students, especially when it comes to selecting courses. Yet, academic counselors can only tell us so much. In cases when students really do not know which class is required for their major they should go directly to the professor giving the course, and ask! They could provide you, better than anyone else, with thorough information about which requirements a course meets.

     We interviewed several “advisors” of the Students’ Affairs Office. Rebecca Acuña told us that she is no longer in charge of transfers, so she declined to give us an interview. Students should now be aware that Marlo Barsallo handles transfers. Ms. Barsallo told us important information regarding the Student Visa, required paperwork, and course selection for the main campus. There will be a meeting at the beginning of the next semester for students intending to transfer. If you’re planning to do so, make sure to tell Ms. Barsallo, so that she can write add your name to the list. Otherwise, you will feel completely lost. Regarding the process of selecting your classes for Tally, you should have two or three “backup” schedules, since you won’t be able to register until July, depending on the I-20 procedure. To register you should go to http://registrar.fsu.edu.

     Advising at the FSU-Panama branch has a long way to go. We, as students, believe that there should be more personnel willing to help us at all times, and with all types of questions. We know that there are too many students for such a small amount of advisors. Registration is chaotic at best, and the process for transferring is even worse. Advisors have their hands full, and maybe this is what them seem inefficient at times. The campus needs to add competent people, and advising should be a priority in this regard.

     Students still have many of their questions unanswered, and this frustrates us all. In theory the plans for the future sound pretty nice, during the interviews for this article everything we heard sounded promising and easy. However, it is a long stretch before these ideas are to be implemented; thus they are far from being a reality. We know that this change takes time, and we, as students must be patient. This should work both ways; both students and advisors should give a little of themselves to make advising work better. Who knows, FSU-Panama should probably offer a course to help us understand the “Seminole Bible.”


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