Part 2 of a 7-part series
Destination 1: Exceptional Student Experience
As evident in the uptick in graduate program applications and the robust incoming freshman class of distinguished scholars, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) is continuing to emerge as a school of choice for students worldwide.
For this reason, FAMU is dedicated to providing students with an exceptional experience as outlined in the first destination of the proposed strategic plan FAMU Forever Forward (F3).
It is the goal of the University to ensure that each student receives a first-class experience both in and out of the classroom through hands-on educational opportunities and co-curricular activities.
President Elmira Mangum, Ph.D., said it was a natural decision to focus the first destination of the plan around student experience because students are an integral stakeholder group and are key to the success of the University.
“Our students are the priority,” Mangum said. “We must continue to recruit and retain the best and brightest students and the way to do that is by providing a well-rounded, 21st-century educational opportunity. We know that many of our students have options, so it is important for us to continually show them that they have made the best academic choice when they decided to attend FAMU.”
According to Mangum, the University will focus on reaching this destination through numerous initiatives that have recently been unveiled including improvements to the academic advisement process, the creation of a new student services complex, and increasing global learning opportunities.
Under the leadership of Brittanian Gamble, director of academic excellence in the FAMU Undergraduate Student Success Center and a recent recipient of the Florida Academic Advisement Association’s Outstanding Advising Administrator Award, an enhanced advisement process is now underway.
“As a University, Academic Affairs has been committed to providing full-time advisors, and this will increase the capacity to serve our students,” Gamble said. “Faculty advisors care very much, but it is hard to engage in intense advising when you have four classes to teach.”
Provost Marcella David said the new advisement initiatives are crucial to the success of the proposed strategic plan, as well as the performance of the University in the State University System’s performance funding metrics, because it has increased the Center’s number of academic advisors to 40 and introduced an intrusive style that allows advisors better monitor student success.
These efforts will help students to take a full 15-hour course load and shorten time-to-degree.
“I say ‘Out the Door in Four’ because that means that the student has gotten through as efficiently as possible,” explained David, while presenting the proposed plan during the June Board of Trustees meeting.
David added, “That’s what we want. We don’t want a student taking the same class multiple times because they’re out of sequence, because they’re not well-prepared for a foundational course.”
Vice President for International Education and Development William Hyndman said studying abroad is also vital to the student experience because it prepares them to participate in a diverse workforce. To help drive student participation in these programs, Hyndman said he is working to develop more low-cost study abroad opportunities.
“We do a disservice to students if we don’t expose them to international opportunities,” Hyndman said. “Increasing diversity and study abroad options is important at HBCUs because it allows students to engage in cultural differences and that’s something that they’ll be able to bring to the table during business.”
One way students will be able to cut costs to their international study opportunities is through the President’s Passport Initiative. Hyndman explained that the program has made a splash with students’ global learning and professional development aspirations because it allows them to obtain a free passport.
“International education has value, and it should be for every student,” Hyndman said. “We live in a world where problems are borderless, and our students need to be able to think not only across disciplines but also cross-culturally.”