Students wait to be advised at the One-Stop shop.
Photo Submitted by Cori Bostic.
After experiencing a plethora of obstacles, students at FAMU were upset and frustrated with the advising procedures at last week’s One-Stop Shop.
The One-Stop Shop is an academic event that takes place during the first week of each semester. It is advertised as a convenient, fast and friendly affair where students can essentially make “one stop” to handle all of their academic needs.
Unfortunately, many students did not see the event in such a positive light.
The murmurs and groans of exasperation by students could be heard by anyone who entered the Grand Ballroom.
“My experience with the One-Stop Shop this semester had a more negative than positive outcome,” said junior healthcare management major Kayla Bronson.“I arrived around 10:15 Monday morning and was not called to be seen by my advisor until roughly 5 p.m.”
The wait time seemed to be the most prominent issue. Students would arrive shocked to see such a dense and long line, and they would receive more of a shock after learning that the line was specifically for advising.
“I was one of the last students to be seen that day. I waited the entire time because I did not want to be skipped for any reason,” Bronson said.
There was a high level of irritation displayed by students who found themselves waiting for so long in the line only to be told to go elsewhere to have their academic needs handled.
“I am waiting from 2 p.m to 4:30 p.m, at 4:30 my so-called advisor stands up and says, ‘If you are healthcare management or cardio pulmonary, your advisor is not here and you must go to the allied health building to get advised,’” junior healthcare management major Isaiah Butterfield said.
Further frustrations came from the feeling of being rushed in the process.
“In the end, I just felt rushed through the advisement and even ended up having to return the next day,” said Bronson.
Due to classes filling so swiftly and the possibility of having an academic hold placed on your account for failing to attend class, students said they wantecd to have their academic problems solved as soon as possible.
Some were unable to attend class because they spent so much of their time at the One-Stop Shop.
“Everything that I needed literally took 15 minutes. The One-Stop shop took so much of my time. I missed nearly a week’s worth of classes and didn’t get into all of my classes until Thursday all because of the One-Stop shop,” Butterfield said.
With all of the difficulties that took place at the One-Stop shop, early advisement is one solution that advisors say could help to prevent such complications for this event in the future.
“The best way to combat some of that (advising problems) is for students to come at the end of the semester,” said an advisor in the School of Journalism and Graphic Communication, Spencer Tyrus. “We start in October to get advised and so that would reduce the number of students that come to get advised in the beginning of the semester.”
Other suggested solutions include immediate sign-in for students and assistants available to provide quick simple services for students and advisors.
“The advising process in general needs improvement. Early advisement is the key to avoiding these long waits,” said Bronson.“But a suggestion I have is to have people who can assist the advisors and students while they wait in line. Some of us have simple questions that can be answered without having to wait on a specific advisor.”