After his Facebook post complaining about the College’s adjustment system went viral, Senior Multimedia Arts (MMA) student Miles Blue Sy was called by the administrators for a dialogue to discuss his concerns last August 26 at the School of Design and Arts (SDA).
Last August 24, Sy posted a photo of his receipt on Facebook complaining about how he was forced to pay for the adjustment fee when in fact he only had to adjust because there were no available courses for him to enlist online during the enlistment period, furthering expressing his exasperation by adding that he has been experiencing the same ordeal for three years. Other than that, he was also made to pay the surcharge fee for being a late enrollee because of the inclement weather that made it difficult for him to go to the College.
His post reached other Benildeans overnight, garnering at least 600 shares and accumulating the same expressions and support from like-minded students. Other adjustment, enrollment, and enlistment concerns were raised in the post’s comments section. Eventually, the post caught the attention of the College, leading to Sy receiving messages the next day from the SDA administrators, requesting to meet him for a dialogue to discuss his concerns.
Sy was accompanied by representatives from the Central Student Government and the Benildean Press Corps to observe and document the whole happening.
Ms. Abigail Cabanilla, Associate Dean of SDA, Ms. Katrina Juane, OIC Chairperson for the MMA Department, Ms. Socorro Bacay, Registrar, and Mr. Mike Tan, academic adviser of Sy were present for the meeting.
Sy then recalls his main concern, saying that when he was choosing sections for the course MMAPRJ3 (Multimedia Project), he didn’t know the medium (whether it was for Web or for Video) because the Student Information System (SIS) lacked the information or details needed. He further adds he was charged for the surcharge of P500 because he failed to pay before the deadline due to the inclement weather experienced. “Bumabagyo so paano ako pupunta sa school?” Ms. Bacay responds, “what we can do is actually reinforce support for the Finance Department to waive the fee. If there are extenuating circumstances then we do appeal to the Finance Department. But we did not call off classes and schedules of dates were posted.”
“Since classes were not suspended, we thought everyone was good with it.” adds Ms. Cabanilla.
Sy also mentions his experience with enlisting an Open Elective subject (OPELEC) last term. “Nung mag-eenroll na ako, tinanggal siya. So, ibig sabihin nabawasan ako ng isang subject. Enrollment na, pag mag-adjust ka may bayad ulit tapos pag late enrollment ka naman, may surcharge pa.”
He says the subject was removed from his record on the day he was supposed to enroll, which was the day before the enrollment without surcharge deadline. “The result is na-extend ako ng isang term na may isang subject lang.” This, however, was not fully addressed by the administrators as the administrators wanted to focus solely on what happened to Sy this term.
“I cannot pinpoint what the problem is,” says Ms. Bacay after going through with Sy’s SIS history, detailing that Sy was able to get his desired courses for this term.
“Yung pumipili po ng section sa MMAPRJ3,” Sy says again. In turn, Ms. Cabanilla asked him whether he went to Mr. Tan regarding the problem to which Sy says no.
“It’s quite unfair if we post stuff but we did not make an effort to communicate.” Ms. Cabanilla says. “I would have wanted you to meet up with Sir Mike because that is why you have academic advisers.” She adds, “If that was a concern raised with Sir Mike then pwedeng magawan ng solusyon.”
Another concern was raised by an MMA student who joined the dialogue and narrated how she was not able to adjust because of her pending clearance of the second installment tuition fee which was due August 11. “I paid my dues on the deadline, the problem was the adjustment deadline,” which was on August 5. She adds, “Okay lang mag manual adjustment ako. Pero nung kinuha ko na manual adjustment form ko, ang binigay sa akin ay yung late enrollment form.” She therefore suggests that the College make installment deadlines earlier than the adjustment deadline.
“We have a promissory note in case you need to reschedule your payment. Did you try it?” asks Ms. Bacay. The student says again, “The promissory note is really not the issue. Even if I had a promissory note, they wouldn’t let me adjust in the first place.”
“So you did submit a promissory note?” asks Ms. Cabanilla. “No.” replies the student.
“This is what we do. We first try to follow the protocol. Then if it doesn’t work, we communicate. How could we say it isn’t working if we don’t follow it first?”
The CSG also raised a concern regarding the enlistment. During the pre-enrollment, sometimes there are no available sections so students try again on the free-for-all date. Advanced enrollees are also not able to freely choose their own schedules on the scheduled date because the SIS is always down so “what is the purpose of being an advanced enrollee if you couldn’t [access SIS]?” says CSG President Roshan Owais. Sy also brought up the problem that advanced enrollees find that their pre-enrolled courses have been removed from their record.
“For cases like that, we could do audit trail for it eh. Kung nawala talaga siya sa system, then it can be a reason for waiving all whatever surcharges,” Ms. Bacay
“No approval of courses unless you show up,” a suggestion Ms. Bacay has raised. “The approval of your enlistment shall depend on the face-to-face consultation.” As for those students who are not able to meet with their academic advisers, they should communicate through other means such as calling or emails.
In the end, Ms. Cabanilla rules that the problems root from the lack of communication. “Maybe we should come up with a system, maybe the student government [could have] a program and plug it and then this is how we go about it, this is how you flag us,” She also adds that students should consult with their respective academic advisers first so as to avoid any prolonging on enrollment.
