No funding nor assistance and not a word of support from their own department—for anthropology undergraduates, these have been the recent struggles they face trying to finish their field school.
Yearly, students head to a pre-selected site selected by the Department of Anthropology which is based in the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP).The activity, which is held in the mid-year semester before students graduate, has anthropology undergraduates produce reports of their communities through interviews and observations on the site.
Students are expected to shell out money for whatever expenses come up during their visit, while these costs typically hover around P10,000, said Edwin Valientes, this year's field school director for Mahatao, Batanes. These expenditures, meanwhile, include fees for accommodations, meals, and, in some instances, plane tickets for domestic or, sometimes even, travel abroad.
Raising money for the requirement usually involves much effort for students: holding income-generating projects, securing corporate sponsorships, grants, solicitations, and student cash-outs are just some of the options undergraduates count on to get by. But even with all the trouble, often these efforts can still come up short. Last year’s batch of field school participants, for example, held various projects over the course of eight months. The money those same projects earned, however, remained inadequate in funding their Batangas field school. This year’s batch of field schools in Mahatao and Pasig, similarly, found themselves still in need of money even after raising as much as P200,000.
Covering these fees without support was difficult, recalled Frances Sajor who went to the 2018 field school.
"The expenses had actually become heavy to the point that one of my classmates had to borrow money to attend the field school," Sajor recalled.
Forced Independence
Part of the struggle to raise money stems from the department not providing students with enough information to estimate their expenses on-site, remarked Kate Purnell, who spearheaded the fundraising projects for her batch.
“I really feel like things would have been easier if the department cared more about the welfare of its students,” she said, “Sabi nila ‘[kayong mga estudyante] na bahala mag-isip.’”
On the other hand, while some faculty members would buy the items students sell, the department as a unit does not offer any support, recalled 2017 batch head Dana Castillo.
Some students bound for field school last year, however, were able to secure P100,000 in reimbursements from the Office of the Chancellor after contacting corporations and non-government organizations had failed to yield results. Participants received the reimbursements later on after completing their field school. Castillo emphasized, however, that such cases are not typical.
The department should not be expected to subsidize the field school's fees as it is a course requirement, while students are oriented months before the activity itself, said Dr. Monica Santos, the director for this year’s field school in Pasig. Instances of reimbursements, on the other hand, also depend on the department’s budget for the field school director, while it is also ultimately the director’s prerogative whether to provide funding or not, Santos noted.
“It’s like kapag nag-prescribe kami ng textbook sa klase, hindi kami ang nagbibigay ng textbook for you. Hindi namin i-susubsidize ‘yun for you...in the case of the field school, it’s something that is part of the curriculum so it’s really something that you have to consider,” Santos remarked.
On the other hand, she also emphasized that the undergraduates’ expenses ultimately depend on their lifestyle. “Kung gusto mong mag-Starbucks araw-araw, eh aabot talaga sa trenta mil gagastusin mo.”
Stalemate
Paolo Sevilla, finance officer for this year’s field school, was critical of the administration’s stance.
“We choose how much to spend, but certain things are non-negotiable expenses that are almost binary in that they are either there or absent. This includes [the] cost of basic food, basic lodging, and transport to a field site that is not of our choosing.”
Though the administration has met with departments which hold field schools to discuss their needs, the university has no concrete plans to address the fees incurred by the activity. For now, students can request assistance through grant applications on campus, though support is not always guaranteed, said Madilene Landicho, who was a field school director last year.
Amid anthropology majors’ field school woes, former anthropology representative to the CSSP Student Council Lakan Umali took the initiative to push for the institutionalization of the field school in order to formalize funding from the university.
“Nagkaroon ng dialogue ang League of College Councils with Chancellor Tan where we brought up the institutionalization of funding for Field School,” recalled Umali. He was later advised to approach the Vice Chancellor for Research and Development, who replied that they could not fund undergraduates–only graduate students and faculty members.
Though his efforts did not bear fruit, the current department representative to the CSSP Student Council, Sophie Del Prado, confirmed that the council will still lobby for financial support.
Purnell, on the other hand, still believes that the department should offer their students assistance regardless of the university’s supposed lack of funding for undergraduates, even if only through helping them find groups which can sponsor the field school.
“Just because it’s the norm doesn’t meant that it’s right. We’re trying to push for free education here in this school, and the fact that we have to still pay for stuff that’s part of the education just backfires,” she said.
Philippine Collegian
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