Last September 11 2024, was the Pinning Ceremony for the 3rd Year students in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program of Visayas State University. It’s a momentous occasion that serves to celebrate their achievements and how far the students have come in a program that’s widely known to be heavy, with the Pin serving as a symbol for their commitment in the hardships to come.
And yet, this day also came as a day of dismay, as some students who were set to be pinned that day were stopped in their tracks due to a recently communicated change in guidelines on who is eligible to participate in the ceremony. Not much can be done now for those expecting only to be left behind, but what exactly led to this situation, and what do the stakeholders have to say? Let’s first examine the facts.
What exactly happened?
Sources differ on what and how exactly the whole affair occurred, but as the story goes, this year’s candidates for pinning were supposed to be pinned two years back when they were still first year students, as was traditionally done by the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). This was delayed until the following year. The college administration then supposedly was in the process of crafting some guidelines on the eligibility of students to partake in the pinning ceremony, and the timeline on its planned implementation.
The new guidelines in question impose that only students who have passed all first and second year subjects are eligible to partake in the annual pinning ceremony. The information about this new change was only officially disseminated last August of this year.
With sources differing on whether this was disseminated through a meeting or through simple word of mouth, the document indicates that it will apply to current third year students of the program. This was met with dismay by a number of students, especially current junior Viscans who were held ineligible for pinning this year due to the aforementioned change in requirements. They will have to wait for another year to participate in the pinning ceremony.
The student’s stance
The general stance of the student body, specifically those who were set to be pinned this year, echoes a general sense of unfairness with the guidelines and their immediate application to them. Firstly, they cited that prior to its implementation, there were really no concrete guidelines as to who are eligible for pinning.
With this in mind, the current candidates for pinning this year already have started their preparations for the ceremony as early as the 2nd semester of their freshman year. And whilst the students were informed that possible changes may occur, by the time they were informed, they had already poured lots of time and effort into making the ceremony possible, spending money and time to mint out pins for the whole batch, and even a photoshoot for those who were to grace the stage.
This sense of unfairness was expressed through a petition addressed to Dr. Harvie Portugaliza, the current Dean of CVM. The letter pleaded with the college administration to move the implementation of the new set of guidelines to the current DVM sophomores instead, as to not waste the amount of preparation that the current batch have made.
“Okay naman yung guidelines. It gives the student the will to persevere more. It was just unfair for us na dapat mapipin na sana last year but nasali sa guidelines. It was more fair na sa upcoming second years i-implement yon, but also, gahangyo mi na unta naay proper meeting for the student body regarding ana na issue, pero overall wala naman mi mahimo,” a VetMed student expressed.
Unfortunately, this petition was for naught as this year’s pinning ceremony proceeded with the new set of rules applied. This sentiment was also coupled with a sense of discrimination as well of irregular students, with them saying this incident only added to the bias from the administration already allegedly expressed towards them.
The stance of the Student Council
Though the CVM Supreme Student Council is aware of the issues that transpired, they noted that it took them some time to respond as the issue was happening during a period of transition between the outgoing and incoming student councils. Despite this, the CVM-SSC states that it is addressing the issue by drafting a letter of appeal to the college, one that specifically seeks the approval of CVM to allow the students to undertake their pinning ceremony in the next semester, even when they have pending first and second year subjects to pass.
In addition to this, the CVM-SSC is also planning some initiatives to support these students who are having diffculty in passing their pending lower year subjects, such as a peer counselor program. Lastly, they are planning a dialogue between affected students as well as the college itself to discuss what could be done regarding the issue.
The stance of the College of Veterinary Medicine
CVM’s decision to institute the guidelines, as detailed by Dr. Sheila Rabe, the college secretary, relates to the student’s preparedness and commitment towards completing the course. According to her, the faculty took notice that many students who were already pinned ended up switching programs. They also noticed that a lot of them have still not finished their Physiology or other basic science subjects.
The lack of commitment from some of them to stick to the program prompted the shift of the guidelines for the pinning from the second year to the third year, where the expected study load is filled with purely major subjects. Students are also required to not have a failing grade in all their first and second year subjects, to ensure that the student is indeed prepared for the study load of the later years.
Dr. Rabe also noted that there was nothing much more that could be done regarding the guideline’s immediate application as it was a decision made by a quorum among the deciding body. She also dismissed the notion of discrimination towards irregular students, noting that they’re not being prevented from attending the next pinning ceremony once they’ve caught up with the requisite grade requirements.
We also requested an interview with Dr. Harvie Portugaliza but he was unavailable at the moment.
So what now?
With the student council walking a fine line between the disappointment of students who have waited years to undertake the ceremony only to be held back, and CVM wishing to ensure these students were absolutely ready to take on all that the program would throw at them – one can only hope that this ushers in an era where the student body, the council, and the college walk hand-in-hand in consideration of the needs and wishes of all sides.