Campus Guide

Dear Parents and Family Members of Florida State University Students,

We are so glad you and your student have selected Florida State as your new home and welcome all of you to the FSU Family.  While your sons and daughters are enrolled at FSU, they will have many opportunities to learn new material, experience many joys and challenges, and establish pathways toward their impending career.  Our hope is that we can partner with you to help them create the healthiest and most successful experience possible. 

Dear FSU Parents & Family Members,

On behalf of our President T. K. Wetherell and the faculty, staff, and students of Florida State University, welcome to our community! We are so pleased that your family has chosen to become part of our FSU family.

The Florida State University is one of the largest and oldest of the eleven institutions of higher learning in the State University System of Florida. The Legislature of the State of Florida in 1851 provided for the establishment of the two institutions of learning. On February 7, 1857, the first meeting of the Board of Education of the State Seminary West of the Suwannee River was held, and the institution began offering postsecondary instruction to male students.

Best Value!

• FSU is ranked number 16 by Kiplinger’s for the best value in public colleges across the country.

Leading Academics!

• Since the Office of National Fellowships opened in January 2005, FSU students have won more than 30 nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships including 2 Rhodes Scholarships, 2 Truman Scholarships, Goldwater, Jack Kent Cooke and 18 Fulbright Fellowships.

Undergraduate Studies
University Center, A3300
(850) 644-2740

Even in 1946 when Florida State University was the Florida State College for Women, students enjoyed the socialization the Union brought to their college experience. In 1968, the Union moved to its current location on the north central side of campus on Woodward Avenue and Tennessee St. In 1988, the Union went through a facelift giving students more opportunities to enrich their academic and social life.

The Dean of Students Department fulfills this mission through the following offices: New Student & Family Programs, Greek Life, Student Rights and Responsibilities, Withdrawals, Victim Advocate Program, and the Student Disability Resource Center.

Office of New Student & Family Programs
University Center A, room 4320
(850) 644-2785

The Dean of Students Department's Office of New Student & Family Programs coordinates a number of programs designed to support your FSU experience.

Freedom is an important experience which the University, one of the freest of institutions, provides for all of its citizens: faculty, students, administrators, and staff. Freedom is responsibly exercised when it is directed by ethical standards.

As Florida public university most deeply rooted in the liberal arts tradition, The Florida State University not only focuses on intellectual development, but as a community of moral discourse it also recognizes the need for the development of the whole person.    

The Seminole Creed

Once your student enters Florida State University he/she will be under a new set of laws that protect the privacy of their records. It may come as a surprise when family members call FSU and find they can not gain access to all information concerning their student’s records. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was put in place to protect student records and privacy from those who might misuse this information if they gained access.

The department is a fully commissioned, professional force of police officers receiving state accreditation as a law enforcement agency in May 2002. Uniformed officers patrol the campus 24 hours a day, on foot, in automobiles, and on bicycles. The Cops-on-Bikes program allows officers personal contact with the university community, and allows quick, quiet response to those needing assistance.