Spring Break
Students apply for graduation before, after deadline
Ashley Johnson
Daily Staff Writer
- Page 1 of 1
SJSU students will not only celebrate the end of another semester's hard work but also the end of their college careers.
Although the deadline for submitting applications for the May graduation has passed, that doesn't mean students can't start preparing for the next graduation.
"We encourage them (to apply) one year in advance so that they know their last semester exactly what courses they want to register for to complete all of their requirements," said Terri Eden, manager of registrar services.
The deadline for submitting applications for the August and December graduations is March 1, and the deadline for May graduations is July 1.
Applications will still be accepted up to one month prior to the date of graduation. Students who submit their applications after that time will be scheduled for the next available graduation date.
When students procrastinate in submitting their applications, problems arise not only for students, but staff members as well.
Limited staff members have a number of functions to perform, not just processing graduation applications.
"We want to be able to service all of our clients and customers," Eden said.
Receiving the applications at the last minute and trying to expedite them amid other priorities only compounds the difficulties for staff members, she said.
There are a number of reasons students submit their applications late. One reason is because it's human nature to procrastinate, Eden said.
"I'm one, just like everybody else," she said. "I'm sure as students go on, they've got a thousand things to do - they've got midterms; they've got finals; they've got all this stuff going."
The Admission and Records Office is trying to remedy this by utilizing the new e-mail and messaging features on the MySJSU Web site.
"Hopefully, once we start using that, we can alert people," said Bruce Kravitz, director of undergraduate student services in the College of Business.
Students can obtain applications from admissions and records, their department or online.
After completing and signing the one-page application, a student can proceed to the corresponding department to retrieve a "major" form where all course work related to his or her major is listed.
For students completing double majors, minors, double minors or triple minors, they need to go to each department to obtain that form.
They attach the major form signed by the department chairperson to the application, which is then sent via intercampus mail to the Admissions and Records Office, Eden said.
Admissions will look for repeated courses, completion of course requirements, including general education and university requirements, and GPA.
University requirements consist of the physical education course and 40 units of upper-division general education.
The graduation application process for the College of Engineering differs in that before the application is sent to admissions, it is forwarded to the dean of the college so that it can be recorded.
The major form for the College of Business is different from other departments and colleges. The major form lists the classes within a particular concentration so students only have to fill in their grades and the unit values of the classes.
About 85 percent of business students meet the application deadline, 60 percent of whom submit their applications one or two days prior, said Kravitz, director of undergraduate student services in the College of Business.
"I don't know that the university does a great job in terms of alerting students to graduation," Kravitz said.
Some students feel the same way about the process or say they are unaware of what lies ahead.
"I remember feeling in the dark about a lot but I had to keep asking questions and asking questions and I finally figured it out," said Sarah Harkrader, a graduate student in the department of English and comparative literature.
Students should first understand that there is a process for graduation and know where to start, Kravitz said.
"I know you need to look in the college catalog for what you need to graduate, what courses you need," said Andrew Phan, a sophomore majoring in psychology.
When business students submit their applications, they are also required to submit transcripts.
The advisers don't always have immediate access to prior course information for transfer students, which makes the process more difficult, Kravitz said.
The process takes about six to eight weeks to complete and about 85 percent of students meet the deadline.
Once the process has started, the whole day consists of checking the applications, Kravitz said.
During the process, students need to understand that all course work must be done before they graduate.
"Students think that they can have one or two courses outstanding and then still graduate," Eden said. "I don't know where that folktale came from but it's definitely not true."
Students must have all requirements completed before graduation, including classes where they received incompletes. If they do not complete all requirements, they have to complete a graduation date change form and pay a $10 fee.
To prepare for the process and make it easier, Eden suggests students set aside time each semester to work on the process.
"I would just say kind of putting it into your time management of putting time aside to do certain things," Eden said. "So they don't procrastinate."
Be the first to comment on this story