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Graduation setbacks can vary from financial, personal or counseling errors. Students expect to graduate within a certain time frame with their peers and when that does not happen it can be stressful on the students and their families.
In November of 2014, Hill Boyce, currently a senior television and broadcasting major, thought that he was set to graduate until he met with his academic advisor. During his counseling sessions, he was told that he did not have enough credits to graduate the following May. In the second semester of his sophomore year, Boyce changed his major from the business track to a communication track, but he did not realize how far this change would set him back.
In previous semesters, Boyce said he would meet with his advisor to get his pin to register and discuss his schedule for the upcoming semester, but he did not plan out future semesters. Boyce said this situation could have been avoided if he would have met with his counselor consistently before senior year.
“When you know that you are going to have to stay an extra semester, it stings a year or two before but not so much, but when it happens so abruptly and you find out last minute that you can’t graduate it’s even more devastating,” he added.
Students meet with their academic advisor to plan out their schedules and to review their degree audit which shows a student a listing of all the general University and major specific requirements which they need to complete in order to graduate.
Professor Thomas Rondinella, a visual and sound media major advisor, said students should see their advisor every semester. “Having a relationship with an advisor in your major is very important,” Rondinella said.
Students should also be aware of the deadline to apply to graduate. The application to graduate is in the Piratenet portal, under the academics tab in the student records section.
The application is then processed and a final degree audit is completed by the registrar’s office and if there are any issues students are contacted.
Margarita Williamson can be reached at margarita.williamson@ student.shu.edu.
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