With the end of the semester rushing towards us, you may be getting a bunch of questions from your seniors about the upcoming commencement ceremony and steps to graduate. A lot of these questions and concerns are already addressed on our website: https://www.castleton.edu/commencement/ But let’s review a couple of the ones you should start heading off now with your advisees of junior status…
Application to Graduate
Students are expected to complete and submit their application to graduate the Spring before they intend to graduate. So if you have an advisee that intends to graduate in May 2023? They should be filling that form out now in order to trigger a degree audit!
Why do they have to do it a year in advance? Because the registrar is the office that confirms whether or not students graduate (or are on track to graduate). Due to the volume of graduates and the importance of catching possible snags as early as possible (forgot to take the Quantitative Literacy exam? Missed a credit in a General Education Area of Understanding?), the sooner we can start checking the student’s progress, the better!
Once the student has registered for all their remaining requirements, they will be placed on the official Graduation List.
Walking in the Commencement Ceremony
Note: The student only had to register for the remaining requirements in order to be placed on the official graduation list for commencement; it didn’t say they needed to pass them. What are the implications of this?
Since Final Exam week runs right up to the weekend of commencement, students may walk across the stage for commencement without knowing their final grades in a course. Thus, walking in the commencement ceremony does not automatically mean the student has graduated. This may come as as surprise to the students… So remind them to keep an eye on their email in case the Registrar tries to contact them or to reach out if they don’t receive their diploma in the mail in mid-June. While the lost diploma could be due to an out of date address, it could also be an indicator that the student has not finished satisfying the requirements of their degree.
Is it possible for a student to walk if they only have a class or two remaining to complete their degree? Maybe. But they need to contact the Registrar about that before April 1, so we’re out of luck for this year’s ceremony.
Requesting Transcripts
Is your student transferring? Or maybe they’re making plans to go on to grad school? Then they’ll want to know how to order a copy of their transcript! Students can read about the process (and options) for ordering a transcript on our website here: https://www.castleton.edu/campus-life/student-resources/financial-registration-services/transcript-request/
But while we’re on the topic, I’d like to share a short anecdote to remind us not to take knowledge of certain aspects of college for granted. I was contacted by a student who had graduated with their bachelor’s degree and was trying to order a copy of their transcript to be sent to a potential employer. They were very concerned because they had gone through the order form, made the request, and then had their transcript order canceled! As our conversation progressed, it came out that the student had ordered a graduate transcript. Not an undergraduate transcript. Why? Because they had already graduated! Don’t worry, we got it sorted out. It served as a great reminder of the sort of knowledge we may take for granted but that our students still need help with.
