On lampposts across campus, you might see a sign hanging that reads, “Graduation Begins Today.” Oh, how true that is. What you don’t see is a sign telling you when your tenure at Cal State Long Beach will end.
When I began here, I told myself that no matter how hard the actual classes I need to take would be, the graduation process itself would be a sweet vindication of all I had suffered upon my journey. So far, it’s been anything but. This week’s Ted on the Street deals with the time-consuming and costly mistakes most people tend to make when preparing to graduate.
The Skinny
Graduating with a bachelor’s degree here is a process that requires several steps, according to Erika Aeschliman, an adviser for the Academic Advising Center.
First, one must see an academic adviser or adviser of some sort on campus to confirm that all lower division classes have been taken.
Next comes the visit to the department one has listed as his or her major for another round of advising. Finally, go to Enrollment Services and fill out an Intent to Graduate form, pay a $40 fee and turn it in before the deadline. Although the process seems fairly clear, many people encounter problems along the way.
“One common mistake that students make when preparing to graduate is not coming to the Academic Advising Center,” Aeschliman said. “A student could be a few units off and not know it. This is a common problem among students.”
Statistically, the most popular major on campus for graduation is business/marketing, according to Collegeboard.com. Carol Grutzmacher, director of admissions and advising for the College of Business, described the most common problems students run into for graduation.
“Most often students don’t realize that they need a 2.0 GPA in their upper division courses to graduate,” Grutzmacher said.
In regards to how the department handles the enormous workload from the more than 22 percent of students on campus seeking advising, Grutzmacher said, “I think we’re trying real hard. We have a supplemental meeting period where students can come in and get help if they’re stuck.”
The Street
Seniors in and around the most popular department on campus share their thoughts on the graduation process.
“It’s going OK so far,” said senior accounting major Alan Terrazas. “I just turned in my Intent to Graduate, but I’m not quite sure what else I’m supposed to be doing.”
“I went to see my department adviser and had everything planned out but they said there was something wrong,” said Joseph Mark Ziemba, senior management and information systems major. “But I went to the Academic Advising Center and they cleared it all up.”
Ted Concludes
Although the graduation process isn’t a complete nightmare, it still takes patience and persistence considering the number of things you must do. However, if you make sure to speak to the right people (e.g. the Academic Advising Center and major advisers), the red tape will be much less of a pain.
So what’s the verdict? Your grades: keep them up. Intent to graduate: get it done (the sooner the better considering filing dates). Major adviser: meet and greet them soon and don’t be shy, your future depends on it.
It’s a depressing thing to see those brilliant minds and educations held back from taking the world by storm simply due to not putting in the time to fill out a form and talking to some advisers. Yes, it’s tedious and daunting, but get it done or you’ll be back in line next semester trying to add one more unit of general education you forgot to take.
