This semester, a handful of graduating seniors were surprised to receive notices in the mail informing them they still had more units left to complete. This means that receiving their diplomas is further away than expected.

Most graduating seniors receive their degree evaluations in the first few weeks of their last semester, if not before, but that is not always the case for everyone.

Michael Spitler, senior English major and former State Hornet reporter, found out a few weeks ago that he was short two classes. He said he wasn’t aware of it sooner because he hadn’t received his degree evaluation, but instead found out by visiting a degree evaluator.

“Before I got the degree evaluation in the mail, I actually went to a drop-in appointment,” he said. “At the time, they couldn’t find my application on file because they were really backed up.”

Another student, Greg Sheppard, was planning on graduating in Spring 2006 with a degree in government and concentration in international relations. He was notified in the middle of his final semester that he was short three units of the 120 required to graduate, something which he said happens more often to those whose majors don’t require as many units.

“(After) passing all of your required GE and all of your coursework, you still (might) have classes (required to meet the minimum of 120 units),” he said. “What I should have done was paid attention to every single requirement…it’s just one of those small things that could slip by.”

Degree Evaluation Coordinator Vivian Llamas Green said not all students receive their degree evaluations before their final semester either because they apply for graduation after the deadline or because the office is flooded with students who need to speak with someone and paperwork that needs to be completed.

“We try to review all graduation applications prior to the last semester of enrollment…if not sooner,” she said. “It would be ideal to inform students via their graduation evaluation prior to their last term of enrollment; however, we are not always able to do so.”

She said both the school and the students are partially to blame for the problem.

With approximately 2,500 students graduating in the fall and 3,000 in the spring, the school’s goal is to process and mail out graduation evaluations on time, although that doesn’t always occur. However, there are students who either don’t keep track of whether or not requirements are filled, or receive their evaluations before the semester begins and still don’t realize they’re short units, she said.

Michael Althouse, senior government-journalism major, said he planned on graduating in the spring semester but found out midway through that he was short a couple units. Although he accidentally checked the Fall 2007 box, his application was 18 months early, which he said should have raised a red flag.

“The biggest problem is that there are, I think, only six or eight evaluators and thousands of degree applications to process,” he said. “Ultimately, I was the one who dropped the ball, but there are plenty of shortcomings to go around. The process is complicated and a more streamlined system in which knowledgeable advisers are more readily available and even required would make a huge difference.”

Although a student missing units may still walk as planned, his or her degree is not granted until all requirements are fulfilled.

Spitler and a degree evaluator went over his records and found that an English class he thought was writing intensive wasn’t. Additionally, he was missing three units of upper-division general education that he had overlooked.

He has petitioned to have his English class count as writing intensive by providing the syllabus from the class and a written explanation on why he believes it should count. However, he still has to take one upper-division class.

“It was my fault…because I procrastinated,” he said. “I thought that I had everything taken care of but that one GE thing kind of took me by surprise. I’d been working on my major so long that I totally forgot about my general ed.”

Sheppard had turned in all of his paperwork on time and met with a degree evaluator more than a year before his planned graduation because he was thinking about studying abroad for a semester and wanted to make sure it wouldn’t affect his graduation. He said he was assured that he was on track, but later found out there were notes on his file that said he had to take an extra class.

“I wasn’t even made aware of it when we had our advising,” he said. “When I walked away, (the adviser) pretty much said that everything was OK.”

Notification of incomplete units can cause panic in some graduating seniors wondering how they’ll be able to complete that last class or two.

Spitler said he spends a lot of time going between Lassen Hall and Sacramento Hall, meeting with people and getting various forms signed.

“It’s like back and forth; it’s hard to keep track sometimes,” he said. “It’s kind of a pain to have to constantly go back and walk in for another appointment.

You have to spend so much of your time waiting in line.”

Sheppard said being short a few units caused him to panic.

“I was pretty much looking all over campus to find what I could to do make it up,” he said.

There are various ways to complete the remaining units, including enrolling in a class, taking an independent study course, or completing an online course.

The cost of completing the units varies on how many need to be fulfilled. For students looking to quickly take care of additional units, winter and summer sessions are recommended because they are quick and cost-effective. Students who have multiple classes to take will most likely have to buckle down for one last semester. However, those seeking to avoid high costs can take them at a community college, where costs per unit are hundreds of dollars cheaper than state universities.

Where students choose to complete their degree is up to them, Llamas Green said.

“As long as all of the Sac State residence requirements are met, students may opt to attend other schools in order to complete requirements,” she said.

The only condition is meeting with a degree evaluator ahead of time to determine what class or classes need to be taken and figure out the equivalent courses at other universities.

Sheppard ended up challenging a foreign language class because he was fluent in German. However, in order to have those units applied, he had to take at least a one-unit class during the summer to have the foreign language units applied.

There was a catch-22 for him. Since foreign language classes count for four units, his German equivalency combined with the extra three-unit class brought him to a total of seven units. Since he was no longer at part-time status, his fees increased, something which he wasn’t aware of until he received an invoice in the mail.

Llamas Green said keeping track of what needs to be done to graduate is helpful in avoiding a scenario like this.

“(Students should) familiarize themselves with graduation requirements in the…catalog,” she said.

Additionally, she recommends meeting with advisers in Academic Advising, attending a Graduation Workshop, and requesting and reviewing a degree audit.

Natalye Childress Smith can be reached at [email protected].