Geordi Royston will walk the stage at commencement this spring when her relatives from the east coast visit, but will be back in the classroom in fall to complete the three units she didn’t know she needed.

“I just sat there and let all the emotions run through at the initial meeting. I was too emotional at that point in time to be angry,” Royston said. She went to the Degree Evaluations Office to find out she won’t be graduating as she anticipated.

A communication studies major with an emphasis in public relations, she now has to take 12 units as a financial aid student since one of her history credits from a community college did not transfer.

Royston is just one of the many students experiencing the consequences of the current degree evaluation backlog at Sacramento State.

As fall registration already begun, the degree evaluation office still has about 600 evaluations – a mix of spring and fall 2008 seniors – to finish as of Friday, said Edward Mills, associate vice president for Enrollment Management of Student Affairs.

“First, we are going to send a message out to all the students who have applications to graduate, but have not received a completed evaluation,” Mills said.

“Second, (we) figured out how to process a batch job for the same group of students to run their degree audits. Thus, we should be able to tell from that report who looks like they are OK and who may still be missing a requirement.”

Before the end of the week, the office should have evaluated the students who may want to apply for summer or spring classes.

“Before the next fall semester, (the backlog) will be all taken care of,” Mills said. He also said students can contact him personally if they have questions or concerns.

But some students feel that nothing can repair the damage. Not receiving their evaluations means more than not graduating. Royston said she already submitted her résumé online to potential employers.

“With the job market not being so great, it’s difficult taking opportunities and flushing them down,” Royston said. She is glad she decided to take a semester off before going to graduate school; now, she’ll need that time.

Shannon Ryan, communication studies major, was also alarmed when she didn’t hear anything from the Degree Evaluations Office in almost a year. She said she has to come back to Sac State next semester to obtain half credit in physical education.

“I filed my graduation application the first day they would accept them because I was so excited about graduating and wanted to make sure I didn’t miss the deadline,” Ryan said. “I didn’t receive any information in the mail or e-mail to my MySacState account and that really concerned me.”

After checking in with the office following its March close, Ryan discovered it was still finishing degree audits for last semester’s graduates.

But the question becomes: How did the backlog at the office happen and will it be a problem in the future?

While staff, students and faculty may be quick to point fingers in the opposite directions, Mills said the problem really started a few years ago with budget cuts.

Several positions were not renewed. When Mills arrived last year, he saw what the outcome would be and hired more temporary staff for initial data entry. With the current budget cuts, he wouldn’t have been able to hire staff now.

The evaluation process is three-fold. The initial backlog started with the data entry where the SAT scores, transfer credits and high school information are compiled. Next, the transfer credit evaluators compare courses and find out what classes are equivalent. With only one person for that position when he arrived, Mills hired three more.

The final step requires three to four years of experience to process. Out of the 10 on staff when the year started, two are on maternity leave, one has serious health concerns and one relocated.

The remaining six are processing as fast as they can, Mills said.

Nick Burnett, chair of the Department of Communication Studies, said the employees are “understaffed and undermanned.”

Graduating seniors or seniors who should have graduated all say students need to be pro-active about their degree evaluations.

“Be aware as a freshman and a sophomore, especially as a transfer student,” Royston said. “Talk to a degree evaluator, academic adviser, save and make copies of everything you get signed. Know everything you need before you get into this school.”

Burnett is careful before assigning the blame regarding evaluations. Sometimes it can be the students and sometimes the evaluations office.

He has seen plenty of students who have done everything right and others who haven’t paid attention to their requirements.

“You have to be your own advocate,” he said. “You have to be the one to ask questions.”

Chloe Daley can be reached at [email protected].