By Nadine Moedt (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: September 25, 2013
My road to graduation has been a meandering path. Now, after two transfers, an existential crisis and a late switch in majors, I’m less than ten credits away.
But I won’t be attending convocation this June.
I’m one of those students who will, come summer, have one or two courses to complete before I meet graduation requirements. I might be able to complete these over summer, if the right courses are offered. However, I’ll have to wait eight months to actually walk across the stage.
It’s kind of a let-down; all these years of hard work and dedication and the university decides to exclude you on a formality.
According to arts advisor Rhonda Colwell, students graduating over summer have the “highest number of non-attendees.”
This past year saw nine per cent of Bachelor of Arts graduates completing their degree over summer, and 27 per cent finishing up during the fall semester.
Currently there is no option to attend convocation for students who have one or two courses left to complete.
I understand that the ceremony is rooted in tradition. But practically speaking, a potential employer isn’t going to ask for the photos you took in your gown for proof that you graduated. We all know that convocation is really just a golden opportunity to pose in that snazzy gown for a new profile picture.
And more often than not, it’s your mom who wants you to walk the stage.
“Family pressure is a great motivator,” Colwell says, “regardless of the time to wait.”
For those who argue against allowing students who have not actually graduated taking part in the ceremony, think back to your high school graduation. There were more than a few students who did not receive a dogwood certificate who walked across the stage with no harm done.
That isn’t to say that anyone who is enrolled in UFV should be allowed to take part in convocation at any point in the completion of their degree. But I feel that there should be an option for those of us who will graduate within the next one or two semesters; why not have a separate request form that allows near-grads to attend? There could be a process in place that would assess students on their track record to judge whether they will complete their degree within the next semester. Or an option for students to apply if they are already registered in the last few courses they need to graduate.
Otherwise we may never get the chance to cross the stage. Eight months after I graduate I hope to have moved on, to have already celebrated and taken the next step in life, be it in employment or travel.
Convocation is a time to pause and celebrate the years of hard work you put in to your post-secondary education with your family, friends, and peers, not a time to nitpick about leftover credits.
