Don’t forget the form!
Jacob Pitts
Staff Writer
Commencement is now less than 100 days away, but one simple form could be the difference between walking across the stage and walking back into the classroom for anyone planning to graduate.
The Spring 2018 Degree/Certificate Application is a one page form that all students must fill out before March 23rd if they intend to graduate this semester.
Hopeful spring graduates should review their Degree Evaluation through WIReD. After logging in to WIReD, students should click on “Enrollment, Financial Aid, Student Accounts and Student Services,” choose “Student Academic Records,” and open “Degree Works.”
“Degree Works” lays out all of the courses and credits necessary for graduation, and ensures that students haven’t unwittingly missed out on any major requirements. Even if you’re completely positive that everything has been taken care of, it’s still worth checking. It’s possible that one class might not have counted towards a major requirement after all, or there’s been a clerical error, and it’s better to discover that while there’s still time to fix it.
Once all is well with the Degree Evaluation, it’s time to fill out “The Form.” Perhaps the most important paperwork students will complete at Hudson Valley, the degree/certificate application is absolutely necessary for graduation.
If not dropped off at the Registrar’s Office in the Guenther Enrollment Services Center by Friday, March 23rd, students will be unable to walk the stage at the Commencement ceremony or graduate at all until a later semester. The deadline is the same for all students, regardless of major or program.
The degree application asks for the student’s full name exactly as they prefer it on their diploma, the address they would like the school to send it to, their student ID number, their phone number, the signature of their department chairperson or advisor.
The last step could potentially take some time to have completed, so liberal arts academic advisor Heather Chase recommends getting it out of the way as soon as possible and not waiting until the deadline and risk not getting it signed. As with most Guenther paperwork, students should remember to bring a form of photo ID when submitting their applications.
If the Registrar’s Office doesn’t receive the application in time, students have the option to graduate in summer. The summer application deadline is Friday, June 15th.
It only takes ten to fifteen minutes to fill out the form and drop it off in Guenther, and then students can rest easy and look forward to celebrating with the rest of their peers in May.