Job applications are not the only thing upperclassmen need to fill out this fall.
"We are the gate keepers," says Jasmine Coleman, administrative support associate of the registrar's office. Her job is simple. It is to help students graduate.
When it comes to graduation, the Registrar's Office makes sure that all the technical work and paperwork is taken care of, so students can graduate. Students graduating in May should start their application process immediately. The deadline for those graduating in Spring 2012 is Jan. 30.
There are three parts to completing the application: the application, the application fee and the audit. These three things must be submitted at the same time in order to be processed by the registrar's office.
The application, available online, is the first step to a long process of making sure students graduate from Fayetteville State in the students' prospective time frame.
The fee is $50 dollars. It pays for the students' name to be printed on the graduation ceremony's program, among other celebratory things.
The degree audit is the most important of the steps.
"The degree audit is the official processing of the academic material," said Mrs. Coleman. She mentions that the audit is done through the individual departments. The degree audit can be printed from the FSU website as well, if students want to use that to track their progress.
The office of the registrar is just that, the gatekeepers. In charge of making sure everything gets done from the department chairs down to the advisors, and finally to the students.
While the application process hasn't been the main reason why students get held back a semester, the process that students need to follow in order to complete this transaction is one of the biggest issues when it comes time to cross the stage with a diploma in hand, courses and credit hours as assigned in the undergraduate catalogue.
"It all goes back to the catalogue," said Mrs. Coleman.
The undergraduate catalogue on the FSU website is the first place students are directed to whenever they have a question or concern about courses. The catalogue outlines all the courses, as well as how many hours one must take, in order to graduate in four years.
"The order is advisor/chair, than the cashier to pay the fee, the department to do the audit, and then the graduation application," said Mrs. Coleman.
Students need to talk to their department chairs and their advisors. Information that is needed from them are what classes should they take, and for transfer students for them to find out what classes are transferable towards getting their degrees. Substitutes are sometimes allowed in which students are given credit for one class that is similar or equal to another class.
One of the major problems for students is that they do not know who to go to.
"I don't know my department chair, but I know my advisor," said Latisha Edwards, junior biotech major. However, Ms. Edwards feels her advisor helps her with everything she needs.
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