Plan early for graduation

by Jody Wise

Are you truly ready to graduate? If you are like most students, your focus is on the current semester or even this immediate class, and graduation seems to be in the distant future. You might be surprised at how soon you should be thinking about your graduation.

“Each student should apply at least two semesters prior to their intended graduation date,” said Mary Buso, an advisor at Penn Valley.

“Preparation for graduation should begin day one in meeting with an advisor, and you should plan to meet with an advisor every semester,” said Jackie King, an academic advisor at MCC-Longview. “This is the best resource to ensure you’re on track for graduation and taking any prerequisite you might need to transfer to a four-year college.”

In order to communicate this to the students, MCC has placed posters throughout the different campuses indicating that students planning to graduate in May or July of 2012 should apply now. But some students still find the process difficult.

Sabrina Pacheco will graduate next semester from Penn Valley. Pacheco, whose pursuit of a two-year degree turned into four years with the birth of her two children, recently called her advisor’s office to see what she needed to do to apply for graduation.

Pacheco was told to come to the advisor’s office to start the application. She  bundled up her two children to make the 30-minute commute to the campus.

“She was gleaming with pride” as she entered the advisors office, said Pacheco’s husband, Nick. But when she got there, Pacheco was pointed to a computer to start the application and then told she would receive something in the mail.

“I was very upset and frustrated by the lack of involvement from the advisors,” Pacheco said. “I thought I did everything I could by calling first to inquire about the process, but come to find out I could have done the application on-line at home.

“It would have been nice to at least have one of the advisors either on the phone or in the office say a simple congratulations. I worked very hard to get here and I felt as though I’ve done it alone.”

Heather Stufflebean is a mom, too,  with a full-time job, and is only able to take one or two classes a semester. She anticipates graduating in 2014. “I haven’t given it a lot of thought. It still seems so far away,” Stufflebean said.

Like Pacheco, Stufflebean also isn’t sure what all is involved in applying to graduate. “I wouldn’t know where to begin,” she said.

Like many students who take most of their courses online, Stufflebean relies on Blackboard and MyMCCKC for most of her information, as it’s not convenient to travel to a campus during daytime hours, she said.

The one lesson both sutdents have learned about the graduation process? Take a pro-active approach and meet with an advisor.

Buso said most students also are concerned and surprised by how long it takes to receive their actual diploma certificate after graduation. Buso said students “don’t take into account that we have to account for the final grades from their instructors prior to submitting them.”

There are several tools and resources available to students to gather more information. King said www.mcckc.edu/graduation was the place to begin the actual application process. Buso pointed out that there is a section in the course catalog that explains about graduation and provides dates for cap-and-gown fairs.

Apply before these deadlines:

• November 15 – for fall (December) graduation
• April 15 – for spring (May) graduation
• July 15 – for summer (July) graduation

• Log onto myMCCKC.
• Click on Student Center Home.
• In the Academics section find the drop down box labeled “Other Academics, and select “Apply for Graduation”.