Policies set in place to improve the lives of students in the long run have been ruining the lives of students in the short run. The most recent policies causing many RPI students a great deal of angst are the new commencement guidelines. The RPI administration has felt it necessary to impose a new rule stating that if you are not completely done with your degree in May, you will not be able to walk. The objective of the policy is to avoid the high degree-mailing costs for the Institute and to allow the students to feel they’ve completed their education. Why introduce the policy mid-year and have it effect the current seniors? It would have made sense to have announced it at the start of the fall semester or have it take affect next year.
I am a senior here at RPI. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and what I was good at. I switched majors during my sophomore year and picked up another at the end of my junior year, expecting to finish my degree in a year and a half and be able to graduate with the rest of my class. Imagine my surprise on December 10 when I opened my Outlook to see an e-mail from the Registrar’s Office entitled “Graduation Information” which said, “You thought you were graduating, well I have a little surprise for you!” I immediately replied to the e-mail in order to find out what exactly it meant, having pursued a dual degree that would have 16 credits remaining after May. Although the e-mail stated, “In May 2002, students who participated in Co-op or other programs may attend the ceremony if they are within one semester of completion of degree requirements,” the registrar responded saying “See you in May 2003.”
I’ve talked to a number of people, asking them what they thought of the policy change and only one person out of fifteen said that they thought it was a good idea. I could understand if they were going to have a smaller, not as elaborate ceremony in December for those grads, but to say, “We don’t care what your plans are after you’re done you’ll have to come back in the following May if you want to walk,” is ridiculous. Several people that I talked to said that they wouldn’t come back; only their parents care about graduation. But graduating is a rite of passage. Commencement is not just for the parents, but the students too. It’s a time to look back and see where you were when you started to where you are and will be in five years.
The Administration doesn’t seem to care about the fact that it matters if you walk with your class or not; we need that feeling on graduation day. That feeling of unity pushed us to work hard all those years, then on graduation day, each of us could say I did it; we did it! I thought it was all about teamwork at RPI—I guess not!
