If you are one of the many students who have senioritis, this may be your lucky break. Commencement will proceed on Dec. 8 which means that seniors will be required to take finals at an earlier date.
Students graduating in December will have to take finals early enough for teachers to submit their final grades by 3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3.
Teachers are to arrange dates so that plans fall accordingly for commencement. Syllabi will provide additional information for students about finals.
“This change does put some pressure on faculty to submit final grades earlier, but this will not be a huge hardship, and I think the graduating seniors will greatly appreciate this new arrangement,” said Professional Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Pharmacy, Dr. Paul Sylvester.
If any issues occur, students should contact the faculty member’s department head, the dean, and then Eric Pani, Vice President of Academic Affairs.
The dean’s office will provide faculty members with a list of graduating students around Sept. 7. Graduating students are to check with their professors around that time to ensure they are on the list. If your name is not on the list, you are to contact the dean’s office.
“Graduating a week earlier has placed more stress on my workload. Everything seems more rushed and not as simple. I’m sure this decision has also doubled the teachers workload as well,” said Jillian Reaux a senior speech pathology major.
Many years ago, ULM held commencement services this way which was a contributing factor for this decision. The committee whom decided on this found it beneficial to graduating students so they wouldn’t have to stick around a week longer waiting to graduate. It also requires the residence halls to stay open longer.
Faculty feels mixed about the decisions because they will not have as much time to cover information they feel is valuable for senior courses.
“I think it is a good idea to move the ceremony ahead one week because it will be more convenient and will most likely induce more seniors to attend graduation. Most University campuses hold graduation immediately after finals week for this very reason,” said Sylvester.
The changes for this semester were finalized by President Bruno and the Vice President of the University.
