Fall graduates slow to sign up for graduation
By Dan Farnham | Assistant news editor
Published Friday, August 27, 2004
With a looming Sept. 8 deadline to sign up on Banner for fall graduation, Lacy Alford, an officer in the University's Office of Admissions and Records, is concerned about an unusually small number of declared fall graduates.
"Usually at this point of the year, we have thousands of students signed up," Alford said. "But right now we have less than 500."
Alford said it was unlikely that the number of students graduating in the fall would have dropped this much, and actually expected an increase because each class tends to be larger than the classes before it. He said this decline might indicate that students do not know how or where to notify the University of their intention to graduate this December.
In order for students to graduate and receive a diploma this fall, students need to log on to Banner through the normal process of going to apps.uillinois.edu/selfservice, selecting the Urbana-Champaign campus and signing in with their Enterprise ID and password. Once on Banner, a student needs to select "Graduation Information," click on "Notify Intent to Graduate This Term" and submit. This puts the student on the Pending Degree List.
Students used to sign up for fall graduation through UI Direct. Alford said he sent an e-mail about the change to 2,600 students this summer, but fears that there are still students planning to graduate this fall who do not know they need to do it through the Banner system.
While Sept. 8 is the deadline for students to declare themselves as graduates on Banner, they can still go to the Office of Admissions and Records to sign up, even after Banner's deadline has passed.
Alford said some students might not have declared yet because they are putting it off. But Alford added that coming into the office is not as efficient or reliable as signing up on Banner. Students coming in late can pile up paperwork, which increases the chance that a mistake is made. Through Banner, sign-ups are directly submitted to the Pending Degree List.
Alford said any students with questions can call him at (217) 333-3898.
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