Emma Fleming
Reporter
This semester’s Degree Completion Day is set for Oct. 3 from 9:30 am – 1:30 pm. The event will be held in the cafeteria area of the U-wing. Students and non-students alike are encouraged to attend the event to determine what criteria needs to be met to obtain a degree. Students will be able to meet with academic advisors, learn crucial information regarding degree programs, discuss and learn about the transfer process, and fill out a petition-to-graduate form.
Degree Completion Day is another tool that provides Parkland students the opportunity to learn more about or finalize graduation requirements. This is the third Degree Completion Day that is hosted by Parkland’s Admissions and Records staff. The admissions staff will be at the event along with counseling and advising to answer any questions that students may have.
Dennis Kaczor, Student Records Advisor in Parkland’s Admissions and Records Office is one of the organizers of the event. Kaczor says that the event was created to influence more students to graduate. “Beth [Chepan] and I work on graduating people and we would look at the percentage rate at Parkland, and it wasn’t as high as we would like it be,” Kaczor states. There are many different factors that play a role in students not obtaining their degree. Some students leave and some drop required courses. Other students may be in a career program or transfer track and have their sights set on employment or obtaining a bachelor’s degree. “Not everybody comes here to graduate, sometimes people come here for courses here and there,” Kaczor said. “But we have a lot of kids that transfer and they will transfer before they graduate, but we want to make sure they get their associate’s before they go on to another university.”
One focus of this event is to help students better understand the graduation process. Students must meet all graduation requirements and sign a petition to graduate to get the degree. Some students may not know this, but the Degree Completion Day will explain the entire process. “There are 9,000 students here at any given time and we would not know who’s close to finishing if they don’t give us a petition to graduate,” Kaczor said. “At this event, you get a chance to give us a petition if you think you’re close to finishing.”
Not only will students be able to learn about graduation petitions, student will also have direct access to counseling and advising. Counselors and advisors will be available to students without appointment and will be able to run a degree audit. This is a great opportunity for newer students to create an academic plan to stay on track for graduation. The event will also cover the graduation ceremony that will be held this May. “That’s kind of the idea, to make an event of [degree completion] to include current or incoming kids who ask about graduation,” Kaczor said. This event is not exclusive to students in their final semester, but is open to first semester students, current students, and community members. The event will also include a student planning presentation which is beneficial for incoming or returning students.
Degree Completion Day will include refreshments and a raffle. The event will also be live-broadcasted by WPCD FM, Parkland’s radio station. Kaczor claims that the live-broadcast will serve two different functions. “There are some students that have a course requirement to interview live on-air, so they will get to utilize that time and they will interview us downstairs,” Kaczor said. “And [WPCD FM] will advertise the event so anyone listening might come in.”
Before this event was started, Parkland has seen anywhere from 700-800 graduates. After this event was established, there have been roughly 1,700 graduates for the past two years. Kaczor and his team can be seen around campus with catalogs and graduation petitions to encourage students to begin thinking about obtaining a degree. For more information about this event or questions about gradation, please visit the Admissions and Records Office in U214 or contact Admissions@parkland.edu.
