8

I am a final-year international undergraduate student at an Australian university. This semester, I took a required research-based subject at another Australian university (i.e., cross-institutional study) because it was not offered at my home institution. I am certain I have passed this subject (there are 3 assignments, 2 of which amount to 55% of the final grade of which I have achieved 42.5%/55%, and the final one which accounts for the remaining 45% - which I have yet to learn the outcome of) and will receive the credit points.

Here is the problem:

My home university requires the complete, official academic transcript from the host institution by November 26th to process my graduation for the upcoming ceremony. The host university finalises all grades on November 26th, but they do not publish the official academic transcript until November 27th.

My home university's administration office has informed me that if the official transcript is not provided by their deadline (the 26th), I will not be permitted to graduate this December. The issue with this is that my student visa expires in January, but the next graduation cycle is only in July 2026. Due to financial constraints, I cannot simply take another trip to Australia just to attend the graduation ceremony.

This one-day difference is creating a purely administrative bottleneck that will prevent me from graduating. I have already passed all my subjects, but I'm being held up by a 24-hour difference in university processing schedules.

What steps can I take to resolve this?

  1. Is there a standard procedure for this kind of "near-miss" deadline?
  2. Should I be contacting a specific person at my home university (e.g., Head of School, Academic Registrar) or the host university?
  3. Given the grades are finalised on the 26th, could I request some form of official, signed "Statement of Results" or "Letter of Completion" from the host university's registrar or subject coordinator on that day, even if the full transcript isn't ready?

I'm looking for advice on how to navigate this administrative problem to ensure I can graduate as planned and be able to attend the graduation ceremony.

Edit:

To add more context, I currently have a WAM (Weighted Average Mark - Like GPA) of 82, and am just missing the final 12.5 credit points required to graduate.

Improve this question
18
  • 14
    When you say "graduate", is the concern around actually being awarded the degree, or being allowed to participate in the ceremony? Unless Australia is quite unusual in this regard, I'd assume those are two different things, and you would still be awarded the degree even if you do not return to Australia for the ceremony. Commented Nov 10 at 1:41
  • 3
    So if this is just about participating in the ceremony – is that actually critical? Around here the ceremony is purely a formality, attendance optional, with everyone who misses it getting their degree by mail or handed out at an office. Commented Nov 10 at 3:52
  • 5
    @MisterMiyagi I don't want to share too much information due to privacy reasons, but the reason why this is important is that my family have all already booked their flights and stays to come and see the graduation. Commented Nov 10 at 3:55
  • 16
    I have friends in the US who were permitted to participate in the ceremony, and simply handed an empty diploma case instead of a diploma, and then had their real diploma mailed to them, because of administrative snafus like this. Commented Nov 10 at 15:40
  • 4
    @nick012000: That wouldn't help with OP's comment "my family have all already booked their flights and stays to come" Commented Nov 11 at 22:00

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
24

Your home institution will almost certainly have someone in charge of either this specific cross-institutional program, and/or a coordinator for your stream/program/degree. Talk to them. If you don't know who these people are you need to speak to your home school administrators to find out.

These are issue that should be solved at the institutional level, rather than the student level. (Especially as you describe this course as "required", although you don't specify why or how that is.)

Standard procedure for "near miss" is that they count as a miss. Modern university admin in Australia is an officious beast.

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    The problem is, I've already talked to them but neither are budging. I've even talked to my lecturer's and dean of faculty. This course is required as I need the 12.5 credit points from them to graduate. In order to graduate, I need 300 credit points. I currently have 287.5. Commented Nov 10 at 5:00
  • 5
    @RimuruTempest There's a difference between "this course is required" and "I need this many credits from this course". If you needed to take this specific course at this specific institution, then that's a very different situation from "I would be a few credits shy but I did some extra work at this other institution as transfer credits". In the first case, you're probably not the only student with this problem. In the second, you're likely on your own. Commented Nov 11 at 18:40
  • @Bobson I didn't need to take that specific subject. I only took it because it would boost my career prospects and probably save me a year or two. I could have taken a subject at my home uni but none of what they were offering aligned with my future goals (I intend to work for a formula 1 team as an engineer). Commented Nov 11 at 22:23
  • 2
    You need to talk to university staff about the specific problem you are having, which is whether you will be able to attend the December ceremony, not about the mechanics of computing course credits or anything else. Commented Nov 12 at 15:26
23

Be wary of the XY problem. Ask about the problem you are actually facing, what you need, rather than your imagined solutions.

What you actually need, it seems, is to participate in the graduation ceremony. You shouldn't ask if you can graduate without these credits, or if the transcript can be sent sooner. You should ask if you can participate in the graduation ceremony. Your second ask is going to be how to graduate officially the next semester without actually attending.

Now, it's certainly also possible that there isn't anything to be done. That's understandably frustrating, you can try to escalate to the bosses of the people you have worked with so far. You can look for some university representative for students (in the US this might be a "Dean of Students") whose job is to advocate for student-facing issues.

Improve this answer
13
  • 1
    Thank you for the answer. I have tried this many times already, I have talked to the student office and transcript office and neither want to escalate. The most common response I have received is "Sorry, we can't do anything". It's becoming very frustrating. Commented Nov 11 at 6:05
  • 2
    @RimuruTempest are those the offices that organise the ceremony? It seems like you've been talking to people with the goal of graduating rather than participating in the ceremony? Commented Nov 11 at 11:42
  • 5
    @RimuruTempest Did you ask them separately about the ceremony? Did you ask separately about what happens next (e.g., can you graduate officially in the next semester?)? Did you ask to speak to a supervisor or similar? Do you have an academic advisor or some similar advocate? Commented Nov 11 at 21:55
  • 2
    @BryanKrause I'm going to give both offices another call and see if I can talk to someone different who might be more helpful than the people I have talked with recently. If it doesn't work out, I'll likely just follow your advice and have a personal celebration. You'd honestly think that at a top uni in the country which you have given thousands of dollars to, would be a bit more helpful. Commented Nov 11 at 22:11
  • 5
    @BryanKrause be careful about assuming that US English is universal. In Australia graduation usually refers to the ceremony (or getting your testamur by mail). And you usually only get invited to a graduation ceremony after your degree is conferred. Most institutions confer degrees monthly, and then you are invited to “the next” ceremony. (Usually you can defer to the following one). But OP’s institution sounds like a bit of an outlier: most graduations are in February. Commented Nov 12 at 7:33
7

As has also been mentioned in the comments, at least at US-based institutions many (perhaps most) of the students who walk across the stage at the ceremony have outstanding grades from the just-past semester that aren't processed and finalized yet. As a consequence, whether they will actually get the degree is still up in the air -- most will, some won't. The ceremony is therefore only for the families, but it is not about actually graduating: Students get an empty roll in which they can store the diploma whenever they actually get that mailed from the university.

I don't know anything about Australian universities, but would imagine that that is also an option there.

Improve this answer
1
  • 5
    I have never heard of anyone attending a graduation ceremony without having had the degree conferred: you are not even invited to the ceremony until after you complete your course, and at my institution receiving your testamur by mail is referred to as “graduating in absentia”. In either case the graduation happens after conferral. As an Australian it just sounds like US institutions are really bad at scheduling the ceremony… Commented Nov 12 at 7:12
6

TLDR: I'M GRADUATING THIS DECEMBER! :)

I am answering my own question to post the solution that worked for me, with the hope it will help others in a similar situation. After being told by my home university's administration that "policy is policy" and that I would not be able to graduate, I managed to find a solution! My home university has agreed to extend my personal deadline for the transcript from 12:00 PM on the 26th to the end of the business day on the 26th. Furthermore, the host university agreed to provide my official academic transcript by the end of the business day on the 26th. This essentially resolves the 24-hour gap and will allow me to graduate.

To solve this I drafted an email explaining the entire situation. In it, I emphasized that this was a purely administrative issue where a 24-hour difference in processing schedules was going to cost me six months and prevent my graduation in December. I sent this email directly to the Office of the Vice-Chancellor at both my home university and the host university. I also cc'd my Head of School and the Academic Registrar at my home university to ensure all relevant parties were aware. The response from these offices was immediate and ACTUALLY HELPFUL. They looked at the situation, saw how absurd it was, and made a common-sense exception.

My advice for any student in a similar situation where two universities' bureaucracies are creating a difficult situation is this: Don't waste your time with Student Services. Do not spend days constantly calling and emailing with staff who are bound by policy, as they cannot help you, even if they want to. Your time is better spent drafting a single email and sending it directly to the Vice-Chancellor's Office (or an equivalent high-level office).

Improve this answer
5

First off, you need to focus on what it is that you want, and distinguish this from what you appear to be asking for. Generally speaking, "graduating" refers to the conferral of a degree—it sounds like you will not be able to have a degree conferred upon you in December, because you will miss the deadline by a day. This sucks, but for most purposes, this is not important. By the end of the year, you will likely be able to obtain a transcript which indicates that you have completed the degree requirements, which will be sufficient for most graduate program applications, job applications, etc. The fact that the conferral date won't be until next July probably won't be much of an impediment. It isn't a big deal. I agree that the inflexibility of the institution on this point is maddening, but it has very little material effect.

On the other hand, what you actually seem to be asking about is participation in the commencement ceremony, which is something completely different. By way of example, the committee that plans the commencement ceremony at my institution is a different set of people from the registrar's office (the office which determines whether or not a student has met the requirements for a degree). It sounds like you are talking to the registrar when you should be talking to whatever body plans the ceremony. The answer may still be "no", but make sure that you are talking to the right group of people.

The next thing that I am going to say is very cynical, and is likely to come across as kind of ranty (even if I'm not really that worked up about it), so let me give some context first: I have a high school diploma, a bachelors degree, a masters degree, an a phd. Before starting my current teaching position, I attended exactly two commencement ceremonies in my life: my older younger sister's high school graduation, and my younger younger sister's college graduation. I did not attend any of the ceremonies for any of my own degrees—I just don't think that they are very important, and I find them to be incredibly boring. And at least one of them didn't even happen (thanks, COVID). So know that what I am about to say comes from a person who just doesn't care about these kinds of events. Apologies if this comes across as overly cynical, but:

Stop caring about the commencement ceremony. Seriously. Convince yourself that it doesn't matter. (Because it doesn't.)

I know, I know. It is a rite of passage. People do put a lot of value in these things. Intellectually, I get it. But these ceremonies don't actually signify anything. You are going to get your degree whether you attend commencement or not. Is it really that important to spend four hours listening to people wank on about how special the day is, and how you've finally made it, so that you can spend 30 seconds walking across a stage to shake the hands of some people that you maybe haven't even met? Really?

If I were in your position, I might try to arrange a much smaller, more intimate kind of ceremony. Talk to the chair of the department in which you are earning your degree. Talk to your advisor, if you have one. Invite those people, other students graduating with you, and their friends and family to get together somewhere for burgers and beer, and arrange some kind of opportunity for speechifying and hand shaking with those people. If the university is not willing to budge, roll your own.

Doesn't a more intimate, informal ceremony sound like more fun than the official ceremony?

Improve this answer
3
  • 2
    Agree with all of this, but I think often the commencement is more for the parents/family, so it's probably them that OP would need to convince rather than themselves. But absolutely the ceremonies themselves are dreadful. Commented Nov 12 at 2:56
  • 3
    @BryanKrause Oh, yes. I don't disagree at all. These kinds of ceremonies are really about friends and family. The goal should be to convince those people that the main ceremony is a waste of time, while burgers and beer with the department chair is actually meaningful. Commented Nov 12 at 3:52
  • 3
    @XanderHenderson Thanks for putting things into perspective. I suppose a graduation ceremony is just a small formality - but it is an experience I would like to have regardless. I wasn't able to have a proper high school graduation due to covid, so this is really my first graduation. Commented Nov 12 at 11:33

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.