Audit process unknown to prospective graduates
By Randy Klodz
Staff Writer

Think back to the time you got started at Columbia—arriving early in the morning for the orientation, listening to some speakers, waiting in line and then finally, registering for your first semester. Easy enough right? Once you’ve completed orientation you have a firm base to start your academic career at Columbia. What’s next? Sign up for more classes each semester, pay tuition—run the rat maze. Hit your senior year and now what? It’s time to start the process of graduation—wait there’s a process for that?

Yes, and although there is a process for graduation, it is not well advertised, thoroughly explained or widely known. Prospective graduates must go through an audit process—which starts by filling out an audit form in the academic advising office in the 623 S. Wabash Ave. building. The audit is the procedure by which the adviser informs prospective graduates on what classes they have taken, and more importantly what classes need to be completed in order to graduate.

Columbia needs to do more than post fliers in the hallways to alert students of graduation deadlines and due dates. Nobody has time to read the fliers posted all over Columbia’s buildings anyhow. The process for graduation should be as smooth and painless as orientation. Though orientation may not be well-liked, most students can admit that it’s beneficial to build a firm foundation—no student can register for classes without attending orientation. There should be a similar procedure in place that allows students to exit Columbia as easily as they enter.

So here’s the catch. Though many students are unaware that an audit process exists, students cannot graduate without completing the audit. The problem is that the auditing process can take six to eight weeks. So, if you planned to graduate in the Spring 2003 semester and you filled out the audit form today, the results might reach your hands by the end of December.

Priority registration begins Dec. 2, which means students could receive the audit after they have already set their schedules. If it turns out you are missing a class and you planned your schedule thinking that you had already fulfilled that requirement, you would have to jump through hoops to incorporate the class into your new schedule.

But, failing to fill out the necessary forms in order to complete the audit before your last day of classes may not be the end of the world. The process must be completed for you to officially graduate, but you can still have your graduation status posted on your transcripts, which proves to be more of a legal document than the actual degree itself. Students who plan to graduate after the Spring 2003 semester—and would like to receive their degrees on time—are encouraged to apply before April.

If students were more informed of the process, it might be easy come, easy go, instead of an endless rat maze. Register for classes, complete your requirements, apply for the audit in a timely manner and take your cheese before the maze gets too complicated.

The whole process of the audit is designed as a beneficial service to students, but it is useless if its results are received after classes are scheduled or filled.