By Diego Olivares
The deadline for submitting graduation petitions for East Los Angeles College students to have their names on the commencement ceremony program is quickly approaching.
“I feel the petition lets the student know what courses they need to take to graduate,” ELAC counselor Kirk-Ken Mihara said.
It is recommended for students to see a counselor to keep track of their progress at ELAC.
“I do hope students come in to see a counselor at least once a semester to make sure that they are on target for their academic goal,” Mihara said.
Although graduation petitions can be submitted from Feb. 17 to June 6, the deadline for having a graduating student’s name added to the commencement ceremony program is March 28.
Students have two ways of getting the graduation petition – schedule a meeting with a counselor or download a copy from the ELAC website.
The student fills out the petition with a counselor’s aid. The counselor ensures the student is not missing any requirements.
The petition must be completed during the student’s intended final semester.
Financial holds must be cleared before submission of a petition.
Students must have met requirements for an associates degree. Requirements include satisfactory completion of reading, writing and math courses as well as classes for their majors.
“You have to go though the general education and major requirements,” Counselor Keith Hayashi said.
When the graduation petition is completed, it must turned into the admission office before the deadline.
An evaluation technician will look over the graduation petition once submitted. The evaluation process takes six to eight weeks.
The results are one of two outcomes.
The first is that the student is eligible for graduation. As a result, the student will not receive additional notices from the evaluation technician.
The second is that the student is deemed ineligible to graduate.
This is usually due to lack of courses and/or units needed to graduate. The student will not be allowed to graduate until the courses and/or units are completed.
Hey Diego Olivares , Staff Writer, in your article you say, “Students have two ways of getting the graduation petition – schedule a meeting with a counselor or download a copy from the ELAC website.” Today I spent over a half hour looking for a graduation petition to download on the ELAC website, there isn’t one. A call to the counseling office confirmed that. I spoke with Linda, a secretary there, and she asked around and nobody there had heard of an online graduation petition to download. Got to check those facts before going to print to avoid wasting our time.
Thank you.