I am currently a student at Nova Southeastern University earning my Master's in Business Administration specializing in Marketing. It has not been easy and I have been working for it almost 2 years now, as well as, running a business and working full-time.
I will be completing my necessary courses this December 2018 to officially graduate, but guess what? I cant! I am now being informed (and by another student no less), that after attending this school for almost 2 years now, that there are no commencement ceremonies for students who finish in Fall (December) and in fact those that do will have to wait 6-7 months before they are able to walk as a graduate from NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY at a commencement ceremony! The school should train their advising/counselor staff to inform students of this issue with commencement and advised them to either hurry up with their curriculum in order to reach June Graduation or slow it down so that they don't have to kill themselves trying to reach December with a finish program and unable to walk at commencement til 6-7 months later!
This school is not cheap! Every student that attends this University exits with a minimum of $60K in School loan debt! Many many students before me have complained to the University (Nova) of not holding commencement ceremony in December (Which is not unusual since almost all Florida Universities offer commencement ceremonies twice a year!) and have had to wait months before being able to actually walk and feel like a graduate!
This only makes me want to finish school and skip on commencement since I have to wait so long to do so, and that shouldn't be the case! The support of my family and friends have been a pillar for me, and they are the reason why when I felt like giving up, I didn't. This has now become personal and I am hoping to see if I can get enough signatures to approach the President of the Nova Southeastern University, George L. Hanbury II, into looking to help hundreds of students who are will be floating in the air, come December, awaiting to officially feel like a graduate by not being able to walk (cap and gown) until June 2019!
Getting an education in this country is getting more and more difficult. The fact that so many of us get to the finish line with so much effort, sacrifice and merit, and then are unable to feel realized, because the school you are getting your degree from, refuses to add commencement ceremonies twice a year to save money, is truly disappointing and frustrating!
Instead of holding many ceremonies in June, divide them twice a year, so that students , like myself and many others, who finish at the end of a calendar year, are not discouraged from crossing that finish line! I need your help in collecting enough signatures to see if maybe this way the school will listen!
This petition is for me and for all those students (and future students) that will have finished their school curriculum by December and won't be able to share in the joy of their accomplishments with their support group (friends, loved ones, and families) until 6-7 months later when the University decides to hold a commencement ceremony like a bunch of cattle for everyone! We matter and deserve to be acknowleged for the hard work we put into and go through in order to attain this degree!
