DeKALB | MyNIU may present yet another concern for reliability. Students planning on graduating in December or May may experience a setback as a result of the new system.

Adam Stone, director of Registration and Records (R&R) said the department is behind on its processing as a result of moving from WebConnect to MyNIU. Stone said the department is doing everything they can to bring the system up to date.

“As far as grades and transferring credits go, we are pretty well caught up. It’s the waivers and course substitutions for students graduating in December and May that have not been converted entirely. It is all being done by hand from the old system,” Stone said.

Shannon Watie, senior psychology major, applied last year for a December 2008 graduation date.

“When I applied last year all of my courses were not confirmed right away,” Watie said. “I had one math course that was listed in the wrong section so my DARS report read that I did not meet the graduation requirements. After I explained my situation to R&R they fixed the problem, but it was worrisome.”

R&R is now auditing students in order of graduation date.

The department finds it only practical to take care of December graduates first, Stone said.

Cameron Harmon, senior public health major, expects to graduate this coming May. Harmon was alerted about the situation by his academic advisor.

“I was told that R&R is behind on their December processing. It is concerning, but I’m sure they will get everything taken care of on time,” Harmon said.

All record posts are current as of now. R&R is also double checking the system to ensure that the conversion to MyNIU was successful. R&R encourages students looking to graduate in May 2009 to submit their applications as soon as possible so they can be processed right away, Stone said.

Brent Gage, assistant vice provost of Enrollment Services, is positive that everything will be in place in time for the commencement ceremony in December.

“This is our first time through the new student information system. There is certainly a lot of work to be done, but we are chipping away one day at a time,” Gage said. “Our processing began at the date of which our information was converted, so we weren’t able to start early like previous years. Though we are very confident that everything will be in order for the commencement ceremony to go on.”