Fall 2021 commencement, photo courtesy James Evans/University of Alaska Anchorage
After years of effort, thousands of dollars and grueling trials of the pandemic, the 2021 fall graduates of UAA have had to wait to get their diplomas due to some technical difficulties at the registrar office. According to Registrar Lindsey Chadwell, the printer used to ink the long-sought diplomas was discovered broken when the office went to print them after the winter break.
Variations of the phrase “earn your degree,” and “get your diploma” are plastered all over campus and on UAA’s website. A diploma is the proverbial carrot that motivates students to work hard and eschew fun. It symbolizes a student’s entire academic achievement, from kindergarten all the way up through college. It’s the key to future careers.
To say the diploma is important is an understatement, and it’s a major problem if UAA cannot produce them in a timely manner. Graduates might leave Anchorage or the state; they move on with their lives and become preoccupied with new responsibilities. It’s easy to imagine that some will forget to follow up if printing them takes too long.
Or an employer might need it right now, as in the case of UAA graduate Hannah Chimenti. She reached out to The Northern Light regarding her situation via email.
In the email, she wrote, “Currently, the registrar is unable to print diplomas. Their printer broke. There is a backlog of diplomas that includes December graduates and people like me.”
Chimenti graduated from UAA in 2008 and received a bachelor's degree in Communications. She ran into the problem when she contacted the registrar's office to get a copy of her diploma for a job overseas.
She received a job offer in Tokyo, and her new employer required, among other things, an “apostille (ah-poh-steel) diploma.”
Speaking with Chimenti, the apostille diploma is one “that is notarized, gone through certain authorities.” She was told by the registrar's office that diplomas would be sent to the Lieutenant Governor’s office to receive the apostille before going to her.
To get the apostille, students must request it from the registrar’s office, it is not done for every diploma.
The apostille is a part of an international treaty, the Apostille Treaty. Countries that have agreed to it use the apostille to confirm the authenticity of official documents issued in other countries. It is common for employers and universities overseas to request an apostille diploma to verify education.
Chimenti was informed by the registrar that the printer was broken and that they had just gotten approval to purchase a new one. Of course, she was concerned with her new job prospect. Although the university could get her an apostille transcript and letter explaining the situation, she was still wary of how this situation may reflect on her.
As she said, “I’m trying to build a good reputation, and part of that is I come from a good university.” The inability of UAA to provide normal documentation may place her future career in, as she put it, “jeopardy.” She was also worried about other graduates looking for jobs overseas like herself.
Registrar Lindsey Chadwell agreed to speak about the down printer. She confirmed that there are about 400 students who graduated in the fall of 2021 still waiting for their diplomas.
According to her, they didn’t discover the issue with the printer until the week of Jan. 16.
For students who have yet to graduate, it is important to know that you don’t receive your diploma at commencement: that fancy green diploma cover is handed out empty.
Teachers have up to three days after the end of the semester to get grades submitted, so the registrar doesn’t review graduation requirements until after commencement. Once verified, diplomas are printed, and graduates pick them up.
Chadwell said that it took some time to figure out a solution. First, they looked at repairing the printer. When it was apparent that it would cost more than buying a new one, they began the search to replace it. The most important thing was finding a printer that would work well with the thick diploma paper UAA uses.
As Chadwell said, it was a matter of “finding a new printer that would be sufficient, and still produce a top-quality diploma.”
They had to contact vendors, submit the university’s diploma paper for a sample print and wait for them to come back.
A new printer was selected and ordered. Coordinating with vendors, and sending samples back and forth, was, by Chadwell’s estimate, the biggest challenge of getting a replacement. Adding to that, the delays in shipping and freight haven’t helped either.
The replacement printer is expected to arrive March 2.
Regarding possible impact to the spring 2022 grads, she wrote, “We generally don't print spring graduates' diplomas until June, so there's still some time.”
Once diplomas have been printed, Chadwell said that graduates will receive an email letting them know they can pick it up. For graduates who may have left Anchorage, the registrar has the option to mail diplomas as well.
For anyone who needs some sort of education verification in the meantime, she said they can provide an academic transcript, and a letter explaining the situation.
As for Chimenti, she is just hopeful that everything works out, and that the university develops some sort of backup so this kind of problem can be avoided in the future.
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