Graduation State of Mind

Candice Ortiz

Staff Writer

At approximately 10:30 p.m. May 10, graduate Kaleb Castillo will have been commissioned into the United States Army and received a Bachelor’s degree from Cameron University.

Kaleb will be recognized for earning a Bachelor’s degree at the Cameron University Commencement at 7:30 p.m. on May 9. In sequence, at 7:30 May 10, he will swear into the United States Army at the Cameron University Commissioning Ceremony.

 “I am very eager to walk across the stage,” says Kaleb, “It does not seem real that the date is so close.”

Kaleb Castillo Junior Year

Kaleb is majoring in Public Relations, with a minor in Military Science. His most significant accolades include many Dean’s Honor Roll listings, two President’s Honor Roll listings, induction into Lambda Pi Eta, [Communications Honor Society], and elected president of Scabbard and Blade, [Military Science Honor Society].

Kaleb’s mother, Nancy Castillo, expressed her thoughts on her son’s achievements, “We are all very proud of him, he has come a long way.”

Kaleb says, “Even though it has been a long journey (as far as education) the material I have studied here at Cameron will benefit me in my military career.”

While taking part in the Cameron ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, he will  enter the United States Army as an Armor Officer.

“Since my freshman year I have witnessed my friends and brothers in arms commission every December and May,” Kaleb says, “Now it is my turn.”

Kaleb’s father, a retired Master Sergeant, explains the importance of the ceremony, “The commissioning ceremony marks the transition from officer trainee to a leader of soldiers. The most significant part of the ceremony is when each cadet takes the commissioning oath and swears “’to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same... and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter.’”

At the ceremony it is military tradition for the Commissionee to receive their first salute from a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO), and in turn the Commissionee presents the NCO with a Silver Dollar. This symbolizes the relationship between a young Lieutenant and a seasoned NCO.

“I’m going to present the Silver Dollar to my father to honor the military tradition of the First Salute, Kaleb says, “my dad has mentored and assisted me throughout my collegiate years.”

The Commissioning Ceremony not only highlights traditional military customs and courtesies, but also rewards Commissionees for the hard work and dedication put into the program.

Kaleb Castillo Senior Year

“Throughout my four years in college I have had more obligations and responsibilities than the average student because of ROTC, he says, “however, I am guaranteed a job upon the completion of my degree.”

Upon graduating Kaleb has been ordered to attend Armor Basic Officer Leadership Course in Fort Benning, Georgia. There he will learn the importance of conducting Full Spectrum Operations as a part of a combined arms team.

Cameron Students Set to Graduate In Upcoming Weeks

 

JaBre' Glass

Staff Writer

     Cameron University students will be graduating as the commencement ceremony takes place on May 9^th at 7:30 p.m. at the Cameron University football stadium. The Masters Degree Hooding ceremony will take place the day before graduation.

     Before graduating students get to attend the actual commencement ceremony, there are certain requirements that. Both ungraduated and graduate students must fill out their respective application for graduation forms, which has them fill out basic information such as their name, address, and coursework completed, among others. The main purpose of this form is to make sure that students get the correct information on their degrees after the semester has concluded.

     They also have to complete a Future Plans Data Survey and a Graduation Information form that asks students what they plan to do after graduation, and the second form makes sure that students understand the stipulations of graduating.

Undergraduate Application for Graduation

     Once that is done, the students will also have to pay a graduation fee to the One Stop Office of $15 for the cost of the diploma that the students will receive about two months later. Vershawn DuBose, criminal justice major, was particularly excited to pay his graduation fee to all but finalize the process. “I don’t even mind paying the [graduation] fee. That just means that I’m one step closer to leaving college and being done with school.”

     Another checkpoint in the graduation process that students must go through before they can finally walk the stage is the degree check process conducted by the Registrar’s Office. Each student will be verified to make sure that they are in fact eligible to walk. They will then wait as the results are finalized. Josh Mitchell, business major, says of the process, “It takes forever to get those results back. Even when you know for a fact that you’ve done everything you need to, it still feels like it takes years.”

Cameron University Degree

    Any student who has completely their specific requirements for their degree the prior December, by May, in July, or by the December following the Commencement ceremony are allowed to participate in the graduation. Although those students who still have a few more classes to take at the time of commencement will still have to complete the remainder of their requirements before they are officially done, they will still get to see a glimpse of the finish line.

 

Cameron University Makes Planning Ahead Easier For Students

Smith Steigleder

Staff Writer

            On March 3, 2014, Cameron University made Degree Works available to students. Degree Works is an online tool that students can access from their Aggie Access accounts to check on their progress toward degree completion and plan ahead for future coursework.

            Kelli Peterson is the records manager at the Cameron University registrar office and one of four Cameron employees who helped to create the program.

            “Degree Works is really cool in the sense that students will be able to look every day at anytime of the day or night and see where they stand within their degree program,” Peterson said. “I expect that within the next two years Degree Works will be set up to where students that are coming into Cameron as freshman can plan their whole four years before they even take a class.”

            This new tool will help ease some of the worry and stress for students close to graduation.

            “Sometimes students will apply for graduation thinking that they have finished all of their classes,” Peterson said. “They are angry and upset when they find out that they are only one or two classes off. I think that this will cut down on a lot of that because they can see for sure all the classes that they need to take.”

       www.cameron.edu

       To use Degree Works, log on to your AggieAccess account and click on

       the "info" tab.  Next, click the "Degree Works" link in the "Quick Links"
       window on the left side of the screen.

            Logan Buttram is an Elementary Education major at Cameron University who has already started using the new program.

            “I really like Degree Works,” Buttram said. “I used it to plan the upcoming summer and fall semesters. It has a look ahead feature that I used to pick my classes and make sure that they will satisfy my degree requirements.”

            The look ahead feature in Degree Works allows a student to type in any course number of a class that Cameron offers to see how a class fits into the progress of the completion of a degree. It has a print button so students can choose to save the classes that they looked ahead to and show their advisors when they enroll for subsequent semesters.

       www.cameron.edu

       This is a picture of what "Degree Works" will look like when students

       pull it up. It shows the degree progress completion percentage.

            “Degree Works was frustrating at times though,” Buttram said. “It would continuously freeze up on me and quit working while I was using it. Hopefully they will get that fixed before it is time to enroll for the 2015 spring semester.”

            Buttram is not alone in experiencing problems with the new program.

            “This is the first semester to have it out to the students,” Peterson said. “There are always things that happen when you build a new program; all the coursework behind the scenes had to be individually scribed and coded. The backside users, which consist of me and three others at Cameron, are the ones that had to do all of this, so it isn’t surprising to me that there are a few bugs.

            “Degree Works has come a long way already, and it should not take long before everything is running properly and all of the glitches are worked out.”

            While Peterson debugs the program, her team will also continue to get added features that further help students. One of these planned features is something that students have been wanting for a long time: self-enrollment.

            “I can’t say or know when it will happen,” Petersen said. “but a major goal of Degree Works is to eventually have student self-enrollment. This would allow students to use the program to enroll in the classes that they want to take without meeting with an advisor.”

            There are many possibilities with Degree Works in the future and many features that are already available now for student use.

            “Every student that is at Cameron regardless of class standing should check out Degree Works,” Buttram said. “It is something that is meant to make our lives a little bit less stressful, and it gives us better tools that provide information we can use to ensure that we graduate on time.”