5th-year seniors battle uncertainty in college career

By Katelyn Dooley

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Students who spend more than four years earning their Bachelor’s degrees due to difficulties in scheduling necessary courses or a change in major may receive more help from the university in the coming year.

UK’s four-year undergraduate graduation rates have risen 2.7 percent from last year, to about 38 percent overall, said associate provost for undergraduate education Benjamin Withers.

The six-year graduation rate is more than 60 percent for students who enrolled in the fall semester of 2008, Withers said.

“The reason students don’t graduate in four years is a difficult question to answer,” said Susan Herrick, associate director of undergraduate studies, though she posited that it might be for financial or academic reasons, or could be caused by changes in a student’s major.

“It’s all about getting the right major,” said Withers, who changed his own major three times before graduating from Carleton College. “We want students to get degrees that appeal to them.”

If students do not choose a major upon being admitted to UK, they are undeclared, Herrick said. Students are required to choose a major by the time they have earned 60 credit hours, or during their junior year.

Austin Wilkerson, a fifth-year English senior, transferred to UK after one year at Bluegrass Community and Technical College.

“Scheduling is a pain in the butt,” Wilkerson said. “My transfer credits didn’t transfer (to UK) like I thought they would.”

A change of major, as well as transfer difficulties, tacked on another year before Wilkerson’s graduation.

“I think one thing that would help (the process) is to increase communication between everybody,” Wilkerson said. Despite this, Wilkerson said he doesn’t regret the extra time spent at UK and said taking the extra time to explore his options allowed him to find a major he enjoys.

Fifth-year secondary English education senior Ashley Block also changed majors, adding to her time before graduation.

“I think changing majors is one of the biggest factors with fifth year seniors,” Block said “Maybe if they laid out the amount of debt you build up throughout college at the freshman orientation, I would have taken it more seriously.”

Block said she will graduate with more than $35,000 in debt by May 2015.

Mike Shanks, an associate registrar in UK’s transfer center, said UK currently uses APEX software for degree audits, which allows students to determine how many classes they have until graduation.

The university will be moving to a new degree audit system, Shanks said, which will combine APEX with UK’s student record center, SAP, and allow students to “shop” for classes online.

The university will also be implementing a graduation outreach program this semester to target students with 100 or more credit hours, Withers said. Once these students are identified, academic advisers will reach out and suggest ways to help them achieve their graduation goal.

Stephen Ruh, a fifth-year secondary English education senior, started his college career as an undeclared student before choosing his majorduring his junior year.

“I’m not in an extreme rush to get out of here,” Ruh said. “I’m just enjoying the time I have left.”