Last week, approximately 175 students were sent vital information about degree completion — for the wrong person.
The process, called a degree audit, serves to inform seniors of how close they are to obtaining their degree, and graduating in general. This year, they were conducted through UR Student for the first time. According to University Registrar Tina Sturgis, the system experienced a “technical issue,” resulting in a small portion of the senior class getting mixed up.
UR Student — an online system for class registration, student finance, and record-keeping — was rolled out last April. Since the switch, students have pointed out a few growing pains.
Several students told the Campus Times that their first reaction to the error was confusion.
Take Five student Michaela Burrell said that at first glance, she didn’t notice the incorrect name at the top of the email.
“When it said I had to take PHY 114, I did a double-take,” she said. “My major only required 113, and I don’t think you could pay me to take 114.” Burrell said when she did see the name, she laughed. “I was already super stressed about grad school applications that night, so I was relieved to realize that it was a mistake.”
Senior Syanis Y. Vargas-González said that upon reading the email, “I immediately scheduled a meeting with a CCAS advisor because I was actually panicking.”
The problem was quickly addressed, and affected students received the proper audits within days of the error. Making light of the experience, many students took to UR social media groups, congratulating or apologizing to the students whose audits they received.
Senior Emily Andrews posted a TikTok on the popular student Facebook group Overheard at Rochester depicting initial panic at the misdirected audit.
Senior Amanda Liang posted a meme about the incident on the Facebook group Ever Better Memes for Meliora Teens. Vargas-González said seeing that meme made her realize it wasn’t only happening to her.
“The fact that it happened to more people made me less nervous,” she said. “I found it kind of hilarious, the chaos of it all.”
Sturgis told CT that students who have not received their own audit should email Tina.Sturgis@rochester.edu or the office asedegreeaudit@rochester.edu.
