Life happens but the clock keeps ticking

The last two weeks of any eight-week session can really create panic. Here it is, two weeks before the end of class and you find yourself way behind. It happens to the best of us because as working adult students, life happens. What should you do? First and foremost, communicate, communicate, communicate. As soon as possible contact your faculty member and let them know what is going on. This is paramount.

If you find yourself in this circumstance, you have the right to ask your faculty member for a grade of incomplete … but only if you meet certain criteria. An incomplete grade is only appropriate if you have completed a significant portion of the course work. But the College of Liberal Studies allows faculty certain leeway to decide what must be done to help you. If they agree to give you an incomplete grade, they also are empowered to set a time limit appropriate to the circumstance. Keep in mind that the time allowed to make up the work cannot exceed one calendar year. Whatever your faculty member tells you to do, be sure to do it. Meet the deadline. There can be serious implications to your financial aid if you don’t.

An “I” for “Incomplete” is not an alternative to an “F” so if you are failing a course you will not be able to receive an “I”. That said, if you have finished a majority, but not all, of the required coursework for the semester, you are eligible for an “I”.

Here is a rundown of the CLS incomplete policy.

Students must have:
1) Completed a significant portion, ideally at least 50 percent, of the course material assignments.
2) Contacted the instructor prior to the end of the course and have arranged to receive a grade of “Incomplete.” It will be at the discretion of the instructor to assign a grade of “I.” Although you may have submitted 50 percent of the course work, that is not a guarantee that the instructor will assign the student an “I” grade).
3) Agreed upon a timeline for completing outstanding assignments with your faculty member. You will have no more than one year from the date the grade is awarded to complete outstanding assignments. A faculty member may give you a much shorter time frame if they deem it appropriate to do so.

The “I” will become a permanent mark on your transcript if the calendar year goes by and you have not made up the remaining work. To receive credit for the course, you will then have to re-enroll for the same course and pay for it again.

Pomp and Circumstance

I think graduation is one of the best times of the academic year. Everyone is happy. Really, really happy. As they should be. The hard work is done and it is time to celebrate one of life’s major accomplishments. To that end, I want to tell you about the convocation ceremony for the College, as well as the all-campus graduation celebration.

The College of Liberal Studies convocation will be held Saturday, May 15. This is a festive occasion just for our graduates and you can meet CLS faculty, administrators and deans, as well as see them in their full academic regalia. This year we have invited Oklahoma head women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale to be our convocation speaker. I am really looking forward to hearing her and am sure you will find her very inspirational.

For convocation, you will dress in traditional academic ceremonial costume, be recognized by name, have your photo taken and receive your official degree cover from CLS Dean James Pappas.
Plan on arriving at the Rupel Jones Theater, on the corner of Boyd and Elm Streets, at 10 a.m. The ceremony will start at 10:30. There is a parking garage is right across the street.

In addition to convocation, you also can participate in the university-wide commencement ceremony Friday night, May 14. All summer, December and May graduates can participate. I highly recommend you walk in this exciting event held in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. It is filled with pageantry and includes an address from OU President David Boren and commencement speaker, Pulitzer Prize winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

All-university graduation concludes with a mammoth fireworks display. More information is on the OU Commencement Web site.

Looking forward to seeing you!

About me

Frank Rodriquez
Adminstrator
College of Liberal Studies Bachelor’s Program

My job is incredibly diverse. I do everything from providing customer service to program planning, admissions counseling, course management – basically everything that relates to program management for an undergraduate degree at OU.

I grew up in Henryetta, Oklahoma, a small town in the eastern part of the state, as one of six children. I graduated from Henryetta High School – where NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman is from – in 1977 and worked for a couple of years before I went to college. Before coming to OU, I spent three years in journalism as managing editor of the Pauls Valley Daily Democrat, and I was managing editor of the Chickasha Express for a few months before going to work for the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma which also is in Chickasha. I was there for three years, went back to journalism, and then came to OU in 1992. I began as a recruiter for the College of Liberal Studies before moving into my current role.

I graduated as a nontraditional student from East Central University in 1985. I earned my Master of Liberal Studies degree while working here at OU, studying American religious history in our self-designed study option. I am currently in a doctoral program at Oklahoma State University, studying education leadership with a minor in adult learning. I have completed all but my dissertation. My dissertation research topic is transformative learning in online courses.

What I love to study and think about are religion and religious issues. With everything that has happened in the world today, and with the serious situations our nation currently faces, I feel that I have prepared for this era because I’ve studied everything that’s involved. The confluence between politics and religion, the radicalism and religious fundamentalism, I studied all of that during my master’s program.

I’m also passionate about helping people – seeing people change and grow as they come through our college. I’m not just talking about the students, but also the staff. Watching them come in and mature, and seize the opportunities available to them is what keeps me going. I’m very proud of the fact that most of our staff members are working hard to continue their own education, pursuing both graduate and undergraduate degrees. We are a college that really practices what we preach – the powerful and transformative influence of higher education.

E-mail me at realcleareducation@ou.edu