Sarah Pye
Editor In Chief
Students not overly mindful of the Convocation Calendar may be faced with a grade of B+ or lower come December. The current schedule only allows for 12 Wednesday Convocations held at 10 a.m. this semester, rather than the 14 that students are required to attend to earn an A in Convocation.
According to Convocation and Student Ministries Coordinator Guy Chmieleski, the number of Convocations being offered at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays this semester is not likely out of the ordinary.
“I believe that this is probably the case more semesters than it’s not,” Chmieleski said. “There will always be dates like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, spring break, ‘dead’ weeks, etc. that will decrease the number of Wednesday morning opportunities.”
Chmieleski also pointed out that there are 14 Convocations offered on Wednesday mornings this semester, if the 7 a.m. “See You At the Pole” event on Sept. 15 and the 8:30 a.m. Thanksgiving service on Nov. 17 are counted.
However, some students said they are unhappy with this justification.
“What makes me upset is that if their excuse is that in previous years there were only 12, in previous years they gave double credit, and now there’s no more double credit,” senior Nikki Belt said.
Some students, like Belt, said they were surprised to learn that fewer than 14 Convocations will be offered in the popular 10 a.m. Wednesday slot this semester.
When senior Jen Perryman learned about this semester’s Convocation scheduling when questioned for this article, she said she had “no idea” the calendar had been scheduled that way.
“Knowing that we have to have 14 and there are only 12 (on Wednesdays at 10 a.m.) could be a problem,” Perryman said. “But I have noticed that they’ve been really good about having a lot of extra evening Convos.”
As Chmieleski pointed out, there are 110 Convocations scheduled for this semester. Of these, 12 are on Wednesday mornings at 10 and 52 are tied specifically to foreign languages. This leaves 46 “alternative programming” Convos, and Chmieleski said this number may still be increased to before the end of the semester.
Belt said although she tries to go to as many Convos as she can, she can’t always rely on the “alternative programming.”
“I think that it’s hard if you’re taking a lot of classes, because lots of the other weekly Convos are at times people have classes,” Belt said.
“And if you live off campus, a lot of times it’s hard to get yourself here.”
Senior Janelle Schroeder said she wishes students had been specifically informed of the schedule earlier in the semester. Schroeder learned that there are 12 Wednesday 10 a.m. Convos this semester from an announcement placed in last week’s edition of “The Link,” the leaflet handed out each week after Convocation.
“I think they should have said something at the first Convo of the year or during the first week of the year, because now as the year goes on people get busier and they’re going to have to scramble to get their Convo credits,” Schroeder said.
Chmieleski said that students should not have been surprised by the schedule.
“All students have access to the full Convocation calendar located on the Convocation Web site, as well as PepXpress,” Chmieleski said. “All students also received a Chapel/Convocation series mailer in their campus boxes that, among other things, listed Nov. 17 as the last Fieldhouse program.”
All traditional, full-time Seaver students are automatically enrolled in Convocation each semester, and the class is worth half a credit. Each Convocation less than 14 that students attend each semester results in one half of a grade reduction. Though Convocation grades affect students’ GPAs, the 4 units most students will earn in Convocation during their time at Pepperdine do not count toward graduation.
Students with questions about Convocation can call the Convocation Office at ext. 4999.
10-28-2004