Registrar's Office

Office of the Registrar
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5256 USA
(269) 387-4300

September 24, 2021

Oct. 1 is the deadline for April 2022 graduation applications

Once the deadline has passed, students may submit a late application by Dec. 1 or apply for the next available graduation term. Please direct students interested in submitting a late application to contact @email. Late applicants will be charged $200 in addition to the $55 graduation fee. All earnings from the late fee will be used to bolster future communication efforts from the Registrar's Office. 

As with previous application campaigns, the Registrar's Office utilized a multi-pronged approach comprised of targeted communication, general communication and support/partner communication.

Targeted communication

Eligible undergraduate and graduate students received personalized emails and phone calls. Eligibility is determined by Degree Works percentage (65% and above), advisor approval (those who have been approved to graduate but have not applied) and credits earned (15+ for students in master's programs and 40+ for students in doctoral programs). New this semester, we also contacted all students enrolled in certificate programs. We reiterated that students earning both a certificate and a degree must file separate graduation applications. 

All of these students will receive a follow-up email in November regarding the Dec. 1 late application deadline.

General communication

Targeted reminders have been invaluable, but we also recognize the importance of repetition when trying to inspire action. For this reason, the application deadlines have been incorporated into our general messaging as well, including: 

  • Our "welcome" email, sent to all enrolled students on the first day of the semester/session, contains an entire section regarding the application deadlines (in addition to listing the deadlines in a calendar format).
  • Our registration email, sent approximately two weeks before registration periods begin, contains application deadline information for juniors, seniors and graduate students.
  • Our home page has showcased the Oct. 1 deadline since early August.

Support/partner communication

Thanks to collaborations with the Office of Marketing and Strategic Communications, the Office of Information Technology and Online Education, we have been able to share the Oct. 1 deadline via announcements in GoWMU and Elearning, dates on the WMU Events calendar, a write-up in WMU Today and posts on WMU social media. We also worked with numerous departments and colleges to run a new flyer on nearly all of WMU's digital display screens. 

Since Aug. 9, the Registrar's Office has provided 11,650+ targeted notifications (around 300 more than the Feb. 1 campaign). We know that many of you have been calling, emailing and meeting with students to help them make the application deadline. Thank you. Your work is appreciated and your efforts are making a difference. 

Please contact John Scott at (269) 387-4308 with questions. 

Oct. 2 commencement celebration details

We are excited to commemorate the success of more than 1,000 2020-21 graduates during an in-person commencement celebration on Saturday, Oct. 2, at 2 p.m. The celebration will take place rain or shine. Due to the large number of graduates participating, there will not be a hooding ceremony for doctoral students. All doctoral students had the opportunity to be hooded as part of the virtual ceremonies earlier this year.

As a reminder, the deadline for faculty to confirm their participation and order complimentary regalia is today at 5 p.m. A parking map is now available online. Participating faculty will receive additional information via email. For those unable to attend, the event will be livestreamed. 

More details about the event, including safety protocols, parking and accessibility accommodations, are available at wmich.edu/commencement/october.

Honors open house on Oct. 8

Prospective honors students are invited to campus on Friday, Oct. 8, to experience WMU as an honors student. Event guests will learn about Western through a campus tour and University Showcase, as well as explore the benefits of joining the Lee Honors College, including honors-only courses and the Study in the States experience. 

Please direct interested students to wmich.edu/admissions/honorsopenhouse. Note that membership in the Lee Honors College requires a 3.60 GPA (or higher) for incoming first-year students. Students who meet this requirement will be automatically sent an invitation to join the honors college upon admittance to WMU.

Free shredding event on Oct. 15

To encourage proper disposal of the University’s protected information, the GLBA Committee is hosting a free document and media shredding event on Friday, Oct. 15, from 9 to 11 a.m. near Sangren Hall (Lot 41).

See additional details about the event
Emailing a class using enterprise directory distribution lists

Enterprise directory distribution list access is based on the instructor(s) of record for a CRN in Banner. Please ensure that the instructor(s) of record, as well as graduate assistants, are correctly entered in Banner. Enterprise directory distribution lists are used to email an entire class. These lists may be used as soon as registration for a particular semester has begun, and up through the semester following. Enterprise directory distribution list membership is updated several times per day based on student enrollment updates in Banner.

Federal Work-Study funding requirements

Student Financial Aid would like to remind departments, supervisors and timekeepers of the auditable requirements for using Federal Work-Study funding. For more information, please review the Federal Work-Study Compliance and Audit section of wmich.edu/finaid/workstudy/employers/campus.

Guest application link has been removed from GoWMU

The paper guest application has been discontinued by the Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (MACRAO). Beginning spring 2022, all students who wish to be a guest student with the intent to transfer credits back to their home institution will complete a non-degree application.

WMU will no longer process the paper applications. Please direct students to apply at wmich.edu/apply. If you receive a completed PDF of the old form, please forward it to @email, and admissions staff will contact the student and direct them to complete the online non-degree application.

Did you know? A fun fact from the Registrar...

As of this afternoon, graduation application reminder emails have been opened in Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the USA.