Some UCF grads still waiting on diplomas
University officials say ‘quality issues’ have caused delay
Months after their commencement ceremonies, some newly minted University of Central Florida graduates still are waiting for their diplomas because the school’s printing process hit a snag.
Many spring and summer graduates just recently received their diplomas and others are still waiting because the university had to order new paper and reprint some of the certificates.
“We are usually much faster at shipping diplomas to our graduates, but we ran into an unexpected problem with the spring degrees,” UCF spokesman Mark Schlueb wrote. “After printing, the registrar’s office began to notice quality issues with some of the degrees. Specifically, the gold on the diploma’s Pegasus seal was not adhering correctly and had begun flaking off.”
That left many graduates, including Desiree Trujillo, who earned her bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and disorders in August, in the lurch. “It is a bit frustrating,” she said. The school told her she could get it earlier if she picked it up on campus, but Trujillo, who works as a speech clinician at a school an hour south of her home in Cocoa, said that’s not possible.
When Trujillo, 24, received her first bachelor’s degree in health sciences from UCF in August 2017, it took about a month for her diploma to arrive, she said. She’s surprised the second one has taken so long.
Trujillo and other summer graduates still waiting on their diplomas received an email from the registrar’s office last week, apologizing for the holdup.
“We know our students have worked hard for their degrees and they shouldn’t have to wait so long to receive them,” the email said.
The message explained the printing hiccup and said the school was redoing them, adding “we expect those degrees to stand the test of time.”
“Staff members in the registrar’s office will continue working late and on weekends until the last degree is shipped,” the message said. “We hope to complete this process within the next two weeks.”
UCF wasn’t able to say how many diplomas were delayed, but the university awarded more than 11,000 degrees last spring and summer. Some of the certificates printed fine the first time and graduates received them promptly, Schlueb said.
All of them, including those for summer graduates, should be completed within a week, he said.
On a Facebook page for the class of 2019, dozens of recent graduates griped about the delay. On Saturday, someone asked: Had any summer graduates received their certificate yet?
“No. I am hoping for sometime next summer though,” one user responded, adding a fingerscrossed emoji.
“I graduated in May and still haven’t gotten mine. Lol,” another wrote
Another spring graduate, Eric Thompson, said Tuesday he hadn’t received his diploma, either, and didn’t realize it was a widespread issue until recently.
Thompson, who received a bachelor’s degree in history, didn’t attend his commencement because he had already started a job as a museum tour guide in Atlanta. Knowing he was moving months ago, he asked UCF to send the certificate to his parents’ home in Merritt Island.
“I just truly assumed someone had thrown it away, not knowing it what it was,” said Thompson, 27.
The school told him earlier this week they’d dropped the certificate in the mail, he said, though it hasn’t shown up yet. The online student portal told him he could expect to wait six to 10 weeks after his degree was awarded to receive his diploma. He didn’t expect it to take this long.
“It’s going to Thompson said.
Trujillo said she’s reserved a spot for her diploma and tassel next to her mother’s, which hangs in their living room. But she’s waiting to purchase a frame because, she said, “I don’t want to spend my money and have it getting all dusty.” be 30 weeks,”