This is a statement. The content of the text expresses the author’s opinion.
Students today experience very different endings to their educations. Some receive neither a ceremony nor a rose, while others attend large-scale events with the option of inviting parents. Why should the completion of an engineering degree be marked more highly than the completion of nursing or geography education?
All degrees awarded at NTNU must be regarded as equivalent across faculties and study programmes, and consequently all candidates deserve an equal graduation ceremony. Years have passed since the students first took up the challenge. Generations of shop stewards at programme, department and faculty level have shared their fellow students’ experiences of being de-prioritised. Lack of resources has resulted in little progress in the work on joint matriculation.
Still not invited: – It was more fun when I finished secondary school
On Monday, NTNU’s central education committee has the matter on its table. Several alternatives have been proposed. Among other things, that IV, NV, IE and parts of the EAC continue with their large-scale event as today, while SU, HF, AD, MH and the rest of the EAC use the same rig either before or after for a similar event. In Gjøvik and Ålesund, a joint graduation ceremony has been proposed for all the institutes, under the same model as matriculation.
If certain faculties choose not to go for the proposal, we expect you to take initiative and responsibility yourself. Which organizational level is responsible for the event need not be of decisive importance. Even so, we students have experienced that who gets the responsibility – unfortunately – has a big impact on what kind of conclusion the students get.
Agree or disagree?
Send us your opinion on
We no longer have confidence that each faculty and department themselves prioritize resources so that all study programs have a dignified conclusion. In increasingly tight times, a collaboration on joint de-matriculation will be a good minimum for all students at NTNU. With 8 faculties and 55 departments, there will always be tension in the team in terms of what kind of resources and willingness the individual unit, head of department or head of study program has. Some cannot afford a laminated diploma, while others get a three-course one. In many cases, the students themselves are given responsibility. We are not asking for the differences to be abolished; we only ask that students experience being part of the same institution – one NTNU.
