Work of multiple Registrar’s Office teams on display at Winter 2023 Commencement

The Kohl Center is full of graduates and their families and friends moments before the start of the winter commencement ceremony at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Dec. 17, 2023. (Photo by Althea Dotzour / UW–Madison) Winter 2023 Commencement on December 17 celebrated the latest crop of University of Wisconsin–Madison graduates who joined the ranks of the more than 470,000 living UW alumni. But the event wasn’t just a showcase of those Badgers’ hard work; the efforts of multiple teams within the Office of the Registrar were also on display. The ceremony saw more than 7,700 people fill the Kohl Center to mark the achievements of the latest group of Badger graduates. As graduates crossed the stage, Associate Vice Provost and University Registrar Scott Owczarek, Deputy University Registrar Beth Warner, and Associate Registrar for Academic Services Will Lipske helped hand out diploma covers. “I love being a part of Commencement because it is a visceral reminder that all the work we do leads to this monumental achievement by our students – and their families,” Warner says. “You can see their excitement as they revel in the culmination of their hard work, see the anticipation of moving forward with their next dream and the joy they all find in the celebration.” “Working commencement always is a heart-warming experience and reconnects me, in part, with my ‘why’: helping students obtain a college degree,” Lipske says. “It’s a visible display of a student’s perseverance and accomplishments as conclude their course of study. I enjoy the smiles of the degree candidates as they cross the stage, the roars of applause from families and friends, and community coming together for recognition and celebration as students reflect on their journeys and prepare for what’s next.” Before students turned their tassels, the Registrar’s Office’s Data, Reporting and Eligibility team was busy running multiple reports for campus partners to identify students who applied to graduate – and to highlight those whose work earned them Distinctive Scholastic Achievement, placing them on their school or college’s Commencement Honor list. The DRE team also compiled data for commencement ceremony needs and for stakeholders ranging from the Office of the Chancellor to University Communications. While most of the students’ efforts may have concluded prior to Winter Break, the Student Services team hustled into January to make sure the newly minted graduates would receive their diplomas. Applying to graduate and attending commencement, Assistant Registrar for Student and Record Services Katie Block notes, doesn’t automatically equal students getting their diplomas. Faculty members continue grading after commencement, and after a process to determine undergraduate students’ academic standing is run and reviewed by Records and Enrollment Specialists Debbie Moy and Jessi Arnfelt, the deans’ offices start reviewing students’ records to determine if they’ve met all requirements for degree eligibility. For undergraduate students, that work relies entirely on the degree audit reports and encoding supported by the Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS) team. From there, deans’ offices submit official requests to confer student degrees to Student Services Outreach Specialist Paul Oshefsky, who posts student records before the Registrar’s Office team works with a vendor to begin sending graduates their diplomas. As of mid-January, nearly 1,500 bachelor’s degrees, 500 master’s degrees, and 200 doctoral degrees had been posted to students’ records. All of this work is no small task, but it’s a meaningful one that caps off students’ academic journeys. That’s not lost on the staff who dedicate their efforts to supporting the university’s teaching and learning mission. “Working with the degree and diploma processes is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job,” Oshefsky says. “I know first-hand how hard our students work to achieve this momentous milestone. A student’s diploma is so much more than just a piece of paper; it’s a recognition of their effort and commitment, their educational journey, and their time as a Badger. I’m so grateful that I get to be a part of that!” Visit the UW Commencement website to watch the full ceremony and see photos and videos of the event.