Paper pushers

I have really enjoyed being a student at Vanderbilt.  However, I do have one main complaint.  There seems to be some real administrative bureaucracy there that results in paperwork being filled out multiple times, for multiple offices, and for no clear reason.  I'm sure there are dozens of examples of this, but here's the most recent.  Several months ago, realizing that I was one semester from graduating, I filled out and turned in (to whom, I don't remember) an Intent to Graduate form.  Yes, this is a form that tells the registration office that I in fact intend to graduate (not a foregone conclusion, not something a computer system could detect when I completed the classes I had previously identified on a Program of Studies?).  Included on this form were (somewhat) reasonable things, like what classes I still had to finish and when I would take them.  Less reasonable, what degrees I already had and what my home address is -- gee, seems like I've provided that before...and number of times.  Then last month I got a notice that I still needed to file my Intent to Graduate.  So I filled out another form and turned it in.  Then I got an email that I needed to fill in almost identical information electronically.  And then last Saturday I got a note in the mail.  It was from the office I'd turned the form into, with a list of the things I still needed to do to graduate -- strangely, it matched exactly the list I had provided to them.

I did get some more friendly paperwork this week.  Monday afternoon I got an email with a letter as attachment letting me know I had received a high pass on my capstone essay.  I don't know how common or rare this rating is, but it is the highest, which is nice.  And just in case the email didn't do it for me, the sender let me know that I would be receiving another copy soon -- in the mail.