The senior project takes many forms depending on  the curriculum of a student's major. Students in most programs in the Liberal Arts and Sciences devote two semesters (Senior Project I and II) to an in-depth, original, and creative study.  Students in Communications, General Studies, Global Studies, and Law and Justice Studies are required to take a Senior Capstone Course to fulfill the senior project requirement.  Students in the Conservatories of Dance, Music, and Theatre Arts, and the School of Art+Design spend their years at Purchase working towards their final senior projects, which can be comprised of senior recitals, showcases, and art exhibitions. 

All completed projects may be submitted to the Purchase College Library for archival purposes. The Library does not accept paper projects; all student projects, including senior projects, senior capstone papers, and master's theses must be submitted via the Student Project Portal. (Refer to the Library's guide for instructions.)

Policies and Procedures for Students in BA and BS programs that require a two-semester senior project: 

• It is recommended that senior project be sponsored by a member of the department in which the student has majored. After the student has chosen a faculty sponsor, they should consult their sponsor about the choice of a second reader. A second reader is required and should be chosen in consultation with the faculty sponsor.
• At the end of Senior Project I, a grade of SP (satisfactory progress), UP (unsatisfactory progress), or NP (no progress) is assigned. In the event a grade of NP is received, Senior Project I must be retaken.
• After the completion of Senior Project II, the project or thesis is evaluated by the sponsoring faculty member, who obtains comments from other involved faculty and/or staff. A grade of A+ through F is given for Senior Project II. In the event a grade of F is received, Senior Project II must be retaken.
• In the event a senior project cannot be completed on time, it is subject to the same rules that govern other incomplete coursework. However, if the senior project is not completed by (a) the deadline for resolving grades of Incomplete (I) for the fall semester or (b) August 15 for the spring semester, an additional registration for Senior Project is required. This policy supersedes any arrangements for "extended incompletes" that may have been made. Special permission from the sponsor and department Chair is required to register beyond a third semester for Senior Project.

Accelerated Status in the Senior Year

Students in BA and BS programs may be given accelerated status in their senior year by registering for and completing Senior Project I and II in one semester. Acceleration requires permission of the advisor, senior project sponsor, appropriate department Chair, and/or Director of the student's school.

Senior Project Registration in Summer Session

Students in BA and BS programs cannot complete both Senior Project I and II during the summer; however they may register for either Senior Project I or Senior Project II in the summer session, provided:

1. The principal sponsor should certify to the department Chair or Director of the student's school that they will be present for a significant portion of the summer to provide guidance and direction to the student.
2. The project is approved and the registration is allowed for the summer by the department Chair and Director of the student's school.
3. The student registers and pays for the summer session work: 3 credits for a 6-credit senior project or 4 credits for an 8-credit senior project. Students who register for Senior Project II during summer session must complete the project and submit a copy to the Library via myHeliotrope no later than August 15.

Policies and Procedures for Students in BFA and MusB programs:

• Policies and expectations for senior projects within the Conservatories of Dance, Music, and Theatre Arts, and the School of Art + Design vary greatly between individual programs. Students in these programs should consult with their advisor and program Chair regarding the specific requirements in their area of study.

Chosen First Name

The chosen first name policy allows students to officially notify the college of their chosen first name and have this reflected in campus systems. The chosen first name cannot be used for the purpose of misidentification, fraud or misrepresentation and the chosen first name must meet community standards (e.g. not profane, obscene, or derived from hate-speech; and conform to technical requirements).

This policy is consistent with current Title IX guidance and New York State Human Rights Law protecting students against discrimination based on gender identity and expression, and is a best practice for supporting transgender and gender non-conforming members of college communities. This service is not limited to use by transgender and gender non-conforming students and is available to anyone who uses a chosen first name on a daily basis other than their legal/primary first name.

The college affirms that an individual's chosen first name can and should be used where possible in all aspects during the course of college business and education. The chosen first name is used for all internal and external communications where possible and will appear in all systems, where possible, including but not limited to;

• Advising lists
• Brightspace
• Class rosters
• Housing lists
• Starfish
• Student ID More Card
• Official purchase.edu email account name (upon request)

At the college's discretion and as may be required by law, certain official correspondence may use the legal name.

The college is obligated to use the legal name for many official records and reports, including, but not limited to, payroll records, billing records, financial aid documents, official transcripts, medical records, enrollment reporting, and federal immigration documents. A student may request that a chosen name be entered or changed no more than once an academic year and twice during a student's tenure at Purchase.

Request a Chosen First Name

To submit documentation for a legal name change, complete a Name Change form with the Office of the Registrar.

Pronouns

Purchase College recognizes that displaying gender pronouns is important to individuals in our community in their communications with others and to present as authentically as possible.

In alignment with the SUNY and Common Applications, the college has made available the following personal pronoun options at this time:

• He/Him/His
• She/Her/Hers
• They/Them/Their

To update your pronoun information: Go to MyHeliotrope -> Personal Information Tab-> View Edit/Personal Information -> Personal Pronoun

Gender Identification

In addition to chosen first name and pronoun information, students can select their chosen gender identification in the college's system.

In alignment with the SUNY and Common Applications, the college has made available the following gender identification options at this time:

• Female
• Male
• Non-Binary
• Other

To update your gender identification: Go to MyHeliotrope -> Personal Information Tab-> View Edit/Personal Information -> Gender Identification

Additional Information

Adjusting the college's various information systems to include the use of the chosen first name, pronouns and gender identification is a multiyear effort, due to the complexity and interrelated nature of systems and record sources. Thank you for your patience as we continue the ongoing process of updating our systems to reflect this important information.

Instructions for completing the Application for Graduation

1. Make an appointment with your advisor to review your Degree Progress Report to make sure you are on track to graduate. If you are uncertain about any academic requirements or policies, please check with your school or conservatory or the Office of the Registrar.

2. Complete the Application for Graduation. Graduation applications should be submitted electronically through MyHeliotrope under the Student menu. Diploma name and mailing information will be collected at the time the application is submitted.

Students who submit graduation applications in a timely fashion will have their applications pre-reviewed in an effort to alert them to any outstanding issues that will prevent graduation. Pre-review notifications are sent at the beginning of a semester in which the student has applied for graduation.

Final determinations regarding degree conferrals are made by the Office of the Registrar at the end of a student's last semester of study. To qualify for graduation, all degree requirements must be completed by the published graduation date. This includes the successful resolution of all Incomplete (I) grades and receipt of all external transcripts, test scores, and department waivers or substitutions.

Diplomas are distributed to graduates approximately eight to ten weeks after degrees have been awarded and are mailed to the diploma mailing address on file. If no diploma address was provided when applying for graduation, diplomas will be mailed to the permanent address on file. 

Students may participate in one graduation ceremony during matriculation at Purchase. If the student does not complete degree requirements by May, but the registrar has reasonable assurance that requirements will be completed by the end of that year's summer session, the registrar may permit the student to participate in the May commencement ceremony. The student will be considered a candidate for August graduation. If the student completes requirements after summer session and registers for an additional semester, the student must defer participation in the ceremony until requirements are fully completed.

Any changes in the student's senior-year plans must be reported to the Office of the Registrar. Students who wish to change their graduation date must send written notification to the Office of the Registrar and their program office as soon as possible.

When faculty and staff are hired, their legal name is used for the HR appointment transaction. Completed hiring transactions are fed into the Banner system overnight, and an account is automatically created based upon the name used for the HR transaction.

For full-time matriculated students, the legal name provided on their application is used as the basis for the account name. For CE students, the name provided on their registration form is used as the basis of the account name.

The automated account provisioning process will first try to use the full First.Last legal name to create the account – but there are several conditions that may impact that:

1. If the derived First.Last account name is already in use,

   1. the system will try appending the Middle Initial and a dash ahead of Last name –or-

   2. the system will try appending a sequence number and a dash ahead of Last name (if Middle Initial is Missing, or already taken)

2. If the name is too long, the system will use the first character of the first name + complete last name.

   1. the system will try appending the Middle Initial and a dash ahead of Last name –or-

   2. the system will try appending a sequence number and a dash ahead of Last name (if Middle Initial is Missing, or already taken)

3. Other conditions that impact account name assignment: grandfathered account names from the 90's - which are phased out as employees retire.

Faculty and Staff Account Names

The account naming process is fully automated. HR paperwork must be completed using your actual legal name. an automated process generates your account name from that legal name. 

The chosen name policy for employees allows for the email/account name to be changed completely.

The procedure is:

1. Employee (or HR) update their chosen name in the Employee Data Sheet in HRETS.
2. HR approves
3. 24 hours to sync to Banner
4. Employee (or HR) request account name change via CTS work order. Normal email naming conventions apply but "olivia.coleman" is available.
5. Account/email name change completed within 1 week (usually sooner).

For faculty and staff wishing to change their account name, please file a CTS Work Order. 

Your account name is used for everything from email to banner to Brightspace to SUNY Time and Attendance systems. 

Changing Account Names:

1. We do accommodate any actual legal name change

   1. If there is a legal name change, we change the account name.

We do accommodate bad data fixes (typos, misspellings, etc.)

1. With the Registrar's approval, we accommodate transitioning individuals with account name changes in advance of the legal name change

Aliases:

In cases of a legal name change (marriage, etc.) upon request we will establish a temporary forwarding alias from the old account name to the new for a period of 90 days to allow previous contacts to acclimate to the new account name.

Other than legal name changes, we cannot entertain any permanent aliases for a variety of reasons. Aliases multiply the namespaces occupied by one individual, and exponentially complicate management of our email system.

Earnest.Employee (legal name) may prefer to be called Ernie.Employee – but when another person arrives with an actual legal name "Ernie.Employee" – the account creation process fails.  

Allowing aliases also invites abuse – some would like to have an alias of "Little.Kitty@purchase.edu" that would clearly not be appropriate, and CTS cannot adjudicate what is and isn't appropriate.

Rare exceptions to the "no aliases" rule are possible – but must be kept to a minimum (there are only 2 aliases in use today.)

HRETS makes no accommodation for "professional/preferred name" so – automation is not possible at this time.

Within Banner, the Registrar's office can accommodate Professional/Preferred names for Faculty, but these only effect how the Faculty's name will appear within myHeliotrope (SSB).

Professional name would also have the same constraints as legal name – it may be in use already; too long, etc. Professional/Preferred name occupies an additional account namespace (legal name is still the account name, alias is a second name)

Account names exist in perpetuity, so any name that is used – ever - is gone - forever.  This applies to anyone who becomes a student or an employee.  (The only exception is for Accepted applicant accounts – which are purged completely and the namespace recovered if they never actually enroll.)

Use of Off-Site Email for Official Business is prohibited

College accounts are for College business – personal accounts are for personal business. Our policies and recommendations cannot contradict or even muddy that basic distinction.

A faculty member using their @purchase.edu address is clearly identifying themselves as a member of the College community on official business. In contrast, Floaty@aol.com is likely to end up ignored and deleted.

Blanket forwarding of email to off-site accounts is disabled. Email often may contain personal, private, and sensitive information about students or about college operations. Blanket forwarding puts official records outside of Purchase College, and is legally problematic.