In the early 1990s, Ginny Dixon led a busy life as a Los Angeles Times staff photographer and a Cal State Long Beach journalism student. But an unexpected health crisis challenged both her educational goals and her wellbeing.

Now a successful freelance photographer in Florida, “I had been trying to finish my degree for about six years after having to drop out with two classes to go because I had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer,” Dixon recalled.

Each academic year finds students like Dixon, who for a variety of reasons don’t quite complete their CSULB degrees.

Thus, the Graduation Green Light Project was born. “It was originally set up as a pilot program designed to increase the undergraduate graduation rate essentially by reaching out to seniors who had filed for graduation, but for whatever reason, didn’t,” said Susan Black, assistant director of CSULB’s Academic Advising Center.

In 2003, Black and center director Marilee Samuelson sought the help of Enrollment Services and with a start-up grant from the CSULB Alumni Association, their office compiled a list of recent students who failed to graduate a year after filing.

 Since its inception, the project has been in contact with 472 students, 311 of whom requested assistance. Black said 213 have graduated or are expected to do so this academic year. The program is expanding to assist more students.

In Dixon’s case, “the program, and Susan Black to be specific, helped me get my transcripts in order, find out exactly what I needed to graduate and how to get enrolled into the BlackBoard [online] classes,” she said. “I was able to complete my degree from Florida where I now live.”

Students receive a letter outlining what they’re missing as well as what they can do. Some already know what is needed, while others are surprised to learn they’re deficient in some requirement. “The very first person said, ‘What do you mean, I wasn’t graduated?’” Black recalled. “They may have moved, for example, and they may have not gotten their audit, or ‘grad check’ that indicates what they need to do.” Sometimes it’s as simple as filing one missing document.

A number of students “weren’t aware of some of the lesser known requirements, like the number of required upper division units. They said, ‘I followed the list of courses, so now I’m done,’” Black said. Others with a break in enrollment may need to meet updated requirements.

College transfer also can lead to transcript or class credit issues. The latter became a problem for Shari Katz, nursing director for the Maternal/Child Health Department at Coastal Communities Hospital in Santa Ana, Calif.

CSULB considered one of her university classes a repeat of a community college course, so “after I thought I was done, I got a letter saying that I hadn’t graduated and that I still needed to make up these four units,” she recalled. By then, being a nursing unit supervisor left little time for more classes.

As several years passed, Katz wanted to complete her degree in order to enter a master’s program to achieve her goal of becoming a chief nursing officer. By that time, Graduation Green Light had started, so she contacted Susan Black.

“Right away she was a huge help telling me what I needed to do,” Katz said, adding that she finally received her degree.

“You don’t have to be enrolled at Cal State Long Beach in the semester in which you graduate,” Samuelson explained. To find the best solution to the student’s and university’s needs, Academic Advising works with the student’s major department to identify acceptable classes, even those offered by other colleges. Online classes are proving a helpful alternative.

“When they finish, they’re so thrilled,” Black remarked. “These are folks, many of whom are already holding very responsible professional positions, who are so excited about being done. It really converts them back into being happy and successful CSULB alumni.”