Many students look forward to the pomp and circumstance of graduating and receiving their degrees, but some Binghamton University students may be surprised to find that their majors will not be displayed on their diplomas.

Students enrolled in the College of Community and Public Affairs and the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science have their majors printed on their diplomas, while students enrolled in Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, the Decker School of Nursing, and School of Management, do not.

According to Dennis Chavez, director of financial aid and student records, a Harpur academic policy prohibits this.

“The policy states that majors are not printed on the diplomas,” Chavez said. “We are just trying to understand what is the rationale behind it. Is it a SUNY requirement?”

But Wayne Jones, interim dean of Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, said the policy exists because one’s major is only a small part of a liberal arts degree.

“The Liberal Arts and Sciences degree is first and foremost a demonstration of breadth that is the foundation for future success,” Jones wrote in an email. “While a degree from a professional school trains you for a specific field, the value in a liberal arts and sciences education is that it provides you with the learning skills and spirit of inquiry for a lifetime of success.”

According to Jones, this policy allows students to find work in a variety of areas throughout their career.

“I recently met with an alumna, the vice president of a major corporation,” Jones said. “We discussed the value of her degree as one that allowed her to go in multiple directions over her career; she was not pigeonholed in a specific field.”

Many Harpur students disagreed and said that generic degrees take away the sense of accomplishment. Daniel Richmond, a senior double-majoring in history and philosophy, politics and law, said it is ridiculous that certain majors are not printed on degrees.

“Many students have pride in the majors they worked so hard on in order to graduate,” Richmond said. “To see it on your degree diploma shows how much work we put in, how much sleep we’ve lost, and the stress we’ve been through. It’s like our badge of honor, and taking it away from our diplomas is like stripping a soldier of his medals.”

Keith Watson, an undeclared junior, said the policy demonstrates favoritism toward other schools.

“I find it completely unfair,” Watson said. “It shows a clear bias towards specialized schools within the reflection of their work ethic. A Harpur degree is more than just a standard degree that holds the same value among every major and it should be recognized as such.”

Chavez said he is working alongside Kathy Brunt, assistant dean for academic affairs, to find out why the policy exists.

“We do get the requests from students about why [the majors are not printed],” Chavez said. “I have been trying to get a hold of some of the people who are responsible for academic policy to try to get an understanding of what’s driving this. It has been an existing practice.”

It is up to the Binghamton University’s academic committees to decide whether to change the policy, and the individual schools would have to agree to the decision as well.

While the School of Management does not have majors, the school has concentrations. George Bobinski, associate dean of the School of Management, said that printing a student’s concentration on their degree may limit them.

“I see no major negatives to leaving it off the diploma,” Bobinski said. “When it is on the diploma, it may be perceived by some people as narrowing you. Students for example may obtain a degree in accounting and end up going in a very different direction with their career.”

According to Bobinski, if SOM students were in favor of changing the practice, the faculty would consider it.

“I would be interested in finding out what students think,” Bobinski said. “It’s a very interesting question. We always try to be very responsive to students. I would be interested in student feedback. We would also have to look at the university policies and SUNY policies.”

According to Jones, there are no plans to change the policy, but it would be possible if there is an interest among students.

“I would want to say that this is something that the university would want to change,” Chavez said. “And once that decision is determined, the next question is what will it take to make that change systematically.”