Although there are requirements to participate in DePauw University’s new Gold Commitment, such as fulfilling curricular guidelines and the experience pathway, it is not a graduation requirement said Cindy Babington, vice president for strategic initiatives.
According to Babington and the DePauw website, in order to be eligible to receive the benefits of the Gold Commitment, first-year students have a set number of events and meetings they must attend along with meeting their general academic, behavioral and financial requirements.
Babington–– who is in charge of overseeing the overall Gold Commitment–– said, “Most students are going to do all of the things that are laid out in the Gold Commitment without even trying.”
According to the DePauw website, 95 percent of students are employed or have plans to attend graduate school within six months of graduation. Yet, those part of the projected five percent who may need the post-graduation assistance offered by the Gold Commitment are welcome to opt-out of it if they wish.
This year, the University has instituted its new Gold Commitment to ensure student success post-graduation. It is “a way for us to cohere the co-curriculum and connect it to the curriculum in a way that students can articulate both,” said Babington. The guarantee of the Gold Commitment is that if six months after graduation, graduates are not employed, in graduate school or in a fellowship, the University will provide them with their first job or another term of tuition.
When asked whether he knew if the Gold Commitment was not mandatory, first-year Will Webster said, “I don’t think it’s mandatory. I don’t know.” Nevertheless, Webster thinks the Gold Commitment is a great new feature of the University and will help guide students through their four years at DePauw.
Another first-year Reyna Wilson is happy that it will benefit her and future classes. “It puts DePauw at another level compared to other colleges,” she said. Wilson is glad that the University has put the new commitment in place especially because “a lot of colleges don’t make that promise to their students,” Wilson said.
Babington said that all current students will naturally benefit from the on-campus improvements that will be put in place. The integration of Campus Labs and the development of the centers will help every student become even more engaged in on-campus opportunities to better prepare them for life after college.
Despite the Gold Commitment officially being implemented this year, the post-graduation guarantee is only offered to the class of 2022. This means other current students will not be a part of the direct post graduation benefits of job placement or another tuition-free term if they do not have solidified plans within six months of graduating.
Current juniors Serena Rodriguez and Carla Cobb shared their thoughts on the new Gold Commitment. Both are happy that it will especially benefit the class of 2022 and future classes to come. “I’m happy that they are actually doing this for [first-years],” said Cobb. “It’s a great concept, and it’s a great idea.”
They also said that upon learning about the Gold Commitment, they wondered where they and other current students fit into the guarantee. Rodriguez asked, “Well what’s our plan? What can we do?” She as well as Cobb wished that more thought was put into a plan for current students.
When talking about post-graduation, Rodriguez said, “It’s a weird transition to know that I don’t have something set.” Both Rodriguez and Cobb are glad that the University is now making it a priority to help future graduates in a new and improved way but wish more could be done for current students after they too graduate.
In regard to the development of the Gold Commitment, “this is the year for implementation” Babington said. “We’ve made a guarantee so we have to follow through with that.”