ISFODOSU refuses to hold extraordinary graduation and keeps more than 100 graduates waiting

Santo Domingo.– 135 students who have already completed all the academic requirements of the Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Salomé Ureña (ISFODOSU) denounced that the institution refuses to hold an extraordinary graduation, despite having formally requested it through letters addressed to the rector Nurys del Carmen González Durán. As they explain, the academic authorities informed them that they will have to wait until next October to graduate, which would imply a delay of nearly a year. According to the graduates, the decision directly affects their professional opportunities, as many need the university degree to participate in the next teaching opposition contest of the educational system, as well as to access job opportunities and scholarship programs that require official certification of the academic degree.

Faced with this situation, a group of 121 students sent a formal letter addressed to the rector's office and the Board of Directors of ISFODOSU requesting the holding of an extraordinary graduation, a mechanism that is contemplated within the institutional regulations.

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In their communication, the students cite the provisions of the institution's Academic Regulations, which stipulate that the institute may hold an annual ordinary graduation ceremony and as many extraordinary or special ceremonies as necessary, as determined by the competent body. Furthermore, they point out that one of the requirements to convene an extraordinary graduation is that there is a group of more than 100 students in a position to graduate, a condition they assure they meet, since they currently have around 135 graduates in that situation. Students also recall that there is an institutional precedent, as the Academic Council of ISFODOSU approved an extraordinary graduation in April 2024 through resolution CA-03-2024-01, which, in their opinion, demonstrates that the mechanism is legal, regulatory and has already been applied previously by the institution.

"Many colleagues have had to pass up scholarship or job opportunities because they cannot accept those offers without a university degree," says one of the young people who prefers to hide their identity.

In that sense, they indicated that they are even willing to assume the costs involved in organizing an extraordinary graduation, as long as they are allowed to formally conclude their academic process. Graduates believe that the refusal to convene an extraordinary graduation could contradict the provisions established in the institutional regulations and affect the principle of equality, by treating students in academic conditions similar to those who have already benefited from this mechanism in the past differently.