Ainsley Harris ’26
Staff Writer
Sept. 8 marked the last day to add a class, and, to the surprise of many Scripps seniors, the last day to submit their Minor Declaration Form. Seniors scrambled as many realized they had missed the form’s deadline, jeopardizing their opportunity to earn their minors.
“Minors are a really big deal,” said Scripps Associated Students Judicial and Academic Review Chair Lily Nelson ’26. “Some people are dual or double majors, but, otherwise, you have your major and then your minor. Those are the two things that you worked on during your time in college.”
Minors are a way for students to receive official recognition for their work and interests outside of their major. Students were distressed to learn that simply missing a deadline for a single form could mean wasting years of hard work and dedication.
“I was so panicked because I put so much work into my minor,” an anonymous Scripps senior said. “I was frustrated because it felt like they could deny me all my work. It would all amount to nothing.”
Seniors’ frustration stemmed from the Office of the Registrar’s communication regarding the due date of the Minor Declaration Form.
In Spring 2025, the Registrar hosted two “Rising Senior” meetings and sent follow-up emails informing students that “no new major or minor [could be approved] after the add deadline of [their] penultimate semester of enrollment.” However, these emails did not state a specific date.
Registrar staff told Scripps seniors about the Sept. 8 deadline at a meeting held in August and via email twice: once on Aug. 18, a week before returning to campus, and the day of the Sept. 8 deadline.
Both the Academic Calendar and the Scripps College Portal state, “November 6th: Senior Major/Minor forms due (Spring 2026 grads).” However, both only label Sept. 8 as the “deadline to add fall 2025 courses.” Neither the calendar nor the portal mentioned that the Minor Declaration Form was due Sept. 8.
Scripps students already receive an abundance of emails daily; the additional lack of clarity online made the situation especially difficult to navigate.
“I felt like there wasn’t clear information about which date was the minor declaration date,” the anonymous student said. “I tried to look on the portal, on the Registrar’s page, but everything was listed as TBA. I tried to go through the emails, but there are so many and all the dates are sandwiched between so much information, so it was hard to find.”
Ultimately, the main source of confusion was that students thought there was only one form to submit, the Minor Form due Nov. 6.
“The major miscommunication was that there’s a Senior Minor Form, and then there’s the Minor Declaration Form,” Nelson said. “I only figured out that they were two different forms when I was rereading the email they had sent us.”
In a statement to The Scripps Voice, Registrar Kelly Hogencamp clarified the difference between the two forms and their distinct administrative purposes.
“Scripps has always had two forms that students must complete: a Major/Minor Declaration Form (which is typically completed in spring of the sophomore year), and the more detailed Senior Major/Minor Form,” said Hogencamp. “The Senior Major and Senior Minor Forms require you to meet with your advisor to detail which courses you will (or plan to) use to satisfy major/minor requirements.”
The miscommunication surrounding the two forms was widespread across the graduating class.
“Pretty much immediately, I started hearing from students who were trying to submit their forms [after the Sept. 8 deadline],” Nelson said. “I’ve spoken directly to about eight or nine students. I’ve heard numbers around 15-20, which out of two hundred-something students is a lot.”
The Registrar’s Office has recognized the confusion between the two forms.
“While a Major/Minor Declaration Form and a Senior Major/Minor Form are distinct to my team, I appreciate from my conversations with student leaders that those forms and administrative deadlines can be confusing,” Hogancamp said. “We will work to clarify this moving forward. Also, it’s a relatively new deadline, having been implemented in 2024.”
Though the declaration form deadline cannot be changed, Nelson urged students to petition the Committee on Academic Review to declare their minor. “It’s not an option to move that deadline, but I think that [the Committee on Academic Review] has a lot of understanding for how this happened, and they are very open to hearing students’ petitions; they want us to have our minors too,” Nelson said.
Nelson holds office hours every Monday in the Scripps Student Union, where she is available to provide support to students through the petition process.
“The petition process seems a lot more intimidating than it actually is,” she said. “Do you have all your statements of support? What does that mean? I want to encourage students to email me or come to my office hours. I sit in every meeting; I have a pretty good idea of what they’re looking for. Come screen it through me so you don’t have to do a whole back-and-forth.”
Though frustrated about having to deal with the petition process, the anonymous student said it was a straightforward process, especially with Nelson’s help. “Lily provided a sheet of all the resources that we could go through and helped us know what to say,” the student said. “I told them about the conflicting deadlines and why I didn’t declare my minor on time. I waited about two weeks, and then I got the decision back. It was just more work on top of my thesis and classes.”
Though the misunderstandings between students and the Office of the Registrar caused some panic, frustration, and extra work, it does not mean that seniors will graduate without their intended minors.
“This is not a situation where you should be like, ‘I missed this deadline, and now I have to give up my minor,’” said Nelson. “I really want students to get the minors they worked for.”
Students who still want to petition the Committee on Academic Review for their minor can find the form on the Judicial and Academic Review page on the SAS website or in previous emails from Nelson, and can attend Nelson’s office hours on Mondays from 8:00-9:00 p.m. in the Student Union.
Photo Courtesy of Elita Kutateli ’26
