By: Justin Chandler Porter, Contributing Writer

Some UNF students are reporting they have not received their Dean’s List letters for the fall 2011 semester.

Until recently, the deans of UNF’s colleges sent congratulatory letters to students maintaining a 3.5 or higher GPA for the semester.

Some students are curious about why the letters, which have always been sent via postal mail, have not arrived in their mailboxes.

The registrar’s office used to send letters to UNF’s colleges indicating who was eligible for the Dean’s List. In 2006, the responsibility of finding eligible students fell to each of the five colleges.

“It was easier for each college to accommodate their own process, so they could run it as they needed to,” said University Registrar Megan Kuehner.

Since then, each department has taken a different approach to releasing them.

Dr. Larry Daniel, Dean of the College of Education and Human Services, said his college recently developed a process to distribute Dean’s List letters. The college will be generating the letters for the fall 2011 semester within the next 1-2 weeks. All future Dean’s List letters from the college will be processed immediately after final grades are posted for the semester.

“We’re happy we can start providing those back to students,” Daniel said. “It’s obviously very important.”

Dr. David Fenner, Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, said the college had not been sending letters for some time.

He said his department recognized the issue but had not yet made it a public matter.

“We would welcome the opportunity to do it,” Fenner said.

Two colleges, the Brooks College of Health and the College of Computing, Engineering and Construction, have distributed Dean’s List letters themselves since the transition.

Donna Yazbec, Executive Secretary of the Brooks College of Health, said she emails students that have made the Dean’s List for the semester.

Students can pick up a physical copy of the letter on campus, although Yazbec said the college will still mail letters per request for students living off-campus or out of town.

Dr. Mark Tumeo, Dean of the College of Computing, Engineering and Construction, said his college still distributes Dean’s List letters via postal mail every semester.

The Coggin College of Business decided to discontinue the practice of producing physical Dean’s List letters but maintains the recognition.

Dr. Bruce Kavan, Associate Dean of the Coggin College of Business, said Dean’s List accommodations are automatically put on his students’ transcripts.

“The individual letter is not produced, but is recognized on the transcript,” he said.

Daniel said receiving a Dean’s List letter is a recognition that can be listed on a resume.

“It gives credence to the level of academic achievement of a student,” Daniel said. “It might also be something a student mentions in a job interview or an application for graduate school.”

Email Justin Chandler Porter at news@unfspinnaker.com.