By Deorafe Basong, Kaela Aidelynne Orcullo
Students, alumni decry registrar issues
Misplaced. Delayed. Mishandled.
Students and alumni have consistently criticized the Silliman University’s (SU) Office of Registration and Records Management (ORRM) for a long-standing issue—one that concerns handling pertinent academic records.
This has led to numerous complaints where students and alumni reported documents that vanished without notice, prolonged requests, and a lack of accountability, shadowing the university’s most critical services.
According to ORRM Chief Dr. Ralton Bancairen, their office adopted a new protocol during the academic year 2024-2025 and the summer courses that followed.
Under this system, graduates no longer need to request their personal copy of graduation documents, as these are automatically generated and released once the student is cleared of all university accountabilities.
Requests for other copies of the Transcript of Records (TOR) can also be made online or via walk-in, with a standard lead time of 10 working days.
While SU has highlighted its commitment to serving stakeholders efficiently, many students and alumni said the reality paints a different picture, as they have faced request backlogs and lost files that have derailed their enrollments and job opportunities.
Bancairen confirmed, “There have been reports, mostly from graduates or alumni from [the] school year 2023-2024, particularly those enrolled during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Some cases involved “misfiled or misplaced records” due to the office’s previous practices, where student records were stored directly in the vault without proper management.
Misplaced form
For sophomore Reeze Caro of the College of Education (COE), the problem was personal as she recounted an experience where her grade 10 report card was allegedly misplaced.
“[When I was] grade 12, we needed basic documents to be officially enrolled for the second semester, so I went to the registrar to get the needed documents, but then I found out that my grade 10 report card was not in their records,” she said.
Caro recalled going back and forth between registrar offices, where she was repeatedly asked if she had the document in her possession—which she denied.
The document was later confirmed to be one of those misplaced during a file transfer. Instead of an admission of fault, she was told to file an affidavit of loss at her own expense and request a replacement card.
“I was late for enrollment and was not in the class record for almost a month during the second semester, with no virtual classrooms or class schedules. And while participating in class, I was not an officially enrolled student until I sorted the situation,” Caro expressed.
When asked about the incident, Bancairen noted that the most common causes of lost documents include the transfer of the ORRM from Guy Hall to Hibbard Hall, pandemic disruptions, undertrained staff, and outdated practices.
“For years, there was little innovation, no external exposure to evolving registration and records management processes, and limited training for staff, with past ORRM heads lacking a background in records management and school operations,” he explained.
The ORRM chief said that their entire office is responsible for “investigating and resolving missing document cases.”
Other reported concerns were minor document mistakes, such as typographical errors in official certificates.
“The current administration takes full accountability for past negligence or mistakes and focuses on proactive solutions, such as reconstructing student records, rather than assigning blame,” he said.
Delayed documents
Political science graduate Bianca Joyce Flores shared how she tried to get ahead of the delays by requesting her documents just days after her graduation. But after two months, she was still waiting.
“Every time I ask for an update, I either receive no response, or the same generic copy-pasted reply, quote unquote, ‘we are still processing your request, please follow-up from time to time,’” she said.
Despite making constant daily emails and follow-ups, Flores voiced out as to why no substantial progress has been made regarding her request.
According to her, the seemingly long delay in the issuance of graduate documents has led to some alumni missing out on crucial opportunities such as board exams and job applications
She also commented on how the registrar “seems to prioritize those with board exams.”
“Well, maybe I have a non-board degree and perhaps [it is] not considered a priority, but that doesn’t make me any less important. I also need my records to be made available when I want to secure employment, scholarships, and go on further studies,” she said.
Meanwhile, a psychology alumna shared similar sentiments—documents promised within the lead time were still unprocessed upon pickup.
“It turns out the online request still requires constant follow-up, rather than just waiting for it to be released,” she stated.
The alumna said the delay affected both her enrollment and exams, adding that miscommunication worsened the situation. “Their office hotline is always busy,” she said.
While they did not consider filing a formal complaint, they were surprised to discover similar grievances from other students on online social media platforms.
“It’s sad to see that many went through the same thing,” she said.
The alumna noted that the ORRM once had a tracking system to monitor the status of requests and see remarks about missing requirements, but has since been replaced by a Google Form link, which she saw “lacks transparency.”
What the ORRM eyed in speeding up the release of graduation documents within 10 to 15 working days seems more like an aspiration than a target, as complaints on delays continue to pile up.
Root causes
Bancairen mentioned that operational challenges—calendar adjustments, overlapping major academic activities, facility renovations, and the digitization project—have pushed some requests beyond their goal.
Accounts from students and alumni also suggest that these issues may stem from understaffing and ongoing office renovations. Rooms 3 and 4 at Hibbard Hall are currently under renovation.
According to Bancairen, the renovated rooms will serve as a centralized hub for the registration, evaluation, and transcript sections to streamline workflow and ease request handling.
“As soon as the renovation [concludes] tentatively in September, ORRM will immediately begin organizing records through open shelving and filing of current and active records per school year in the evaluation and registration section offices,” he said.
To address existing backlogs, Bancairen said that the staff have been working overtime, aiming to release all pending records as soon as possible.
Further enhancing ORRM’s operations, the office is also streamlining processes from registration to document release.
Bancairen highlighted the addressing of “choke points” (congestion) in request processing and record retrieval. He also shared that there are ongoing digitization plans that are expected to speed up TOR processing.
Despite these promises, many students and alumni remain to wait for their documents, and only time will tell if these measures will be enough to restore confidence in the office.
While the ORRM promised to improve its operations, the true test will lie in its proper and efficient implementation in the long run.
