Graduate guide

UNC-CH coordinator retires after helping thousands get their diplomas

CHAPEL HILL -- Betsy Taylor doesn't remember the lies college students told.

Instead, she remembers the true stories of the obstacles some faced on the road to graduation: violence at home, poverty, even lack of motivation.

Taylor, until July 1, was the person at UNC-Chapel Hill who helped students in the College of Arts & Sciences overcome those obstacles, often sending those on the edge letters to make sure they met the requirements.

She retired as graduation coordinator after 30 years at the university and was honored at a retirement party Wednesday.

Her colleagues figure that during her career she helped 50,000 UNC-CH students complete the requirements needed to graduate.

They said she has been a compassionate, calming influence during the jittery last moments when young people go from being students to graduates.

"Students would wait for hours to see Betsy and would do that for nobody else," said Carolyn Cannon, associate dean at the College of Arts & Sciences and director of academic advising.

About 100 people attended the retirement party. Taylor, 68, participated in a mock graduation ceremony where she received a framed "worker of wonders" degree signed by Chancellor Holden Thorp and UNC President Erskine Bowles.

"If you have graduated 50,000, it's time for you to graduate" said Steve Dobbins, an academic eligibility records keeper in the academic advising department.

About 3,000 students graduate from the College of Arts & Sciences each year, university officials said.

But even though she's done, Taylor said, she still thinks about the stories that spilled out in her office as she jockeyed to make sure that students would get their diploma.

"I think I have heard every story that can be told," she said.