Portland State Magazine Spring 2015

SPRING 2015 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE 19 When Kim Stegeman left PSU in 2004 she needed two credits. Last year those credits were waived and the Rose City Roller executive director received her business degree. Photo by Cathy Cheney/ Portland Business Journal. possible. At the top of the list are seniors who have a lot of credits but are missing essential courses to graduate. The program also inspired a Last Mile Award in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, funded by donors, to help students clear the last financial hurdles. “I want there to be as few Last Mile students as possible,” Mercer says. TWO ELECTIVE credits were all that stood between Kim Stegeman and her degree. She already had a full-time job with an advertising agency while she was attending Portland State in the early 2000s. She failed an online, elective course in personal finance because she didn’t have an Internet connection while she was traveling for work. Years later, she looked into finishing those last two credits, but she was told she would have to take a full load of classes for two terms to meet the new graduation requirements. By then, she was executive director of the Rose City Rollers, Portland’s all-female roller derby league, and guest lecturing in PSU business classes. When an adviser called and told her the business school could waive her last two credits through the Last Mile pro- gram, she didn’t believe him at first. She paid a $20 fee and picked up her diploma. “It’s nice to have it finalized,” she says. “I play it down, because it wasn’t vital in my current job, but it’s important.” Miller got his mom off his back, personal satisfaction and a police pay bump when he finished his degree. He encourages anyone who hasn’t finished a degree to contact the Last Mile team for help. The email address is lastmile@pdx.edu . “If they’re anything like me and it’s been gnawing at them forever, they need to jump into the ring and get it done,” Miller says. “They might be a lot closer than they think to getting their degree.”  Suzanne Pardington is a staff member in the PSU Office of University Communications.