Academic Catalog

Policy Summary

Defines the process for becoming eligible to apply for graduation, applying for graduation, and the requirements for degree posting.

Entities Affected By This Policy

• Associate Deans
• Chairs/Directors
• Faculty
• Office of Graduate and Professional Studies Coordinators
• Graduate Program Coordinators
• Graduate Program Directors
• Institutional Research and Analysis
• Office of Curriculum and Assessment
• Office of the Registrar
• Student and Department Account Services
• Graduate Students
• University Advising

Policy 

Graduation results when the Office of the Registrar verifies that a student’s degree requirements have been fulfilled. Before the university awards a graduate degree or graduate certificate, the Office of the Registrar must verify that the student has met all degree or certificate requirements by the last day of the session of the graduation term.

Graduation is not automatic. All students who wish to graduate from NAU must submit a graduation application through the LOUIE-Student Service Center.

Posting of Degrees

A degree is not official until the student’s application has been reviewed and the degree is posted. Posting refers to the secure process of entering a degree into the official student record-keeping system and connecting it to a student's transcript.

After a student earns a degree, the student's record in which the degree was awarded is final, and changes to a degree cannot be made retroactively to include:

• Additional degrees or certificates.
• Grade point average cannot be changed by following the Course Repeat, Graduate policy for grade replacement, and completing additional NAU coursework after the degree has posted. (See NAU policy #100318: Course Repeat, Graduate for detailed information.)

Participating in Commencement Ceremonies

Commencement is a public ceremony to celebrate academic achievement. See the University Commencement website for more details.

Commencement ceremonies take place at the end of the fall and spring terms.

• Fall commencement is designated for graduate students graduating in the summer, fall, and winter terms.
• Spring commencement is designated for graduate students graduating in the spring term.

Students solely earning a Graduate Certificate will not be eligible to participate in commencement ceremonies.

Master’s and doctoral students may participate in commencement after completing all required coursework. For programs that require a thesis or dissertation, eligibility also includes the successful thesis/dissertation defense and submission of the Final Oral Examination Defense Part 1 Form to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies.

Students in programs that do not require a thesis or dissertation may participate in only one term prior to completing final degree requirements, provided they have department/program approval. This typically applies to students completing a final project, internship, practicum, or capstone requirements during the summer term because there is no commencement ceremony held during the summer.

Participating in commencement does not guarantee that a student will graduate or receive a diploma. If a student fails to meet all degree requirements or fails to submit an application for graduation by the deadline for each term, their graduation may be delayed.

Procedure

Becoming Eligible to Apply for Graduation

The student is responsible for initiating the graduation process. To become eligible to apply for graduation, the student must have enrolled in a minimum number of units for the degree or certificate. Once the student has met the enrollment criteria, the student will be granted access to submit a graduation application through the LOUIE-Student Service Center.

Total minimum units of enrollment required to become eligible to apply for graduation:

• Graduate Certificate: 1 unit
• Master’s degree: 24 units*
• Doctoral degree: 48 units**

*68 units of enrollment are required for students in the Physician Assistant Studies MPAS program.

**15 units of enrollment required for students in the Medical Science DMSc program.

Application Submission

Graduation is available for the fall, winter, spring, and summer terms. Graduation-related dates and deadlines can be found on the Office of the Registrar’s website.

Students graduating from multiple master’s, doctoral, or graduate certificate programs are required to submit a graduation application for each program. A graduation application fee will be charged for each application.

Prior to submitting a graduation application, students should verify their progress towards graduation using the appropriate method designated for their program. More information can be found on the Office of the Registrar’s website.

Timeframe for Posting

The degree will be posted to a student’s transcript after the end of the term in which all degree requirements have been met. Degrees will not be posted to transcripts until the Office of the Registrar completes all grading processes for the term.

Graduation Application Withdrawal and Denial

Students who no longer expect to complete all degree requirements by the last day of the session should request a withdrawal of their graduation application by contacting GradGraduation@nau.edu.

If the student does not withdraw the application and/or all degree requirements are not completed by the last day of the session, the application will be denied.

In either circumstance, the student must submit a new graduation application for the new term in which they expect to complete all degree requirements. A graduation application fee will be charged for each application submitted.

All session deadlines are found on the Office of the Registrar website.