Academic Catalog

Policy Summary

Defines the Northern Arizona University requirements for a graduate certificate.

Entities Affected by this Policy

• Office of Graduate and Professional Studies Coordinators
• Office of the Registrar
• Graduate Program Coordinators and Leadership
• Graduate Students
• University Advising

Policy

Graduate Certificate Requirements

At NAU, graduate certificates serve multiple functions, including professional upskilling, specializations, and pathways to a graduate degree. Graduate certificate programs at NAU require a minimum of 12 credit units, of which 50 percent must be letter-graded (see Academic Plan Definitions for Graduate Certificates section for further design parameters). Courses may be repeated only when permitted by the academic unit and under defined conditions.*

*See NAU Policy 100318: Course Repeat, Graduate for detailed information.

Students are expected to complete all coursework within the academic term in which it is taken. Incomplete grades should be issued only under exceptional circumstances and must be resolved within the established Incomplete Contract created between the faculty member and student.* Unresolved incomplete grades may affect a student’s academic standing and must be converted to a final grade before a graduate certificate can be awarded.

*See NAU Policy 100406: Grades of In-Progress or Incomplete, Graduate for detailed information.

Many graduate certificate programs require more than 12 credit units. Students are responsible for completing all certificate requirements as outlined in the Academic Catalog.

To remain eligible to continue in a certificate program, students must maintain Good Academic Standing.*

*See NAU Policy 200358: Academic Standing and GPA, Graduate for details.

Admission Requirements

Students are required to be formally admitted to a graduate certificate before completing all of the certificate coursework. Admission cannot be granted retroactively.

Certificate applicants must meet graduate admissions requirements*. Additional program-specific admission requirements are found in the Academic Catalog.

*See NAU Policy 200357: Admissions, Graduate for details.

Undergraduate Course Application and Concurrent Enrollment in Graduate Programs

No more than one (1) 400-level NAU course (3 or 4 units) may be applied towards graduate certificate requirements. Students must file the "Override Authorization—Audit/Class Links/Out of Career” form to receive graduate credit for a 400-level course.

Students may pursue a graduate certificate concurrently with another graduate degree. Individual graduate programs determine whether any graduate certificate coursework may be applied toward the graduate degree. A single course may not be applied to more than two (2) graduate degree programs and/or certificates. Double-counting courses beyond this limit is not permitted.

Graduation Requirements

To be awarded a graduate certificate, students must:

• Meet all certificate degree requirements indicated in the Academic Catalog.
• Earn a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA and a 3.0 GPA on all coursework required for the certificate.
• Submit a graduation application.*

*See NAU Policy 100334: Applying for Graduation, Graduate for detailed information.

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

Time Limits for Completion

Students must complete all requirements for their graduate certificate within a six-year period from the term of admission. Additionally, any courses applied to the certificate that were completed prior to admission must be no more than six years old at the time the certificate is awarded.

To request an exception to the time limit, students should reach out to their advisor or faculty mentor. Depending on the degree audit tool used for the program, the student may be directed to complete an Extension of Time petition, or the department may process the approved exception directly on the student’s Academic Advisement Report.

Application of courses beyond the 6-year time limit depends on the nature of the courses, the student’s experience in the workforce, and/or the student’s utilization of their previous coursework. Faculty within a graduate program/department assumes the responsibility to ensure these courses demonstrate the current core learning competencies, expectations, and criteria for the student’s certificate or certificate program.

Transfer Credits

Students admitted to a graduate degree program at NAU who have earned graduate credit at another institution should contact their advisor or faculty mentor to petition such credit towards a graduate certificate.*

*See NAU Policy 100336: Transfer Credits, Graduate for more detailed information and limitations.

Financial Aid Eligibility

Students are responsible for reviewing the program-specific details in the Academic Catalog to determine whether a certificate is eligible for financial aid.

Academic Plan Definitions for Graduate Certificates

This policy section establishes the curriculum design parameters for Graduate Certificates.

Definitions

Graduate Certificate: A coherent set of for-credit graduate courses focused on a defined area of study that appears on the official transcript and, if requested, printed as a credential. Certificates may have multiple functions associated with the following types of graduate certificates offered at NAU:

Standalone Certificate: A certificate for which a student may be admitted without concurrent admission to a graduate degree.

Embedded Certificate: A certificate that may be completed while admitted to a graduate degree.

Stackable Certificate: A certificate whose courses may apply toward a designated graduate degree.

Common Design Parameters for Departments/Faculty Regarding All Certificates:

Overlap/Duplication of Courses: 100 percent of certificate coursework may stack into, or duplicate, the requirements of a master’s or doctoral degree program. If there is duplicative coursework and an academic department does not want students to obtain a duplicative certificate for required courses in the degree program, the academic unit must implement prohibiting policy on the academic plan pages of the catalog, which is then programmed into the graduate degree’s Academic Advisement Report.

Letter-Graded Ratio of Coursework: At least 50 percent of the certificate must be letter-graded coursework, or the closest course-based unit of credit. E.g., if the certificate is 15 total units of credit divided into five 3-unit courses, 25 percent of the certificate is 3.75 units of credit. The closest rounding for 3-unit courses in a 15-unit certificate would be 3 units of credit.

Course Pre-reqs or Co-reqs: Courses for certificates must either have no prerequisites or the prerequisite must be included as a required course in the certificate. Courses with co-requisites must include the co-requisite as a required course in the certificate.

Course Lines: Coursework may not include Graduate Course Lines identified in the Course Numbering and Prefixes policy (e.g., Professional Development Seminars, Contemporary Developments, Fieldwork Experience). If these course types are desired as requirements in the certificate, the program will submit a New Course Proposal with a Syllabus of Record to demonstrate intentional design for all units of credit required in a certificate.

Overlap with Other Certificates: No more than 25 percent (or the closest course-based unit of credit. E.g., if the certificate is 15 total units of credit divided into five 3-unit courses, 25 percent of the certificate is 3.75 units of credit. The closest rounding for 3-unit courses in a 15-unit certificate would be 3 units of credit.) of coursework used to satisfy one certificate’s requirements may be used to satisfy another certificate’s requirements. If at least 75 percent* of the certificate does not contain unique coursework, the program will need to justify why the certificate is not conforming to this requirement and implement a prohibiting policy on appropriate academic plan pages of the catalog to prevent students from earning duplicate certificates.

Department/Faculty Procedures to Increase Transparency and Equity of Credential Issuance for Double-Counting Certificate Coursework in Graduate Degree Programs

To increase transparency of credential issuance for students, Curriculum, Assessment, and General Studies will annually evaluate double-counted coursework and engage academic units to implement the following changes to their Academic Catalog, if appropriate:

• Establish approved Certificate – Degree pairings and/or “structured certificate pathways” on the degree program pages of their catalog. Identify which certificates are academically and structurally compatible with specific master’s or doctoral degrees, and/or stack or structure them into the program directly.
• Define Allowable Shared Credit Limits – If a certificate is not fully counted toward a master’s or doctoral degree, specify the maximum units of certificate credit that may be applied toward a graduate degree. Or,
• Define double-countable courses. – If specific courses in a certificate may be double-counted for a master’s or doctoral degree program, state those courses.