Graduation Advising

1. Graduation Advising Office of Undergraduate Studies March 3, 2010

2. Advising for Graduation Readiness • Advising best practices • Check all students at 90 credit hours* • Prepare a ‘work remaining’ sheet at 90 hours • Make graduation requirements very clear • 36 advanced credit hours – no exceptions • 30 credit hour minimum at TWU – NO exceptions • Core curriculum completeness – no exceptions • Others shown below

3. *90 Credit Hour Check • Add a registration hold so students have to come in for the check • Assign a staff member to remove holds after the student has seen an advisor and received advising for the remaining year. • Prepare a DARS audit and a list of work to be completed before graduation for the student. • Student and advisor sign the DARS verification form.

4. Graduation Requirements for Students* • Minimum 120 credit hours (FA 07 catalog) – no exceptions (SACS) • Minimum 30 credit hours – or 25% of the degree program - at TWU – no exceptions (SACS) • Core curriculum completion – no exceptions (TX) • Minimum GPA: 2.0 overall; TWU GPA 2.0; core curriculum 2.0 (TWU) • Minimum 6 credit hours of Global Perspectives (TWU) • Minimum 36 advanced credit hours (TWU) • Completion of departmental requirements (TWU); half of major and minor at TWU • NO grades of Incomplete *General Catalog, p. 96

5. Minimum Hours to Graduate • Depends on degree plan and year of entry to TWU • DARS defaults to year of entry to TWU • Starting Fall 2007, most degree plans require 120 – except most teacher education plans • Students who entered prior to Fall 2007 are on degree plans requiring 124 or more hours to graduate • Developmental courses do not count for graduation. • If student switches to newer degree plan, Registrar’s Office must be notified; email will be accepted.

6. Core Curriculum Completeness • Core curriculum content is linked to each catalog • New core effective Fall 2007 – • Math 1013 required • Multicultural Women’s Studies required • Global Perspectives required for all degrees who entered Fall 2007 or later – including post-bac/ second degree students

7. Graduation Requirements for Departments • Before the last semester, departments submit • all needed course substitutions for the major/minor – • core course equivalency requests • DARS verification form: DARS Degree Plan Verification from Registrar’s website • Student must submit transcripts for any transfer work to be applied to the degree.

8. Substitutions & Waivers • Departments may waive their own degree requirements, but NOT core curriculum requirements (state rule). • Example: Major X requires foreign language, but wishes to waive it for a foreign student. This can be done, but notice of the waiver must be sent to the Registrar.

9. Substitutions & Waivers • Example 2: Department XX requires specific courses for the major and wants to substitute (unrelated) courses because the transfer student already has many hours. • This cannot be done; course substitutions should be related/ similar courses. A better action would be to waive the courses that can be excused. The Registrar must be notified.

10. Substitutions & Waivers • In exceptional cases, with strong rationale, the Assoc. V.P. for Undergraduate Studies may waive some requirements, especially when rules have changed. • Example: The residency policy of completing 30 of last 36 hours changed for recent catalog. When there is good justification, this can be waived for students under an earlier catalog.

11. Core Course Equivalencies • State rule (2006): “No advisor, institution, or institutional representative may approve course substitutions or waivers of core curriculum requirements.” • Universities may approve only equivalencies for core courses. Use the forms provided for these requests on the Academic Affairs website under Forms and submit to Undergraduate Studies.

12. Rare Exceptions • Students with documented disabilities that prevent their learning a specific core course may apply for a waiver by providing official documentation and meeting with DSS office to confirm it. That appeal then goes to the Office of Undergraduate Studies.

13. Effect on Students • If all paperwork/ substitutions are not submitted before graduation, the student will receive a letter after commencement saying she/he has a deficiency and cannot graduate (be granted a degree) until these are completed. • In fall 2009, 178 of 718 students received these letters, but only 39 were truly incomplete. Others were missing documents. • Note: the degree is granted officially on the transcript, not in granting a diploma.

14. Most Frequent Deficiencies • Fall 2009, • Missing substitution forms/ waivers • Missing transfer transcripts • Missing DARS Verification form • For second degree students, • Missing verification of GOV and HIST requirement.

15. Effect on Students • In RARE cases, if a student can document that a deficiency was caused by erroneous advising, the university may need to waive the requirement when possible – but without violating SACS requirements or state rules.

16. Processing Graduation Applications • Students apply online in the first two weeks of their last long semester to graduate. • Colleges receive names of all who have applied to graduate and check DARS on their readiness to graduate. • Colleges/ departments report to the Registrar on students’ readiness to graduate and notify students who are not ready to graduate to move their request for graduation forward.

17. Commencement • Students apply online to graduate AND to participate in commencement. As the size of the graduating classes increases, the number of tickets that students can be granted decreases. Students who ask to apply late, if approved, may not be able to get tickets. • Urge students to apply the first week of their last semester.

18. May and August Graduation • TWU has no August commencement, so undergraduate and master’s students who are ready to complete by August are allowed to participate in the May ceremony. The growth in size of May commencements may require changing this in the future.

19. Second Bachelor’s Degree • Requires a minimum 30 additional credit hours at TWU with at least 15 advanced hours in the second field. • Must meet the catalog requirements for second degree, but may apply core, etc. from the first degree to the second. • Must have the state-required history and government coursesand global perspectives courses. • Double majors do not receive two degrees.

20. For More Information • Registrar’s Website resources: Apply for Graduation: • Graduation Application FAQ • Student Graduation Checklist