Graduation & Degree Audit

Graduation Information

The deadline to file an Application to Graduate form for a December conferral is October 1. – from either an Undergraduate or a Graduate program – The deadline for a May or August conferral is mid November. Please see application for specific date. Late fees will apply to all applications filed after the deadline.

Graduation prerequisites

The Registrar’s office conducts the final review of degree candidates' academic records to verify that all are on track to graduate in the term indicated on their application. The degree auditor will check every course record and every detail in the file to make sure all the degree requirements and  minimum grade point averages for major, minor, GE, and overall, that enough total units have been completed to award a degree.

Notification of readiness will be sent by e-mail to each candidate's Dominican student e-mail address upon completion of the review.

Issues that may delay a student's ability to graduate

• missing course substitution forms
• unresolved Incomplete or In-Progress grades
• missing transcripts (with grades) for courses taken off-campus
• missing Authorizations for taking courses off-campus
• missing major or minor declaration forms

Petition to Participate in Commencement

Students who indicated on the graduation application that they plan to participate in the May Commencement ceremony  but will not be completing their final class—or receiving their final grade—in Spring,  will be notified by the Registrar by email if they need to  Petition to Participate in Commencement.  This email will contain a link to an e-petition to be completed by the student.  This e-petition request special permission from the Registrar and the Dean of the degree candidates school to participate in the ceremony without having competed your final degree requirement(s). 

Permission is only granted on a case-by-case basis, and is not guaranteed by submitting the form. Generally, successful petitions must meet the following requirements:

• Students must have six (6) or fewer units to complete.
• Students must be registered in the final classes required for their degree.  They must be registered at Dominican in either Summer or Fall term by May 1st.
• There are no CLEP or Excelsior exams, portfolio essays, transfer credits, or course challenges that will not be complete prior to May 1st.

Please note: Students who will have completed everything by May do not need to petition.

Degree Conferral

Degree conferral is not the same as Commencement. Degrees are conferred upon members of the graduating class one at a time, after the final grade is posted for the final degree requirement on each student’s transcript. Dominican is committed to conferring degrees within 60 days of the Commencement date, provided that ALL outstanding grades and requirements have been submitted.

Dominican confers degrees three times per year. The date of conferral that appears on the transcript is relevant to the term in which the final grade was posted.

• Spring  degree date: May 15,  posted by July 15, diploma by August 30   
• Summer degree date: August 15, posted by October 15, diploma by November 30
• Fall degree date: December 15, posted by February 15, diploma by March 30

Degrees are conferred in random order, with one exception: priority is given to those with pending urgent transcript requests for licensing board examinations, graduate school applications, and employment-related matters, in the order they are submitted.

Transcripts

Transcripts showing conferred degrees are available via the usual online ordering process, and take 5-10 working days for standard processing. If the degree must be posted before the transcript is sent, the transcript request should be clearly marked “Hold until after degree is awarded." Transcript requests marked in this way are available within 60 days after the official graduation date. Transcript request information can be found on the transcript page.

Diplomas

Diplomas are ordered in bulk, after most or all of the degrees have been posted for a given term. This process takes about an additional 30 days after degree conferral, so diplomas are not usually mailed until approximately 100 days after the degree date, as shown in the time table above. 

Students who have applied to graduate will receive informational letters about commencement activities, ordering regalia, invitations and other related matters from Dr. Kennedy early in the Spring semester.

For information on the Commencement Ceremony please visit the Commencement Page.