New Policy or Policy Revision
Fall 2021
Undergraduate and Graduate
Request to change Graduation Application Deadline dates
General - Not Department Specific
General - Not College Specific
SACSCOC Credentials Guidelines:
1. Faculty teaching undergraduate general education and/or baccalaureate courses: Doctorate or Master’s degree in the teaching discipline or Master’s degree with a concentration in the discipline (a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline).
2. Faculty teaching graduate and post-baccalaureate course work: Earned Doctorate/ terminal degree in the teaching discipline or a related discipline (a minimum of 18 hours above the Master’s degree in the teaching discipline).
Qualifications:
Does this faculty member hold a terminal degree in this discipline or a related field?
Additional Qualifications Complete this section to provide additional qualifications to meet the SACSCOC credentials guidelines. Identify all additional qualifications that apply and explain each item in the justification textbox. Indicate the dates of these additional qualifications and clearly describe the relationship between these qualifications and the course content and/or the expected outcomes of the course(s) assigned to faculty member. Supporting documents such as vita, copies of licenses and certificates, etc., should be submitted with this form by clicking the "attach file" link below. External validation of additional qualifications should be supported by these supplemental documents.
**This proposal was approved at the SGEC step in error. This prposal is being re-submitted into the workflow to go to the SGEC approval step. Mitch 1/11/2021
Existing Policy
Currently the deadlines for students to apply for graduation are as follows:
Fall – November 1st
Spring – April 1st
Summer - July 1st
Proposed Policy Update
It is requested to move the deadlines up one month to the following:
Fall – October 1st
Spring – March 1st
Summer - June 1st
Rationale
Moving the dates up one month provides the following benefits:
• It allows more time for departments to review degree check outs and submit necessary substitutions, waivers, etc.
• It allows more time to work on possible resolutions to graduation deficiencies. For example, in the Fall and Spring terms, the 2nd 8 weeks could provide an opportunity to register a student for a missing requirement.
• It allows more time for our office to verify commencement participation.
Summary
The previous decision to move the graduation application deadline to the current dates may have been made pre-maturely. The intent was to allow students more time to decide if they wanted to apply, but in actuality, most students who are consistent in their advising appointments will know of their intent to graduate well ahead of one month before the end of the semester.
By moving the dates up one month, we’re providing a better service to our graduates by identifying deficiencies earlier with more time to identify possible options or allow the student to move their graduation application forward to the next semester so they can develop their class schedule accordingly.