Approving or Not Approving Graduation

Each semester, the official certifier for each department/program will review the students in the department who have applied to graduate after receiving notification from the Office of the Registrar that degree candidates are ready to view in Degree Works. (For an overview of the Graduation Certification Process, please see this page.) Only the designated official certifier in each department will have the ability to approve (or not approve) a student to graduate. After reviewing the student’s academic history and in-progress coursework in Degree Works, the official certifier will determine if the student has met all requirements for the major, minor, or certificate to graduate.

During the process of degree verification, the Office of the Registrar will process all petitions from the approved certifier. Graduate student records will undergo an additional review by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS). Students who are approved to graduate will change from AP-Applied graduation status to PN-Pending Final Grades and Review graduation status. Students who are not approved to graduate will have their graduation status changed from AP-Applied to D0, D1, D2, or D3 (In-Progress Non Course Deficiency, University Deficiency, Departmental Deficiency, or University and Departmental Deficiency, respectively). For more information regarding graduation status, click here.

Directions

  1. Log in to Degree Works. (See the How to Log On To Degree Works page for more information).

  2. Click the Find icon (magnifying glass) in the upper left corner to search for students who need to be certified for graduation. (See the Searching for a Cohort of Students page for more information on refining search results).

    Find Icon - Magnifying Glass

  3. Using the search results for the desired cohort of students, thoroughly review the student’s academic history and in-progress coursework in Degree Works to determine if the student has met all requirements for the academic program (major, minor, or certificate) in order to graduate. At the time of review, the student should have all requirements complete or in-progress. This is indicated on Degree Works by a checked green box, or by a curved line in a blue box next to each requirement in the academic program being reviewed. The Office of the Registrar cannot process “approved to graduate” petitions if there are any unmet or incomplete requirements for the academic program being approved. A student should not be approved to graduate if there are requirements marked as incomplete, which is indicated on Degree Works by an empty red box.

    Progress Key

    Outstanding requirements, such as incoming transfer credit, course substitutions or exceptions, uncovering a pass/fail grade to the grade earned, etc. must be addressed by the advisor, via the Petitions tab, or by the student, as appropriate. If necessary, the official certifier should submit petitions on behalf of the student for exceptions or course substitutions before submitting an “approved to graduate” petition for that student. Go to the “How to Submit a Petition” page for information about submitting petitions pertaining to curricular requirements, such as course substitutions or exceptions.

  4. If the student has met all requirements for the academic program (major, minor, or certificate), pending successful completion of in-progress coursework (and pending any Degree Works petitions that have already been submitted for course substitutions or exceptions), you will certify the successful completion of the academic program (major, minor, or certificate) requirements within Degree Works by submitting a petition.

    If the student has not met all requirements for the academic program (major, minor, or certificate), pending successful completion of in-progress coursework, you will use Degree Works to indicate the reason(s) for their graduation deficiency by submitting a petition.

    If at any point during the final semester, a graduating student clears a departmental deficiency, the official certifier will need to review the degree audit again and submit an “approved to graduate” petition.

  5. Go to the top of the Degree Works audit worksheet and click the tab labeled “Petitions”.
    Step 5 Petitions Tab

  6. After clicking the “Petitions” tab, the “Add Petition” field should be highlighted. Click anywhere in the field to type.
    Step 6 - Add Petition

  7. When approving a student to graduate, the words “approved to graduate” need to appear in the memo. Details such as which program for which the student is approved also need to be included. For example:
    • This student is approved to graduate in the CAMT minor.
    • This student is approved to graduate in the BA-EBIO major.
    • This student is approved to graduate in the CEL certificate.
    • This student is approved to graduate in the MBA program.

    When not approving a student to graduate, the words “not approved” need to appear in the memo with specific information regarding the departmental deficiency. For example:

    • This student is not approved to graduate in the MATM minor due to not having enough upper-level credit hours in the minor.
    • This student not approved to graduate in the BA-ECON major because s/he did not take ECON 201, a required course.
    • This student is not approved to graduate in the ENGL major due to failing a core requirement.
    • This student is not approved to graduate in the MCS program due to not completing the required internship.

  8. When finished adding the details for approved/not approved status, click “Submit Petition.” You should see a message that says, “Your petition was added successfully.” Once submitted, the "Petitions" tab will show the petition as awaiting approval, approved or applied as an exception. If a petition cannot be processed or no longer applies, the petition will be rejected.Step 8 - Submit Petition
  9. You can return to the student’s audit by clicking “Worksheets” tab in the upper left corner. Enter a new Student ID in the upper left corner, or click the arrow above the Name field, to navigate to a different degree audit.
    Worksheets tab