It is the policy of the University that students who satisfy all graduation and degree requirements and who are in good academic and financial standing with the University shall be designated as “graduates.” All applicable graduation and degree requirements are outlined in this catalog.
Degree Audit/Plan
The degree audit is a listing of a student’s current program requirements showing what requirements a student has and has not completed. Students may access their degree audit via Ramlink. Degree audits should be used by a student and their advisor to track the student’s academic progress. Students are expected to work with their advisor and keep the degree audit current and accurate. Official degree audits may only be certified by the Office of Student Records.
Undergraduate Students
Undergraduate Freshmen or students with no previous college credit should obtain their degree audit from Ramlink prior to completing 60 hours and meet with their advisor to maintain accuracy. Undergraduate Transfer students are encouraged to obtain their degree audit from the web once all transfer credit has been posted.
At the time an undergraduate student has completed 90 hours, an official degree audit will be processed and reviewed by the Office of Student Records and issued to the student and advisor.
Graduate Students
Graduate students should confer with their advisors as they near completion of the graduate degree to ensure that there are no outstanding requirements. Students can access their degree audit through Ramlink. The Office of Student Records will send a preliminary degree audit to the Graduate Program Director in the student’s final semester, which must be signed and returned to the Office of Student Records indicating completion of comprehensive examinations, capstone courses, final degree requirements, etc.
Upon receiving a student’s graduation application, a final official degree audit will be processed and certified by the Office of Student Records. The student and advisor will receive an official letter detailing any missing degree requirements and deadlines to complete.
Degree Conferral
Degrees are conferred and awarded only on official dates publicly announced by the Office of Student Records through the Academic Calendar. Exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis and, if allowed, will only be awarded on the last business day of the month in which the requirements are completed.
Degree conferral may only occur once the Office of Student Records has certified that the student has completed all degree requirements and upon recommendation by the faculty of the University.
Participation in the Graduation Ceremony
The University conducts commencement ceremonies twice per year, at the conclusion of the spring and fall terms for all candidates. At the end of the summer semester, a commencement is held to honor nurse anesthesia and nursing practice students who have completed their graduation requirements for their degree.
Candidates for graduation are not required to attend the commencement ceremony to be considered “graduates.” The petition application is available on the Office of Student Records webpage under Online Forms.
Participation of Undergraduate Students
Undergraduates who will complete their requirements during summer only may petition through the office of their dean to the Provost and Senior Vice President to participate in the spring commencement ceremony on the following conditions:
- Be within 8 credit hours of completing graduation requirements. The student must be able to complete the remaining courses during summer (courses must be offered and the student must meet all prerequisite requirements).
- Have a cumulative 2.0 GPA and meet any additional GPA requirements as required by the program of study at the time of petition.
- Recognize that the actual graduation date listed on the diploma will be the graduation following the documented completion of all requirements.
- Note that approved petitioners may be able to participate in both the robing and graduation ceremony although a faculty member may elect not to robe students who have not completed their requirements.
- Finally, note that students approved to participate in the spring ceremony are entitled to a letter from the University Registrar/Provost certifying that they have completed all requirements once, in fact, final requirements are met. This may occur prior to the actual graduation date entered on the diploma.
Participation of Graduate Students
Graduate students who have not completed the graduation requirements may petition their program director to participate in hooding and graduation ceremonies on the following conditions:
- Have documented rationale, beyond the student’s control, that prevented completion of all requirements by the graduation date.
- Recognize that the degree conferral date on the diploma will be the last business day of the month in which requirements are completed.
- Note that participation in hooding or graduation ceremonies does not, in itself, mean a diploma will be awarded at that time. The diploma will only be awarded after the completion of all coursework is approved.
- Recognize that diplomas will not be issued over university recognized holidays.
School Related Requirements
School of Business
- May have no greater than 6 credit hours remaining for degree completion.
School of Education
- No additional requirements.
School of Health Professions
- Counseling: MFT Doctoral students must have completed their dissertation and plan to defend within 3 weeks of the ceremony.
- GPNA: Must be scheduled to complete residency within 3 months.
- DNP-FNP and Post-Masters DNP: Must be scheduled to complete scholarly project within 3 months.
Diplomas
The Office of Student Records is responsible for the printing and distribution of diplomas. Diplomas are not distributed at the commencement ceremony and are usually available 4-6 weeks following the conferral of a degree. The Office of Student Records will announce when diplomas are ready through official University communication. Only the degree type is printed on the diplomas. The official transcript will indicate the degree type, major(s), minor(s), and concentration(s) awarded. All diplomas are mailed to the diploma mailing address given on the graduation application.
Diploma names are printed according to the following rules:
- The name must be a legal variation of the official name documented in the Texas Wesleyan University student record.
- Middle names may be complete, initialed, or omitted.
- Suffixes such as Sr., Jr., II, etc. may be used if documented in the student record.
- Shortened versions of a legal first name are allowed such as “Rob” instead of “Robert”.
- Nicknames are not allowed without legal documentation.
- If your name changes due to marriage, divorce or other legal means your new name may not be used without documentation that you have legally changed your name.
If at any point a graduate legally changes their name and wishes to change the name printed on the diploma, they may request a replacement diploma and provide legal documentation of the new name. There is a fee associated with a replacement diploma if the name change occurs after the diploma has been printed.
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