Commencement: Academic Requirements  

Final Examinations/Theses

Bachelor of Arts degree candidates must take final examinations in courses scheduled for finals.

Graduate Student Thesis and Dissertation Deadline: Master's theses and doctoral dissertations for degrees to be conferred May 2008 are due in the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty by April 25, 2008.  

Graduation Application

Undergraduate candidates for graduation in either Fall 2007 or Spring 2008 must complete the Undergraduate Application for Graduation, due November 2, 2007. Graduate candidates for graduation must complete the Petition for Candidacy due November 2, 2007.

Undergraduate students who will have no more than 2 credits to complete and who plan participate in the 2008 Commencement ceremony must also complete the Undergraduate Application for Graduation due November 2, 2007. In addition, if these credits will be taken outside of Mills, the student must petition the Academic Standing Committee for “In Absentia” status at the time they are completing the Undergraduate Application for Graduation. To qualify for In Absentia, the remaining credits must be outside the major. The actual graduation date for the student will depend on when the remaining courses are completed. Students have two years within which to complete their remaining requirements and must notify the M Center when and where they intend to complete them.

Conferral of Degree

To graduate, all academic requirements must be fulfilled. If all requirements are fulfilled at the end of the Fall 2007 semester, the degree will be “posted” no later than February 15, 2008 with the graduation date of January 2, 2008. If all requirements are fulfilled at the end of the Spring 2008 semester, the degree will be “posted” no later than July 15, 2008 with the graduation date of May 17, 2008.

A cumulative Mills grade point average of 2.0 for undergraduate students and 3.0 for graduate students is required for graduation.

Students who are cross-registered during the Spring 2008 semester will not have their degree conferred nor be able to pick up their diplomas at the ceremony. Once the cross-registration transcripts are received and reviewed, the degree will be conferred and the diploma mailed to the student’s permanent address. Students may not enroll elsewhere except through the cross-registration program during their final sememster.

Graduate students who have not yet completed the thesis are not eligible to participate in the Commencement Ceremony.

Transfer credit deadline

Transcripts for any transfer credit that needs to be applied to your degree must be received by the M Center no later than the end of the semester after you completed the course. If you have transfer credit from last semester that has not been reported or evaluated since your admission to Mills, official transcripts must be received at the M Center by Friday, December 7, 2007 for January 2008 graduates and Friday, February 22, 2008 for May 2008 graduates. Due to the time required to process transcripts, this deadline will be strictly enforced. If you are cross-registered during your final semester, this deadline does not apply, but your degree will not be posted until the final transcript for the course is received and reviewed. While cross-registration in your final semester is permitted, concurrent enrollment is not.

Deadline for Incompletes

You must submit all work to instructors for removal of “incomplete” or “in progress” grades by the date agreed upon by you and your instructor, or the last day of instruction, whichever is earlier. This date is Monday, December 10, 2007, for students graduating in January 2008, and Wednesday, May 7, for students graduating in May 2008. Due to the time required to update incompletes and in progress grades, this deadline is strictly enforced. You cannot graduate if “incomplete” or “in progress” grades appear on your Mills transcript, even if the courses are not required for your degree.

It is possible to request up to two incompletes in your final semester of attendance and still participate in Commencement. Your degree will not be “posted” nor your diploma issued until all courses are complete.

Failing a Course in the Final Semester

It is possible to fail a course in your final semester of attendance. If your work is unacceptable in a course, you cannot assume that an instructor will pass you just because you are a degree candidate. An undergraduate student who is enrolled in a class on a pass/no pass basis should be particularly mindful of her academic performance. A passing grade in a course for a letter grade is D- or higher, but a passing grade for a pass/no pass course is C- or higher. Students who have failed a course may still participate in Commencement but will not receive their degree or their diploma unless the failure does not effect the satisfactory completion of their requirements.

Diplomas

Diplomas are distributed once per year at Commencement. Degree candidates (January '08 and May '08) who have successfully completed all requirements and have no outstanding grades can pick up their diplomas from the diploma table in front of Warren Olney Hall, just after the Commencement ceremony. Please refer to the section on “Conferral of the Degree.”

Students who are unable to attend Commencement, will have their diploma and Degree-Day program mailed to their permanent home address shortly after Commencement day. Please contact the M Center to make arrangements for the diploma to be mailed to a different address.

Diplomas mailed but not received will have to be reordered with the $100 replacement cost charged to the student.