✤Graduation vs. Commencement✤

 
Graduation (Office of the Registrar)      

• • Fulfillment of academic requirements and the award of a degree on the official record.      
  • Students must submit a Graduation Application.
    
  • Students should apply for graduation for the term they will complete all degree requirements for their program. Applications for Graduation are submitted for the term in which the student is completing their degree requirements.  All applications must be submitted during the application period. Specific dates are noted in the Academic Calendar. Students who miss the deadline should contact their academic department to determine eligibility and to request a late submission. Students submitting a late application risk not being included in the commencement program  Applying .  Applying for graduation is completely separate from registering to attend the commencement ceremony.  Students must RSVP to participate in the ceremony.

Commencement (Commencement Office) 

• •  Applying Applying for graduation is completely separate from registering to attend the ceremony.
  • Students must RSVP to participate in the ceremony. 
  • Commencement is the celebration/ceremony where graduates walk dressed in academic regalia (cap and gown) to be congratulated by the university’s leadership and faculty. It does not mean you've officially graduated.  Only the Office of the Registrar can confirm your graduation status and issue your Transcript/Diploma.
  • Please note that students should RSVP to the ceremony in which they have an active graduation application on file.  If a student attends a ceremony in which they do not have an active graduation application on file the diploma name will not be reflected within the Commencement Program nor will they receive important graduation communications.
  • *NEW* 
    
    

• Ed.S: Candidates for a Specialist in Education, will have the graduation application request submitted via the department.
• Please besure be sure to confirm with your department that a request to create the EdS graduation application on your behalf has been submitted to the Office of the Registrar.
• Applying for graduation is completely separate from registering to attend the ceremony. Students must RSVP to participate in the ceremony. 

• EdD: Candidates for a Doctoral Degree, EdD, should complete and submit the Doctoral Application for Graduation (paper or electronic form ONLY) to the Doctor Support Center in the College of Education and Professional Studies by the appropriate deadline.
• PhD: Candidates for Ph.D. degrees may apply oline online via MYUWF. 
• Applying for graduation is completely separate from registering to attend the ceremony. Students must RSVP to participate in the ceremony.

• When discussing the GPA's GPAs used to determine Baccalaureate Honors, the Cumulative Institutional GPA refers to all courses taken at UWF. The Overall Cumulative GPA refers to all transfer coursework and institutional coursework combined.  You may also refer to the Academic Catalog regarding Baccalaureate Honors.  Honors designation is calculated based on the lower of the two GPA'sGPAs: either the Cumulative Institutional GPA or the Overall Cumulative GPA.  Your GPA's GPAs are listed on your unofficial transcript viewable through your MyUWF account.
  The Graduate School does not recognize honors designations for Masters, Educational Specialist, and Doctoral students.

• • The University will confer baccalaureate honors recognition on those students who have earned:

    -at least 25% of total degree hours of graded work at UWF (e.g. 30 hrs for a 120-hour degree plan)

    -at least a 3.5 institutional (UWF) GPA

    -at least a 3.5 overall (transfer and UWF) GPA

    -Baccalaureate Honors will be based on the lower of the two GPAs; either the cumulative institutional or overall cumulative GPA. The GPA calculation can be found on the unofficial transcript.
    
    

• Second-degree candidates are eligible for baccalaureate honors recognition with the same requirements as first degree candidates.
  
  
• Honors indicated in the Commencement program will reflect a student's status at the beginning of their final semester as grades for the final semester will not have been earned yet. Should a student's honor status change after final grades post, the diploma will reflect the final honors status. 
• Previous recognition on the President’s or Dean’s Honor Rolls does not ensure baccalaureate honors at graduation.

• Honor cords may be purchased from the University Bookstore.

• The Graduate School does not recognize honors designations for Masters, Educational Specialist, and Doctoral students. 

If you missed the deadline to apply online contact your academic advisor to verify your eligibility to graduate. Your advisor must submit a request to our office via JIRA requesting an application to be created on your behalf. When you contact your department, you must provide them with the following information to forward to our office so that your graduation application can be created manually:

• • Student ID number: (970......)

  • Name (as you wish it to appear on your diploma):

  • Term in which you wish to graduate:

  • Major(s)/Minor(s) you are applying to graduate in:

  • Graduation Application address:

  Advisors Only: Effective February 5, 2020 all requests to create, cancel or update a graduation application must be submitted via the Graduation JIRA Service Desk system.

Digital Diploma:

1. You may review your graduation application through the Student Academic Records Menu in MyUWF.
2. If your diploma is issued with your name incorrectly displayed due to an error by UWF we will issue a free corrected replacement.  If your diploma name is incorrect at no fault of UWF please be aware that it will be necessary for you to submit a Diploma request through MyUWF to order and pay for a new diploma.
3. View graduation application diploma name to ensure accuracy. See Viewing a Graduation Application.

Printed Diploma:

Students can view their awarded UWF degrees on their Unofficial Transcript.

Once your degree is posted in an awarded status to your official record; any transcripts you order will also reflect this information. You may confirm this by viewing your unofficial transcript in MyUWF. Please note that if you need to show immediate proof of education to employers or institutions, your official transcript is recommended. This is typically the preferred method when needing to verify degree completion.  Expedited shipping options are available for transcript orders at an additional cost. Please visit Ordering a Transcript for instructioninstructions.

Viewing My Degree

• • See Viewing my Degree(s)

Questions? Please email Graduation at graduation@uwf.edu