Non-Grad Process – Registrar’s Office

Information for Non-Graduates

Occasionally, students reach the end of their twelfth term on campus but have not met all of their graduation requirements. We refer to these students as non-graduates. Some non-graduates are able to participate in that year’s commencement ceremony, and some are not. See the Campus Handbook: Graduation Requirements for more information.

The faculty and staff on the Academic Standing Committee review the records of all students who have not yet met their degree requirements by the end of the 12th term. The committee makes decisions about which of these categories each non-graduate falls into:

Non-Grad: Complete Degree Out of Residence

Students allowed to finish out of residence, most often by completing their remaining work elsewhere, out of residence, or, rarely, by completing extensions granted to them. This category also includes students for whom we have not received final official transcripts for approved and required transfer work, non-Carleton OCS programs, or 3/2 programs. Generally these students have registered for everything they needed to register for in order to reasonably complete their degrees.

Non-Grads: Complete Degree at Carleton

These are students who cannot participate in commencement. They are students who will be required to return to Carleton to complete their degrees or whose graduation requirements are so numerous that the ASC does not feel comfortable allowing them to participate in commencement. This can also include students who never registered for all the classes or credits they would have needed in order to graduate – especially if they had been previously warned by the ASC and/or the Registrar’s Office that they were deficient – or students whose outstanding requirements are high-level major courses. Any student who requested to accelerate their graduation but then did not complete minimum requirements to graduate falls into this category, as do any students who do not complete the minimum 108 residence credits or earn a GPA of 2.0 or higher.

Suspension/Dismissal:

It is sometimes necessary to recommend suspension or dismissal for a senior on the non-grad list. If a student would otherwise be suspended or dismissed and will be required to return for another term, it can be appropriate to suspend them before they are allowed to return. If the student has already been suspended, it can be appropriate to dismiss.

See the Campus Handbook: Withdrawal From the College policy for more information.

For Students Approved to Complete Their Requirements Out of Residence

These are the most common requirements students need to complete, as well as how to complete them:

Comps

You will continue to work on your outstanding comps requirements independently, according to the parameters agreed upon by your department. Sometimes this may mean working with a new adviser or reader, and sometimes it can mean working truly independently. This will vary by department and by what work you have left to complete.

Once your department has certified that you have satisfactorily completed your Senior Integrative Exercise, the chair of the department will notify the Registrar’s Office. We will add a new section of 400 to your transcript for that term. If this was your final outstanding requirement, your degree will be awarded as of that date.

If you are eligible for Latin Honors or distinction, this will be added to your record at this time. You will hear from the Registrar’s Office regarding mailing your diploma and any other outstanding matters.

Physical Education

You can complete outstanding PE activity credits by enrolling in a PE course at a local college by working with the Registrar, or you can work with the PEAR department to identify courses or certifications at your local gym to complete the requirement. Most students wind up working with PEAR to identify activities at their gym to complete the requirement. When you complete the requirement this way, the chair of the PEAR department will notify the Registrar’s Office.

If you choose to register for a PE course at a local accredited institution, you will need to work with the Registrar to ensure that the school and the course are appropriate for transfer back to Carleton. Once you identify an institution and course, please send the information to the Registrar, who will evaluate it and let you know if it is appropriate for transfer. Once the course is complete, send an official transcript to the Registrar’s Office.

We will record the completion in your record. If this was your final outstanding requirement, your degree will be awarded as of the date we receive the documentation from either the PEAR department or the transfer institution. If you are eligible for Latin Honors or distinction, this will be added to your record at this time. You will hear from the Registrar’s Office regarding mailing your diploma and any other outstanding matters.

General Credits

Students with outstanding credits left to complete to reach the minimum 210 required for graduation will work with the Registrar to identify courses to take at another institution and transfer back to Carleton. These credits can be taken at a community college or at a college or university, but the Registrar will need to approve the school as appropriate for transfer. Identify a school and course(s) you’d like to take, then email the Registrar with links to the courses in the school’s catalog — that’s the fastest way to make sure you’ll get your courses reviewed quickly. We are looking for courses that fit into the Liberal Arts context and are courses you haven’t already taken here at Carleton, so keep this in mind while you look for courses.

A standard Carleton course is valued at 6 credits and is the equivalent of 3.334 semester hours or 5 quarter hours. This means that 3 semester credit courses transfer to Carleton as 5 Carleton credits, and a 4 semester credit course will transfer to Carleton at 6 credits. Remember these numbers as you evaluate how many courses you need to take to complete your credit requirements at Carleton.

Once the course is complete, send an official transcript to the Registrar’s Office. We will record the completion in your file. If this was your final outstanding requirement, your degree will be awarded as of the date we receive the documentation from the transfer institution. If you are eligible for Latin Honors or distinction, this will be added to your record at this time. You will hear from the Registrar’s Office regarding mailing your diploma and any other outstanding matters.

Liberal Arts Requirements Other Than PE

Students with outstanding Liberal Arts requirements left to complete will work with the Registrar to identify courses to take at another institution and transfer back to Carleton. These courses can be taken at a community college or at a college or university, but the Registrar will need to approve the school as appropriate for transfer. Identify a school and course(s) you’d like to take, then email the Registrar with links to the courses in the school’s catalog — that’s the fastest way to make sure you’ll get your courses reviewed quickly — identifying which requirement you believe this course should fulfill. We are looking for courses that fit into the Liberal Arts context and are courses you haven’t already taken here at Carleton, so keep this in mind while you look for courses.

Major Requirements Other Than Comps

Students with outstanding courses left to take in the major will work with the Registrar and their department chair to identify courses to take at another institution and transfer back to Carleton. These credits can be taken at a community college or at a college or university, but the Registrar will need to approve the school as appropriate for transfer, and the department chair will need to approve the course. Identify a school and course(s) you’d like to take, then email the Registrar and chair with links to the courses in the school’s catalog — that’s the fastest way to make sure you’ll get your courses reviewed quickly. We are looking for courses that fit into the Liberal Arts context and are clearly aligned with the expectations set by the department, so keep this in mind while you look for courses to take.

A standard Carleton course is valued at 6 credits and is the equivalent of 3.334 semester hours or 5 quarter hours. This means that 3 semester credit courses transfer to Carleton as 5 Carleton credits, and a 4 semester credit course will typically transfer to Carleton at 7 credits. Remember these numbers as you evaluate how many courses you need to take to complete your credit requirements at Carleton.