Application for Graduation
Students must make formal application to the Office of Academic Records and Summer School by the end of the third week of the semester/term in which they expect to graduate. A diploma fee is payable at that time. Students who are eligible for a teaching certificate should apply to the College of Education at the time they apply for graduation. A certification fee is payable at the time of application. (Students who expect to teach in Pennsylvania must take a physical examination and a chest X-ray or a tuberculin skin test during their senior year. Arrangements must be made with the university health center at the beginning of the last semester of the senior year.) Students who apply for Pennsylvania certification must also submit a criminal record clearance form. The application fee for graduation is nontransferable and cannot be updated to another semester if the student fails to graduate, but the certification fee may be refunded.

Students who meet all graduation requirements in a given term but fail to apply for graduation and/or pay their graduation fee until after the semester ends will be graduated at the end of the semester in which their application is received in the Office of Academic Records and Summer School, not the term they completed their coursework.

Completion of Degree/Certificate Requirements
It is the students’ responsibility to complete all degree/certificate requirements and to know the university’s requirements for graduation. This is not the responsibility of the students’ advisors.

Students must meet all graduation requirements by the official end of the semester in which they have applied to graduate. Failure to do so (Incomplete grades in any course or “X” grades in required courses, no application, etc.) will result in the updating of the students’ graduation date to the end of the term/year the work is eventually completed.

Exit Examinations
Some students are required to take specific standardized examinations in liberal studies and/or their major area of study before their degrees will be conferred.

Minimum Credit Hour and Quality Point Requirements
All degree programs require a minimum of 120 credits. At least 30 credits must be completed to earn a major and at least 15 credits must be completed to earn a minor. The majority of programs require minimum cumulative a major quality point averages of 2.000; some programs require a higher average. This information is available from the department advisor or chairperson. To be eligible for teacher certification, students entering fall 2003 or thereafter, must have a 3.000 cumulative average in all university coursework.

Modern Language Requirement for BA Degree
Proficiency at the 103 class level of a modern language, or the equivalent, is required for all bachelor of arts degree candidates. Exemption by placement or examination is possible. The modern language courses used to satisfy the BA requirement may not be used in the enrichment section of the cultural diversity/global perspective block of the liberal studies program.

Residency
To qualify for graduation, all students must complete their last 36 credits in residence at Slippery Rock University. In addition, at least 24 credits of upper division course work, 12 credits within the student’s major and 4 credits within a minor must be earned in residence at Slippery Rock University. Students should check with their academic advisor to determine the residency requirement for their specific academic program.

Second Baccalaureate Degree
If students complete, simultaneously, the requirements of two-degree programs, only one degree will be conferred at commencement. The university transcript will record, both majors but only one degree.

If students desire to earn a second baccalaureate degree at Slippery Rock University, they may do so by:

• enrolling as a post-baccalaureate student and,
  
• taking a minimum of 36 credits at SRU after the first baccalaureate degree,
  
• meeting departmental requirements for the degree in respect to the required credits and courses for a major in that department, and
  
• meeting degree requirements in respect to courses required for the requested degree.

Latin Honors at graduation will not be awarded to second-degree candidates, nor are post-baccalaureate students eligible for the dean’s list.

Drop, Add, Withdrawal
Full semester courses may not be added after the first week that the course has met. Courses dropped during the first week of the semester will not be recorded on the students’ permanent records unless they withdraw from all their classes, in which case grades of “W” will be awarded. Students may withdraw from classes with a grade of “W” between the second and tenth weeks of the semester. Students will not be permitted to withdraw from classes after the tenth week and will be held accountable and awarded a final grade for all coursework, exams and other work assigned during the final five weeks of the semester. For courses meeting fewer than 15 weeks, the withdrawal deadline is two thirds of the way through the course’s beginning and ending dates. Students taking basic competency courses, with the exception of physical education/dance activity courses in the liberal studies program, may not drop or withdraw once the semester has started.

Students desiring to add closed sections will have to secure the signatures of the professors of the closed sections.

Students may use yellow drop/add cards anytime after they have registered until the end of the first week of the semester. After the first week of the semester, students must use blue withdrawal cards, which require the signatures of the professors of the courses and the students’ advisors.

Students who for exceptional reasons, are permitted to drop, add, or withdraw from classes after the university’s stated deadlines must receive their respective dean’s approval and will be charged $15 for each transaction.

Final Examinations
At the end of each semester, all final examinations are administered during the time stipulated in the examination schedule, which is printed in the master schedule of course offerings. The decision to give a final examination is the prerogative of faculty members; but if a final examination is given, it is to be administered according to the time as indicated in the examination schedule. The appropriate dean must approve any exceptions to this policy. Classes will meet during the scheduled examination time if no examinations are given.

Freshman Cohort and Student Athlete Graduation Rate
In accordance with the Students Right to Know and Campus Security Act (PL 101-542) as amended by the Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1991 (PL 102-26), Slippery Rock University will publish the graduation rate of its first time, full-time degree seeking undergraduates in each of its Master Class schedules. This information is also available in a more detailed format from the Office of Academic Records & Summer School and at the university’s Student Consumer website: www.sru.edu/pages/1257.asp