Advising, Degree Audits, and Graduation Information
Advising
UIS is committed to advising students at all phases of their education. The Office of Advising Services located in the Center for Academic Success and Advising (CASA) serves a wide variety of undergraduate students including undeclared majors at any state of degree completion and students in transition between majors or other academic programs. CASA advisors assist students in meeting requirements of the UIS General Education Curriculum and the Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE), and work with students in certain majors. The Office of Advising Services contains useful information for undergraduates at all stages of the baccalaureate degree. Freshmen students enrolled in the Honors Program may contact the Capital Scholars Honors Program Office for advising assistance.
Advisors are professional staff who work with individual undergraduate students. They assist students with course scheduling, curriculum planning, and navigating academic policy and procedure. Faculty advisors work with individual students to see that satisfactory progress is made toward the student's program of study as well as toward personal and career goals. Students should contact their program office to request a change in advisor. Unless students are transitioned to an advisor within their college, students should contact CASA for all advising needs. It is recommended that students arrange appointments with their advisors before registering for any given semester. Students with less than 30 earned credit hours and all student athletes must see an advisor prior to registering for classes.
First-year students are assigned an academic advisor prior to summer orientation. Undergraduate transfer students (with 30 or more hours of semester credit) will be formally assigned a college and/or faculty advisor during their first semester at UIS. Master’s degree students will be formally assigned a faculty advisor during their first semester at UIS. Doctoral students are assigned an advisor when they are admitted to the doctoral program.
Degree Audits
UIS students can view their degree audit report through the Degree Audit System. This report is an unofficial audit of degree progress and includes all completed courses, as well as those currently in progress.
The self-generated web audit does NOT take the place of regular academic advising sessions. It should NOT be used to make decisions about future course selections, but should instead be used as a tool for degree planning.
It is the student’s responsibility to confirm official degree progress by consulting with an academic advisor in his/her designated degree program. In addition, please note the following:
- Degree audits will list day-old data. Since they are not live reports, changes made to a student’s record (e.g., dropping a course) are not immediately reflected.
- Transfer course articulations may be incomplete if a student runs an audit for a degree program that is not his/her currently designated program in our system.
Graduation
Catalog Requirements
Students may choose to meet the academic program requirements outlined in the catalog that is in force at the time of their first semester of entry (enrollment) at UIS as a degree candidate or of any catalog in force during a subsequent period, not to exceed seven years for bachelor’s candidates, six years for master’s candidates, and eight years for doctoral candidates. A catalog year includes the fall, spring, and summer of each academic year. Students who are unable to complete graduation requirements within the specified time may, at the discretion of the academic program, be held responsible for requirements of the catalog in force during their graduation year, or may be required to re-take the courses. In the event a student elects to graduate under requirements specified in a catalog subsequent to the one under which he or she entered UIS, the student must submit a Student Petition and have it approved by the student’s advisor and the department chair.
Campus Graduation Grade Policy
Undergraduate students must earn a UIS institutional grade point average of at least 2.0 as well as a cumulative grade point average (including both institutional and transfer credit) of at least 2.0 to receive a bachelor’s degree.
Master’s students must earn a UIS institutional grade point average of at least 3.0 as well as a cumulative grade point average (including both institutional and transfer credit) of at least 3.0 to receive a master’s degree.
Doctoral students must earn a UIS institutional grade point average of at least 3.0 as well as a cumulative grade point average (including both institutional and transfer credit) of at least 3.0 to receive a doctoral degree.
Completion of Degree Requirements
All requirements must be completed in order for a student to receive a degree or a certificate. Students should refer to the online catalog for a complete listing of degree/certificate requirements. Degrees/certificates are awarded three times per year, at the end of the spring, summer, and fall semesters. All requirements must be completed by the end of the semester in which the student plans to graduate. Students who do not complete all requirements by the end of the semester for which they initially apply to graduate must wait to receive their degree/certificate until the end of a subsequent semester once all requirements are met.
Graduation Application
All students who plan to earn a degree or a certificate must indicate their intent to graduate by submitting an online graduation application (whether they plan to participate in commencement or not). It is important to complete this process by the posted deadline. A mandatory, non-refundable graduation application fee will be charged to each student upon submission of the graduation application. Instructions pertaining to the graduation application can be found on the Office of Records and Registration website. Students with questions regarding the graduation application should contact the Office of Records and Registration.
Obtaining a Second Degree
Bachelor's Degrees
Students who have already earned a baccalaureate degree and seek a second one from UIS must complete all hours toward the major that are required by the academic program. A minimum of 30 semester hours toward the second degree must be completed at UIS. Students who earned the first degree at UIS must complete only those general education hours required by the academic program as prerequisite or foundation courses for the second baccalaureate degree. If the first degree was earned at another institution, the student must meet requirements in the Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE). Credit from a previous degree may not be used for the degree in progress.
Master's Degrees
All program and campus requirements for the master’s degree are in effect even for those students who have previously earned an advanced degree. Credit from a previous degree may not be used for the degree in process.
Doctoral Degree
All program and campus requirements for the doctoral degree are in effect even for students who have previously earned an advanced degree. Credit from a previous degree may not be used for the degree in process.
Commencement
Commencement will be held each May for graduating students. The following groups of individuals may be eligible to participate in commencement if they meet all of the listed guidelines. There will be no exceptions to the criteria listed below. Please note that students can only participate in the commencement ceremony in which they are first eligible. Students cannot participate in more than one ceremony for the same degree program.
Summer and fall graduates are automatically eligible to participate. Spring candidates are eligible to participate if their graduation application has been submitted by the posted deadline and if they will complete all degree requirements by the end of the spring semester (unless otherwise instructed by their academic programs). Summer candidates are eligible if they have submitted a graduation application and have a Student Petition (approved by their program) on file in the Office of Records and Registration asking to participate in the ceremony by the posted deadline. Generally students cannot have any incomplete courses or more than eight hours (undergraduate) or four hours (graduate) still to be taken during the summer term. Students with questions regarding commencement eligibility should contact the Office of Records and Registration.