Processes after a student has been admitted to a degree program

Degree Plans - By the end of the first semester, you should meet with the graduate student to set up a degree plan that contains the required and elective courses to fulfill the degree requirements.  The plan is signed by the graduate advisor and the department chair and then sent to the Graduate School for approval by the Graduate Dean.  Any change to a degree plan that has been submitted is taken care by the graduate advisor by indicating valid substitutions to that original plan. 

Degree Candidacy - Most departments require students to apply for degree candidacy once the following requirements have been met:

1. The student has met the entrance and/or candidacy requirements of the major department and the results must be on file in the Graduate School.  Any probationary requirements must have been completed and all entrance exam results indicating successful completion of those test requirements must be on file in the Graduate Office.
2. The student must have an approved degree plan on file in the Graduate School.
3. The student must have successfully completed a minimum of 6 hours of course work on the graduate program of study.  (This requirement is greater is some departments. 

Once those requirements have been completed, the Graduate Advisor must notify the Graduate school via email of the student’s degree candidacy. After receiving this notification, an email notifying the student of his/her admission to degree candidacy will be sent by the Graduate School. 

Comprehensive/Final exams – The majority of programs require a final examination that must be successfully completed.  These results must be submitted by the department to the Graduate School for inclusion in the student’s record before his/her degree will be conferred.  If your department requires a final exam, a final exam card must be sent to the Graduate School indicating this requirement has been successfully completed.

Intent to Graduate - The semester prior to the semester in which the student anticipates completing his/her degree requirements, the student is required to complete an Intent to Graduate.  Nothing will begin in the degree conferral process until the student has completed the Intent to Graduate and submitted it to the Graduate School.  Once this form is received and processed by the Graduate School, the student will be notified at his/her official ESU email address that it has been received and processed.  Deadlines for receipt of the Intent to Graduate are as follows:

               Spring graduates – November 1 of the preceding Fall semester.

               Summer graduates-March 1 of the preceding Spring semester.

               Fall graduates – July 1 of the preceding Summer semester.

The Intent to Graduate Form may be found at and submitted from the following website: http://www.emporia.edu/grad/graduating-students/intent-to-graduate.html

Failure to file the Intent to Graduate will delay the awarding of the student’s degree.

Degree Analysis - Once your Intent to Graduate Form has been filed and an analysis done on the student’s degree requirements, the student will receive at his/her official ESU email address a courtesy copy of that analysis that is sent to departmental advisor.  The analysis is normally performed immediately prior to the student’s last semester of enrollment.