Conferring of Degrees and Certificates
Degrees and certificates are conferred and awarded January 15, June 5, and September 15. Only students earning master's or doctoral degrees participate in commencement. Students earning master's or doctoral degrees in January and June participate in the May commencement ceremony. Students earning master's or doctoral degrees in September participate in the May ceremony the following year. Commencement information is available online at www.hood.edu/commencement, which is updated regularly. Attendance is not required, but all are encouraged to participate. For further information, see the section on Graduation in this chapter.
Only students who have officially declared enrollment in a certificate program, either as a sole program or in conjunction with a master's program, will have said certificate conferred.
The Petition for Certificate Completion form and the Petition to Graduate form are both found online at www.hood.edu/gradforms.
Graduation
Students must complete and submit the Petition to Graduate form to the Office of the Registrar by the established deadlines posted to the College’s academic calendar to ensure they appear as candidates for the graduation date intended. The College, however, reserves the right to confer a degree on a student who has completed all of the requirements for a degree even though the student has not petitioned to graduate; such an individual would then be subject to the College's usual rules and restrictions regarding future enrollment or registration. In such cases where the College confers a degree for a student who has not petitioned to graduate, the diploma will convey the legal name listed in the student record.
The Office of the Registrar may send notices to students who have completed a minimum of 21 graduate credits (depending on the program) toward their program requirements; however it is the student's responsibility to review the deadlines and submit the Petition to Graduate form by the established deadlines. The Petition form includes information for those planning to complete their degree requirements within a year’s time. See Degree Requirements section for GPA requirements.
A list of potential graduates for master’s and doctoral degrees is submitted for faculty and trustee approval during their scheduled meetings. If a student petitions the Office of the Registrar but does not complete the degree requirements on schedule, the student must submit a new petition indicating a new completion date.
The College celebrates graduation in a formal commencement ceremony in May. It is Hood’s policy that only those students who graduated in September and January immediately preceding the ceremony date, and those candidates for June of the commencement year, may participate in commencement. Diplomas will be available for pickup by the student in the Office of the Registrar or may be mailed to the student at his or her request after the degree conferral date. Commencement regalia may be purchased through the College bookstore. Students may only attend one commencement ceremony per degree earned. Failure to participate in the commencement ceremony where the degree was originally earned, does not qualify students to attend future ceremonies.