Graduation, Degree Audits, and Commencement

Ceremony Information

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 noted on their graduation contract must wait to receive their degree/certificate until the end of a subsequent semester during which all requirements are met.

Filing a Graduation Contract
The graduation contract is required of all students who plan to earn a degree, whether they participate in the commencement ceremony or not. It is important to complete the contract as soon as possible, but no later than the posted deadline for the applicable semester. Signatures of the adviser and chair of the degree program are required. Upon receipt of the signed contract, each student will be charged the mandatory graduation contract fee. Students with questions concerning graduation eligibility should contact Graduation at (217) 206-7730.

General Ceremony Information
A commencement ceremony is held each spring for graduates who received their degrees in the previous summer and fall semesters, and for degree candidates for the current spring semester.

Graduate Project/Thesis/Closure Courses
Graduate students are required to be continuously enrolled

during each semester (excluding summer) once they have begun

their graduate closure exercise until that exercise is complete. This requirement means that if you do not finish your closure exercise during the number of hours set forth by your program for the closure course, you will be required to enroll in your program’s continuous enrollment course in all subsequent semesters until the exercise is complete.  If a formal leave of absence is approved for a given semester by your graduate program, continuous registration is not required. Failure to obtain a leave of absence will, in most cases, require retroactive registration in the closure exercise for each

semester (summer term excluded) in which you were out of compliance. 

Please note that some programs have specific requirements concerning how you register and complete your closure requirement. Contact your adviser for details on how your program implements this policy.  The time limitation for completing a master’s degree is six consecutive years from your first graduate course (excluding prerequisites) taken at UIS in pursuit of that degree, unless you have requested, and the program has granted, a leave of absence. A student must have approval from his/her adviser and program chair to continue working on the degree program after the time limitation has passed.  All pre-dissertation credit earned at UIS that is to be applied toward the completion of the doctorate must be taken within eight consecutive years from the first doctoral course taken at UIS. This does not include prerequisites or closure requirements. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis.