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Office of the University Registrar: Graduation

Graduation

Graduation Ceremonies

UAMS graduation ceremonies are held in May of each year. More information is available on the Commencement website.

Applying for Graduation / Program Completion

All graduating students must “Apply for Program Completion” in Workday for the intended term of graduation. Failure to apply for program completion in Workday by the semester deadline (below) may delay your graduation and degree conferral. NOTE: All graduating students must Apply for Program Completion in Workday—including students who do not plan to attend graduation ceremonies. Students may Apply for Program Completion up to two semesters ahead of the intended completion term.

To view instructions for Applying for Program Completion, access Workday and type “Learning: Apply for Program Completion” in the primary search bar.

To make changes to a completed graduation questionnaire (e.g., update expected graduation term, update diploma name or mailing address, etc.), please contact the Office of the University Registrar at registrar@uams.edu.

Application for Program Completion Deadlines

  • Fall Graduation: December 1
  • Spring Graduation: February 1
  • Summer Graduation (All Programs): July 1

Degree Conferral Dates

  • Fall 2025: Saturday, December 20, 2025
  • Spring 2026: Saturday, May 16, 2026
  • Summer 2026: Saturday August 8, 2026 (All programs except Physician Assistant); Friday, August 21, 2026 (Physician Assistant program only)

Transcripts

Official transcripts may be requested and paid for prior to the graduation date. The transcript will be mailed out to the respective addressee once the degree has been posted if that option is selected. Please visit https://registrar.uams.edu/transcripts for more information.

Diplomas

UAMS partners with Parchment for the distribution of official diplomas. Upon degree conferral, students should expect to receive an email communication from Parchment to verify contact information as provided from Workday. Secure, electronic diplomas are typically available within 1-3 weeks of degree conferral, and may be useful for employer verification, residency programs and other urgent needs. Printed diplomas (11” X 14”) are shipped to the post-graduation address on file within 6-8 weeks of degree conferral.

Diploma / Degree Conferral Delays

The process of evaluating each student’s degree completion begins well-before the end of the semester. Once final grades for the final semester have been entered by instructors in Workday, the final degree audit can be completed so that the degree can be conferred. Once degrees are conferred, UAMS transmits completion data to Parchment as quickly as possible.

We understand the urgency for our graduates to receive timely graduation confirmation due to the health sciences nature of our degree programs. Diplomas are not released, however, until the degree conferral data has been transmitted to Parchment. This generally occurs within a week of the degree conferral date for Spring and Summer terms, and within two weeks of degree conferral in Fall. In addition:

  • Degree conferral will not occur immediately for students whose degree requirements are not fully satisfied. Please review your “Academic Progress” in Workday now to confirm that you are on track for timely graduation and contact your academic advisor if you find any problems.
  • Diplomas are not released to students with certain account holds in Workday (e.g., financial aid exit counseling, etc.). Check Workday regularly to determine the status of any pending holds.
  • Diplomas are not released to students with missing or incomplete grades.

Graduation Fee

The required graduation fee is applied to the student account immediately once a student Applies for Program Completion in Workday. The Graduation Fee is required regardless of whether or not the student plans to participate in graduation events. Additional fees may be required depending on the degree or college.  Information related to degree fees can be found on the Bursar’s Office website (https://studentfinancialservices.uams.edu).

If you plan to use Financial Aid to apply to your graduation fee, you must Apply for Program Completion BEFORE your financial aid disbursement is released for that term (usually prior to the start of the term). If you apply for program completion after your financial aid has disbursed and applied to your UAMS account balance, you will be responsible for paying any new or remaining charges.

Campus Clearance

Graduating students must resolve all outstanding holds in Workday before transcripts and diplomas can be released. During the final semester of enrollment, new holds may appear for outstanding items such as parking fines, Library fines or un-returned equipment. Students should check Workday regularly during the final semester of enrollment to ensure new holds are resolved.

Degree Audit and Academic Progress

A Degree Audit will be conducted to verify that each student has successfully completed all the course requirements for the degree. Degrees will not be conferred until the Office of the University Registrar has validated that the following requirements have been successfully met:

  • All grades are posted
  • All program requirements are completed
  • Interprofessional Education (IPE) requirements are met
  • Required GPA is obtained
  • Thesis, dissertation, or doctoral study is submitted, approved and received in the library

The degree audit can be viewed in Workday by viewing your “Academic Progress” details. All requirements must be set to “satisfied” in order to graduate. If viewing academic progress while courses are in progress, those requirements should appear as “in-progress.” Any requirements showing “not satisfied” during the final term of enrollment will prevent degree conferral. Please contact your academic advisor with questions regarding the status of your Academic Progress in Workday.

If you require a course substitution to fulfill a degree requirement, please contact your academic advisor to have the requested submitted directly in Workday, or by using a Course Substitution form. Paper Course Substitution Forms must be submitted to the Office of the University Registrar at least two weeks prior to the end of the term.

Transfer Credit

Transfer credit is awarded based the college’s academic standards for transfer credit. Information about requirements are available in the UAMS Academic Catalog. If transfer credit is necessary to fulfill UAMS graduation requirements, the student must submit official transcript(s) from the originating institution and the completed Transfer Credit Approval Form to the Office of the University Registrar at least two weeks before the degree conferral date.

If transfer coursework is completed at another institution in the same term as expected graduation for the UAMS degree, the student must submit an unofficial transcript showing the in-progress coursework, along with a Pending Transfer Credit Approval Form (if applicable) to the Office of the University Registrar no later than two weeks prior to the degree conferral date for the term. Once the transfer coursework is completed, an official transcript must be received by the Office of the University within ten days of the standard UAMS degree conferral date for the term. If required transfer coursework is completed after the UAMS conferral date for a term, the student’s degree conferral will be moved to the following semester.

Inter-Professional Education Requirements

Students who began their program in Fall 2015 or later are required to complete Inter-Professional Education Requirements.  These are documented in Workday as Accomplishments.

All IPE activities must be completed by the day before the intended graduation date.  Failure to complete all necessary IPE requirements by the graduation date will result in a delay of graduation to the following term.

Comprehensive Exam (Master’s Students)

If a comprehensive exam is required for the degree, notification of successful completion of the comprehensive exam with all signatures must be submitted the Office of University Registrar at least two weeks prior to the graduation date for the given semester.

The thesis/comprehensive examination form must be submitted to the Office of the University Registrar. All signatures are required.

Dissertation/Thesis Submission

  1. Upon completion/defense of the thesis or dissertation, the student must submit the following documents to the Library (Libby Ingram, ingramlibbye@uams.edu) AND to the student’s academic department administrative staff (see later section for a complete listing of these contacts). The Library reviews the document(s) to verify completion and appropriate formatting based on college formatting guidelines (the student should contact her/his thesis/dissertation chair for formatting details for that academic program).
    • Electronic version of the complete thesis/dissertation in Adobe PDF format;
    • Completed E-filing form; and
    • Committee Signature Page including names of all faculty on the defense committee. This page should be submitted even if not physically signed. See additional instructions in next step.
  2. While the document is under review at the Library, the student collects required signatures from the dissertation committee if not collected at the defense, with support and assistance from her/his department administrative staff (DAS).
    • If a physical signature page was completed at the defense, the document is scanned and submitted to the Library with the dissertation/thesis. No additional faculty signatures are required for this step.
    • If no physical signature page was completed at the defense (e.g., the defense was conducted online), the student submits the blank signature page to the Library (see step 1). The student then routes an electronic copy of the thesis/dissertation to all committee members AND the DAS via her/his UAMS email for “signature” collection. Each committee member must “reply-all” to the student’s email, indicating her/his approval and email “signature” for the document. The faculty email must come from either the official UAMS email account, or from the standard email account used by that faculty member. If the faculty member’s standard email account is non-UAMS, the college’s assistant/associate dean must also be included to “sign” that the non-UAMS email account is acceptable for that faculty member.
    • All “signature” emails are collected by DAS as part of the student’s file.
  3. The student completes the Thesis/Dissertation E-Filing Form and submits to the DAS to add to the student file.
  4. When the Library’s formatting review is complete, Libby Ingram sends an email confirmation to the student and the DAS.
  5. The DAS ensures all required documents have been received from the student and signing faculty:
  • Complete thesis or dissertation;
  • All “signature” emails received from faculty, OR the scanned, signed committee signature page;
  • Library review confirmation email; and
  • Completed student Thesis/Dissertation E-filing Form.
  1. The DAS files all documents and related emails in the department’s student file, and routes a formal email stating that the student’s thesis/dissertation is officially approved and filed with the department. The DAS attaches copies of “sign-off” emails or the scanned signature page, a copy of the Library “sign-off” and a copy of the e-filing form to the official notification email. The DAS email notification date serves as the official time/date stamp for graduation and degree conferral purposes, and is sent to the following recipients:
  2. Library saves the e-thesis to its thesis/dissertation repository and considers this the formal filing of the document complete.

Dissertation/Thesis Submission Deadlines

Submission deadlines are approximately two weeks prior to the conferral date for the term:

  • Fall 2025: December 5, 2025
  • Spring 2026: May 1, 2026
  • Summer 2026: July 24

Dissertation/Thesis Department Administrative Staff

Please contact your college’s associate dean (listed below) for the name of your program’s designated Department Administrative Staff member(s), responsible for processing dissertation and thesis submissions. The following Department Administrative Staff (DAS) are the primary contacts for students in each academic program. Where multiple DAS contacts are listed for an academic program below, documents must be submitted to all DAS contacts for that program.

  • Graduate School: Dr. Latrina Prince
  • College of Public Health: Dr. Amanda Golbeck or Dr. Kevin Ryan
  • College of Health Professions: Dr. Tina Maddox

 Graduation Honors

Department and University Honors are generally noted in each college’s Commencement Program unless the honors designation is not finalized at the time of publication. The Office of the University Registrar cannot confirm student graduation honors until officially posted to the student’s academic record. University Honors are posted on the official transcript.