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20.5.0 Graduation Requirements

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The College reserves the right to make modifications to a prescribed curriculum. Students failing to graduate due to failure, deficiency of grade points, or credit hours may be granted the degree after successful completion of the work either at SUNY Canton or another accredited college within seven years of departure. These hours must have the prior approval of the School Dean or department chairperson. All courses transferred will be recorded as “T” (with the grade earned at the previous college: e.g., TA, TB+, TB, TC+, etc.).

Note: The commencement program is created once a year for May commencement ceremonies. The list of graduates is based on students who completed degree requirements in the prior August, December, January, and those who anticipate completing requirements in May. Students may petition their academic Dean for permission to participate in the current year’s commencement ceremony without meeting requirements by the May deadline. Outstanding credit requirements will be at the discretion of the Dean. Please be aware that students are not permitted to have their names published in the commencement program in the same major within the past two years.

20.5.1 Baccalaureate Degrees

  1. A student must be matriculated in a SUNY Canton curriculum for a minimum of 30 semester credit hours of graded course work. Fifteen of the thirty credits must be taken in the major, or acceptable cognates as determined by the department at SUNY Canton. Individual programs may have additional graduation requirements.
  2. The successful completion of the prescribed curriculum. Upper-division courses must comprise 45 semester credit hours; 24 of the 45 Upper-Division credits must be taken within the major.
  3. The successful completion of a writing-intensive course taught within the prescribed curriculum.
  4. Liberal Arts & Sciences Requirements:
    1. Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech.) This degree is intended to prepare students for careers in a variety of professions and serves both freshmen and transfers from the Associate in Applied Science degree programs. The course of study leading to this degree will be an organized curriculum leading to a minimum of 120 semester credit hours, 30 of which must be in the liberal arts.
    2. Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) This degree is intended to prepare students for careers in a variety of professions and serves both freshmen and transfers from the Associate in Applied Science degree programs. The course of study leading to this degree will be an organized curriculum leading to a minimum of 120 semester credit hours, 30 of which must be in the liberal arts.
    3. Bachelor of Science (B.S.) The course of study leading to this degree will be an organized curriculum leading to a minimum of 120 semester credit hours, 60 of which must be in the liberal arts.
  5. The earning of an overall GPA of 2.0 unless otherwise prescribed.
  6. Payment of all financial obligations to the College are required before diplomas or transcripts will be released, but the degree will be conferred upon completion of all degree requirements.

20.5.2 Associate Degrees

  1. A student must be matriculated in a SUNY Canton curriculum for a minimum of 15 semester credit hours of graded course work. Fifteen credits must be taken in the major or acceptable cognates as determined by the department at SUNY Canton. Individual programs may have additional graduation requirements.
  2. The successful completion of the prescribed curriculum.
  3. Successful completion of a writing-intensive course taught within the prescribed curriculum.
  4. Liberal Arts & Sciences Requirements:
    1. Associate in Applied Science - A.A.S. This degree, intended to be used primarily for occupationally oriented curricula, may at times be appropriate as a transfer degree to certain types of specialized baccalaureate programs such as Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Engineering, or Bachelor of Engineering Technology. The course of study will be an organized curriculum with a minimum of 20 semester credit hours drawn from the liberal arts and sciences areas comprising of work distributed in the humanities, the natural sciences and mathematics, and the social sciences. The 20 semester credit hours will be distributed with balance among the three major areas. Not less than 30 semester credit hours will be concentrated in an area appropriate for employment at a sub-professional or middle-management level in a recognized group of occupational fields.
    2. Associate in Science - A.S. This degree may be used for certain occupationally oriented curricula but is primarily designed to serve science- or professionally related programs which lead to transfer to a baccalaureate degree program. The course of study leading to this degree should be an organized curriculum composed of courses in the liberal arts and sciences. At least 30 semester credit hours will be offered in the humanities, the natural sciences and mathematics, and the social sciences. The exact balance within these 30 semester credit hours is not specific, but there must be a reasonable distribution of work in the three categories as well as appropriate depth in one.
    3. Associate in Arts - A.A. This degree will be used primarily for transfer programs which lead to a baccalaureate degree program. The course of study leading to this degree will be an organized curriculum composed primarily of courses in the liberal arts and sciences. At a minimum, there will be 48 semester credit hours taken in the humanities, the natural sciences and mathematics, and the social sciences. The exact balance within the 48 semester credit hours among these three major fields is not specified, but there must be a reasonable distribution of work among these three categories as well as depth in one.
    4. Associate in Occupational Studies - A.O.S. The course of study leading to this degree should be an organized curriculum of post-secondary level education leading to occupational competence. The program requires two academic years (or a minimum of 60 semester credit hours) for completion and may consist solely of course work in the specialized area and related work thereto. General education may be optionally included but will not be considered to contribute toward program registration. Such programs should have a distinct identity of their own, independent of courses of study leading to the Associate in Applied Science degree.
  5. Students matriculated in a baccalaureate program for a minimum of 15 semester credit hours of graded coursework, earning a minimum GPA of 2.00 for all such credit hours taken, may be granted an associate degree in a related curriculum, without matriculation in that curriculum, upon completion of all associate degree requirements and application to the School Dean for the associate degree program.
  6. The earning of an overall GPA of 2.00 unless otherwise prescribed.
  7. Payment of all financial obligations to the College are required before diplomas or transcripts will be released, but the degree will be conferred upon completion of all degree requirements.

20.5.3 Certificate Programs

  1. A student must be matriculated in a SUNY Canton curriculum for a minimum of 12 semester credit hours of graded course work earning a minimum GPA of 1.75 for all such credit hours taken. Individual programs may have additional graduation requirements.
  2. Successful completion of all required courses.
  3. A minimum GPA of 1.75 unless otherwise specified in the section describing that Certificate in the academic catalog.
  4. Payment of all financial obligations to the College are required before certificates or transcripts will be released, but the degree will be conferred upon completion of all certificate requirements.

NOTE: Successful completion of a Certificate program does not automatically qualify a student for admission to a degree curriculum. In order to be admitted to a degree curriculum, the graduate of the Certificate program must achieve a record that indicates a reasonable probability of success in the new curriculum and be recommended by the faculty.

20.5.4 Dual Degrees - Awarding Two Associate Degrees

In order to qualify for a second associate degree from SUNY Canton, a student must satisfactorily complete at least 15 semester credit hours beyond the first degree’s requirements and also meet the specific curriculum requirements of the second program. All of the subsequent work is to be taken in an essentially different area of specialization.

A student who wishes to earn an additional associate degree at SUNY Canton must have written approval of course requirements by the appropriate School Dean. When the required courses are completed, the School Dean will notify the Registrar that the student is certified for the additional degree. No student may be awarded two associate degrees simultaneously within the same minimum time span.

20.5.5 Dual Degrees - Awarding Two Baccalaureate Degrees

In order to qualify for a second baccalaureate degree from SUNY Canton, a student must satisfactorily complete at least 30 semester credit hours beyond the first degree’s requirements and also meet the specific curriculum requirements of the second program. All of the subsequent work should be taken in an essentially different area of specialization.

A student who wishes to earn a second baccalaureate degree at SUNY Canton must have written approval of course requirements by the appropriate School Dean. When the required courses are completed, the School Dean will notify the Registrar that the student is to be certified for the additional degree. No student may be awarded two degrees within the same minimum time span.

20.5.6 Double Major Policy - Baccalaureate Degrees

Students who are pursuing undergraduate baccalaureate degrees may pursue double majors, which is defined as the awarding of one degree with more than one major. All program requirements for both majors must be completed satisfactorily and concurrently (i.e., a student cannot graduate from SUNY Canton and return later to complete coursework for a second major). The student will designate the “first major” and the “second major” (e.g., “first major” is Applied Psychology and “second major” is Forensic Criminology). The diploma and transcript will state the completion of two majors (Applied Psychology and Forensic Criminology) and any additional credentials, such as minors and/or micro-credentials.1,2

Students pursuing a baccalaureate degree may designate a second major after completing 30 credits and before completing 90 credits in the first major with an unambiguous GPA of 2.000 or greater (no grades of incomplete or missing grades).  The designation of a second major will be completed using the SUNY Canton Change of Major form. Course of study must be approved by both programs. The first and second major Department Chair / Director will need to sign the form to verify all qualifying criteria has been met. The catalog year of the second major will be matched to the year of the first major (e.g., if the first major is catalog year 2021-2022, the second major will be backdated to catalog year 2021-2022). If the student wishes to update both to a new catalog year, they will add this request to the comment section of the form or submit an update catalog form.

In most cases, the student may find it necessary to complete more than the minimum 120 credits for graduation. Their second major must include at least 15 Upper Level credits of difference in the coursework (i.e., not overlap with primary major requirements or overlap with the requirements of a minor or concentration). Beyond the 15 credits not in common, all other courses may apply to both majors (e.g., a student double majoring in Forensic Criminology and Applied Psychology may “double count” statistics applying the credits toward both majors). The writing intensive course is a major requirement within each major; therefore, students with double majors will usually complete two writing intensive courses. 

Academic departments that offer more than one major may choose to develop a policy to prohibit students from declaring multiple majors within their programs. Any such policy proposal must be submitted to Academic Standards for review and approval.

1 Students should be fully aware of any financial aid implications before designating a primary major. Students may need to declare the second major as primary major for periods of time to ensure financial aid continues to apply. Students should be aware that pursuing more than one major may require additional time to graduation and additional costs.

2 Students wishing to complete a dual degree (awarding of two baccalaureate degrees) must follow the SUNY Canton approved policy.

20.5.7 Early Walking at Commencement Policy

This policy is meant to address the issue of students who wish to participate in the May commencement ceremony but will not have all degree requirements completed by the end of the spring term. This policy delineates the criteria for eligibility to participate in the commencement ceremony prior to the completion of graduation requirements.

Students are eligible to participate in commencement prior to the completion of graduation requirements, provided the following criteria are met and Dean’s approval is given.

  1. Student must be within 12 credit hours of completing all degree requirements and be in good academic (2.0 GPA or better) and social standing by April of the year they wish to walk.
  2. Student must have a conversation with their academic advisor or Dean’s Office to ensure that they can complete their outstanding degree requirements by the end of the subsequent Fall semester. The Early Walking Application and Agreement must be completed by the end of the second week of April.
  3. Student must complete all graduation requirements before a diploma will be issued.
  4. Student can only walk at a single commencement.

Students who have approval to walk early will not have honors denotations next to their name in the program, as they have not finished their degree requirements.

Student’s degree will not be posted on official records of transcripts until all requirements for the degree are completed.

Student names will not be included in any graduate press releases prior to them completing their degree requirements.

20.5.7.1 Procedures

      1. Student completes and submits the Early Walking Application and Agreement online prior to the second Friday in April. Failure to meet the deadline will result in loss of eligibility to walk early and/or have their name appear in the program.
      2. The student’s respective Dean’s Office will receive, review, and act on the application. The Dean will contact the Vice President for Student Affairs’ Office to ensure that the student is in good social standing. Notification of action will be emailed to the student and the Special Events Coordinator prior to the Commencement program going to print.
      3. Upon receipt of all approved applications, the Special Events Coordinator will place student names in the program and contact the students with any pertinent information regarding Commencement.

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