Faculty members smile for the camera while wearing their doctorate caps and gowns before graduation ceremony

Faculty Advisor Information

University Commencement

Information for Faculty Advisors of Graduating Students

As a faculty member with advisees who have applied to graduate in the current semester, it is imperative to continue to assist students with completing all of the academic requirements for his or her major, minor, general education and overall University requirements for the degree in which they are seeking to earn. Our office assesses the records of each student who has officially applied to graduate and works directly with each academic department to ensure all coursework and supplemental documentation are received before the academic graduation deadline each semester.

As we survey each student throughout their semester of intended graduation, a report is sent to you for further understanding of our processes so that you can best communicate with your advisees concerning their current graduation status. Below is a list of common questions about this advisee report:

Why is this report being received?

As the primary advisor for a graduating student(s), your attention is needed in monitoring the academic status of the students on the attached spreadsheet.

What to do with the attached file?

  1. Open the attached file named "Advisee(s) Graduation Status for (Month, Year)."
  2. Each advisee's status for graduation is listed in the spreadsheet. If your advisee is listed with "Pending-Requirements not Met" (PR) in the spreadsheet under the "Degree Status Description" column, the advisee is missing degree requirement(s). Note: this report does not track convocation requirement(s).
  3. For students with PR status, check their Degree Works Audit to view missing degree requirements. If you need more information about the missing requirements, please contact the Office of the Registrar staff member who is the graduation auditor for your academic college or email graduation@belmont.edu.

How to confirm that no further advising action is required?

Once the advisee is reported with "Complete Pending Award" (CP) staus in the "Degree Status Description" on the spreadsheet, no further action is requires. CP indicates your advisees are tracking completion of degree requirements for the semester. Completion is contingent on the student satisfying all graduation requirements, including, but not limited to:

  • a minimum 2.000 GPA (major, minor and overall)
  • met earned credit hours and residency requirements (major, minor and overall)

How often is the advising report received?

Biweekly, advisors will receive an email with an attached list of advisees including the information of their graduation statuses.

Weekly advisee graduation reports will begin to be received approximately two months prior to the last day of classes.

If necessary, work with advisees to follow up on required academic forms such as Course Substitution Forms and Grade Changes

What additional Information is Helpful to share with advisees?

  • Graduation application deadlines are published on the Apply for Graduation deadlines section. Please continue to remind students to apply for their intended term of graduation. Once the student applies for graduation, you as the advisor will see their status in Degree Works as "Applied for Graduation" (AP). The AP status indicates the student has filed a graduation application, however the application has not yet been reviewed for degree completion.
  • If you have an advisee who intends to graduate in the current semester and is not listed on your report list, this student has NOT applied for graduation. This will need to be done as soon as possible, please email graduation@belmont.edu as soon as possible to initiate the application process. If a student does not apply for his or her intended semester of graduation, the awarding of the degree and participation in the graduation ceremony will be delayed for a later term.
  • If a student needs to postpone graduation for any reason, please instruct the student to email graduation@belmont.edu to request to withdraw his or her candidacy status. Students are removed from the candidate list once the email is received by the Office of the Registrar. The student will need to reapply for a later graduation term through their MyBelmont account.
  • If a student has a question about convocation, please direct them to the BELL Core Office at well-core@belmont.edu. Convocation is managed by the General Education Office.

Questions about an advisee's degree audit or candidacy status can be sent to the graduation auditor for your academic college or emailed to graduation@belmont.edu.