Chapter 7

Degree Completion

7.1 Nomination for Degree

(Approved: November 16, 1994) (Amended: January 24, 2007)

Responsibility for initiating nominations of candidates for award of degrees shall rest with:

1. Program Officers for regularly enrolled students under their cognizance;
2. Department Chairs for staff and faculty members under their cognizance.

Nominations for award of degrees shall be forwarded via the appropriate Department Chair to the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs. Information to be included consists of:

1. degree to be awarded;
2. certification that successful completion of the current term's work will satisfy degree requirements;
3. candidate's TQPR and CQPR at the end of the next-to-last term preceding completion of degree requirements.

Department Chairs will indicate by endorsement their approval of the award of the indicated degree upon successful completion of the remaining degree requirements.

The responsibility of the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs shall be to:

1. Verify successful completion of remaining degree requirements.
2. Submit for Council consideration a list of those nominated for degrees who meet all requirements.
3. Submit for Council consideration all borderline cases and all requests for waiver of school requirements for award of degrees.
4. Submit all recommended candidates for degrees with distinction to the Council for consideration.
5. Forward the Council's recommendations for award of degrees and award of degrees with distinction to the President.
6. Only those nominated for a degree will participate in the graduation ceremonies for the award of that degree.

7.2 Date of Degree

(Approved: November 16, 1994)

In forwarding either general curricula or special curricula to the Academic Council for approval, Department Chairs shall indicate by endorsement when departmental degree requirements will be completed. The Associate Provost for Academic Affairs shall determine when general School degree requirements will be completed.

When all degree requirements have been completed, Program Officers, Academic Associates and Department Chairs will nominate candidates for award of degrees in accordance with the Policy Manual.

Transcripts and diplomas will show that the degree was awarded with an effective date which corresponds to the end of the term in which degree requirements were certified by the Academic Council as having completed.

7.3 Degrees with Distinction

(Section 390 of old Manual)

The Academic Council will recommend certain students receiving Master's degrees to the President for the award for their degrees With Distinction.

The students must be nominated to the Academic Council by the cognizant academic Department. Departments are encouraged to develop criteria beyond the Quality Point Rating to evaluate outstanding student performance.

To be eligible for a Master's degree With Distinction, the student must have earned in residence a minimum of 24 quarter-hours of graduate level courses presented for his/her degree.

In any one academic year no more than ten percent (or one student, whichever is larger) of the students earning a Master's degree in the degree programs of the nominating Department shall be nominated for degrees With Distinction.

Appropriate notation of the award shall be made on the students' academic records by the Registrar.

The Engineer's Degree and the Ph.D. are not awarded with distinction.

7.4 Special Provision for Ph.D. Degrees

The Ph.D. degree has additional requirements for advancement to candidacy and degree completion.

7.4.1 Advancement to Candidacy

(Approved: May 5, 1995)

Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination, the student becomes eligible for advancement to candidacy. The departmental Ph.D. committee submits a written request recommending that the Academic Council advance the student to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. Affirmative action by the Academic Council on this request will require that:

1. a dissertation committee has been approved by the Academic Council;
2. a dissertation supervisor has been named by the departmental Ph.D. committee, and approved by the Academic Council;
3. any minor, language, or computing requirements have been fulfilled;
4. the written and oral qualifying examination have been taken and passed;
5. a dissertation topic has been approved.

7.4.2 Award of the Degree

(Approved: May 5, 1995)

Upon final acceptance of the dissertation, the title page shall be signed by each member of the committee, the major Department Chair, and the Academic Dean. These signatures indicate approval of the dissertation.

The title page with the signatures are forwarded to the Academic Council before its last meeting of the quarter of graduation. The Academic Council will make the final decision whether or not to recommend the candidate to the President of the Naval Postgraduate School for the award of the Doctor of Philosophy degree.

No candidate shall participate in the graduation ceremony for the award of the degree until the Academic Council has recommended the candidate to the President of the Naval Postgraduate School and the President has accepted its recommendation. The final version of the dissertation will be submitted to the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at least one day before graduation.

7.5 Special Conditions

7.5.1 Incomplete Degrees: Thesis Extensions

(Approved: November 16, 1994) (Amended: 13 December 2006)

A student who does not receive a degree at the end of his/her normal course of study because he/she has been unable to complete a required Master's thesis is entitled to apply for additional time under the terms of the policy described below.  An approved thesis extension is required in order for such a student to remain a candidate for a degree.  Maintaining a viable degree candidacy is the student's responsibility.  A lapsed candidacy may only be revived by appeal to the Academic Council.

For a student in residence at NPS, the need for an approved extension begins on the date of his/her detachment from the school.  For a student in a distributed-learning or "hybrid" degree program, the requirement begins on graduation day of the quarter in which he/she completes the last course(s) required by his/her course of study.

A maximum of three (3) one-year extensions may be granted by the Department or Program awarding the degree.

• Requests should be addressed to the Department Chair or Program Director, and must be endorsed by the thesis advisor, the Program Officer, and the cognizant Academic Associate.
• Each request must include an explanation of the delay and a progress report.
• Denial of an extension by a Department Chair or Program Director may be appealed, via the School Dean, to the Academic Council.
• The Registrar must be notified whenever a thesis extension is granted.

A student who has received three one-year extensions from his/her Department or Program may apply to the Academic Council for additional time.  Such extensions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.

• The request must be endorsed by the thesis advisor, the Program Officer, the cognizant Academic Associate, and the Department Chair or Program Director.
• It must include an explanation of why the thesis has not been completed, a description of the work that remains to be done, and an anticipated completion date.

7.5.2 Waivers for QPR and Course Requirements

(Approved: November 16, 1994) (Amended January 17, 2007)

The Academic Council may, at its discretion, waive small deficiencies in quality point rating required for the award of an academic degree. Such waivers may be granted when there are extenuating circumstances adjudged by the Council to excuse temporarily poor academic performance.

Poor academic performance, such as lack of proper preparation, low grades in the early part of a curriculum, or poor performance in a particular subject, does not in itself constitute grounds for petition for a waiver.

A petition for waiver or QPR requirements must include the following documents:

1. detailed arguments in support of the petition
2. transcript of academic records
3. recommendations of the Program Officer, Academic Associate, and the Department Chair

In order to obtain additional information, the Council may, when considering the petition, request the presence of the appropriate representatives.

In each case in which a waiver is granted, the extenuating circumstances upon which the waiver is based shall be stated in the motion made to grant the waiver and recorded in the minutes of the Council.

7.5.3 Waivers for Failing Required Courses

(Approved: November 16, 1994)

Successful completion of a curriculum for the purpose of satisfying stated degree requirements includes not only the taking of the required courses and the obtaining of the required average QPRs, but also passing with a grade of ''D'' or better all courses specified as departmental degree requirements.

If a student fails a required course and is unable to repeat the course in a later term, a waiver may be granted if the concerned Department Chair determines that the passing of a subsequent course in a sequence or the passing of a related non-required course meets the departmental degree requirements.

In nominating candidates for the award of degrees, Program Officers will forward to the concerned Department Chair transcripts for all students failing a course.

If the concerned Department Chair determines that a waiver may be granted for failing a required course, the Chair will write a memorandum to the Council, which will accompany the student's nomination for the degree, stating his position with respect to the failed course.

If the concerned Department Chair is unable to waive the failure of a required course, the Program Officer will be so informed. In this event, the Program Officer may forward the student's record to the Council for a decision relative to the award of a degree.

7.6 Multiple Degree Programs

(Amended March 24, 2004)

A dual degree program is one in which a student pursues two distinct master's degrees simultaneously. Any program which can lead to the award of two Master's Degrees is, in its entirety, a Special Program and it must be approved by the Academic Council.

7.6.1 Qualification for a Dual Degree Program

(Amended: February 19, 1997)

A student is qualified to enter a dual degree program if the Program Officer and Academic Associate certify that he/she possesses a TQPR which is at least 3.75 and in the top 25% of the TQPRs of the students in the last four graduating sections of his/her curriculum.

The special dual degree program will be terminated if the student does not maintain a performance which places him within the top 50% of each program. The Program Officers and Academic Associates will monitor the student's performance each quarter and will report to the Academic Council if such a performance is not being maintained.

The program which leads to two graduate degrees must satisfy the requirements of both degrees. Course validations early in the program will allow the student to take the additional 3000 and 4000 level courses as required by the dual degree program.

A single thesis may be used to satisfy the requirements of both Departments provided it shows relevance to and mastery of both fields, is permitted by the policy of both Departments, and is co-advised by a member of each Department.

The dual degree program must satisfy the enrollment limitations cited in this Policy Manual. If a student requires waivers for enrollment limitations, the request for waiver must be included in the application for the special program.

The Academic Council requires a written endorsement of the dual degree program from the student's sponsor or a written attestation by a Department Chair, Academic Associate, or Program Officer that the sponsor has been notified of the student's proposal and approves of the program.

7.6.2 Application for a Dual Degree Program

(Amended: September 20, 1995) (Amended January 17, 2007)

A qualified student desiring admission in a dual degree program must apply at least one year prior to his/her graduation, but after having completed a minimum of 12 hours of graduate course work. The application must contain endorsements from the following:

1. the Chair(s) of the appropriate Department(s);
2. the student's Academic Associates;
3. the sponsoring agency for the student's residence at NPS;
4. and the Program Officer(s).

Endorsement by the Department Chairs will signify that the applicant meets any and all additional requirements for dual master's degrees that have been established by the respective Departments. The application must also include:

1. a course matrix, showing that the program will not exceed course enrollment limitations, or highlighting the quarters where enrollment limitation waivers are requested.
2. requests for enrollment waivers (if necessary);
3. a written statement, signed by the registrar, attesting to the student's TQPR ranking in his/her curriculum.

7.6.3 Required Progress Report

Satisfactory progress in course and thesis work by the student in the dual degree program must be reported to the Academic Council no later than two quarters before the student's scheduled graduation.

At this time the student's thesis advisors must certify that the student has made substantial progress in his/her thesis.

If satisfactory progress is not maintained, the Academic Council will require that the student revert to his/her original single degree program.

7.6.4 Double Counting Courses

(Approved: November 16, 1994)

A course may be used to satisfy the requirements for a Master's degree and a subsequent Engineer's or Ph.D. degree. In no other circumstance may a course be counted for credit for more than one degree.

7.6.5 Programs leading to Three or More Degrees

(Approved March 24, 2004)

No student may pursue more than two Master's Degrees at one time. If a third Master's Degree is to be pursued, at least one degree of a dual degree program must be completed before course work for the third degree is begun.