Graduation and Certification

Graduation Check: Making Sure You Are on Track to Graduate

As soon as you have registered in your final degree requirements on Bear Tracks, submit a Graduation Check to Education Student Services (ESS) to confirm that you are on track to graduate.

A Student Advisor will check your entire program including the courses you completed since admitted, transfer credit (if applicable), and the courses that you are registered in but have not yet completed to determine if you are on track to graduate.

In response to your Graduation Check, you will receive an email from a Student Advisor letting you know the status of your Graduation Check. You can expect one of the following responses:

You are on track to graduate. This means your course selections are accurate and no changes to your registration are required as you are on track to fulfilling all degree requirements. In this case, your Degree Status in Bear Tracks will be updated to “Needs to Finish Pending Work”.

You are on track to graduate and registered in courses that are extra to your degree. This means that you are registered in more courses than what you actually need to graduate. As a result these extra courses will be noted on your transcript as ‘Extra to Degree’. Since you are on track to graduate, your Degree Status in Bear Tracks will be updated to “Needs to Finish Pending Work”.

We are not able to approve your Graduation Check as there is a problem with your registration. In this case, we will let you know what the problem is and how to address it.

Apply for Graduation in Bear Tracks

All students must apply for graduation in Bear Tracks. You can do this by selecting the 'Academic Records' tile and then ‘Graduation’ and 'Apply for Graduation' in Bear Tracks.

The graduation application in Bear Tracks is available during the following dates:

  • March 15th to September 1st for Fall (November) Convocation
  • October 1st to February 1st for Spring (June) Convocation

If you are not able to apply for graduation in Bear Tracks a Student Advisor will apply on your behalf when you submit a Graduation Check provided you are on track to graduate.

My Degree Status in Bear Tracks

Degree Status: Needs to Finish Pending Work

If you submitted a Graduation Check and are on track to graduate, your Degree Status in Bear Tracks will be updated to say “Needs to Finish Pending Work”.

This means that a Student Advisor has reviewed your entire program which includes the courses you completed since admitted, any transfer credit (if applicable), and the courses that you are currently registered in, and determined that you are on track to graduate pending successful completion of your final degree requirements.

Why does my Degree Status still say “Needs to Finish Pending Work” even though I completed my final degree requirements? This is completely normal and not a sign that you are not eligible to graduate. For more information about when your Degree Status will change please read through the section on “Expected”.

Degree Status: Expected

Once you have successfully completed your final degree requirements and your grades have been posted on Bear Tracks, a Student Advisor will complete a final review of your program to confirm you are eligible to graduate. This final review includes a check of your entire program to ensure that you have fulfilled all of the requirements of your degree and that you have the total number of credits required for your program. It also includes a calculation of your GPA for graduation purposes.

There is usually a delay of approximately six weeks from the time you write final exams or complete your Advanced Field Experience to when a Student Advisor completes a final review of your program. The reason for the delay is because we have to wait for final grades to be posted to Bear Tracks for all students graduating from the faculty as this final review of programs is done in one batch.

During this six week period, before we begin the final review of programs, your graduation status will remain at “Needs to Finish Pending Work”. As soon as our final review is complete, a Student Advisor will update your Degree Status to “Expected” provided you have fulfilled your degree requirements and are eligible for graduation.

Convocation Ceremonies

The University of Alberta convocation ceremonies, coordinated by the Office of the Registrar, are held twice a year in June and November. Students who complete their degree requirements in the Fall/Winter attend the spring convocation ceremonies in June and students who complete their degree requirements in the Spring/Summer attend the fall convocation ceremonies in November.

You must indicate in Bear Tracks whether or not you plan on attending your convocation ceremony. This information can be found in the ‘Academic Records’ tile of Bear Tracks under ‘Graduation’ and then ‘Graduation Status’.

For more information about convocation, including information about ceremony times and dates and academic apparel, visit the Office of the Registrar’s website and search for “Graduation/Convocation”.

Graduation Photos

Interested in graduation photos? The Education Students’ Association (ESA) has an agreement with SUB Photo where Education students can receive a discounted rate for sit-in photographs. Book your session online on Sub Photo's website. For more information please contact SUB Photo or the ESA.