NOMINATION FOR DISTINCTION POLICY AND PETITION
For the purpose of awarding graduate degrees with distinction, the overall performance of degree
candidates in each department or equivalent academic program will be judged in relation to the
performance of degree-seeking students in that unit, not in relation to other university graduate
students. Two criteria will be used in evaluating students to determine if they merit a notation of
distinction: grade point average and the quality of the student’s culminating experience work.
To graduate “with distinction,” a graduate student must:
1. have a cumulative grade point average of 3.8 or higher at the time the student’s degree is
posted,
2. have completed at least 18 units in residency; and
3. be nominated for distinction by a unanimous vote of his or her
dissertation/thesis/project/examination committee or equivalent academic program
committee.
Each department or equivalent academic program may establish a graduation with distinction
policy, but is not required to establish such a policy. The University recognizes that each
discipline has its own mechanisms and standards for evaluating student work. Departments or
equivalent academic programs desiring to nominate students to graduate with distinction must
specify the standards and procedures that will be used to judge or measure distinction in the
culminating experience, including but not limited to originality of the work, mastery of
knowledge of the discipline, and/or broader significance as a contribution to learning.
Although there can be no rigorous quota on the number of graduate students awarded distinction,
the standard of merit should be such that no more than ten percent of graduating students in each
department or equivalent academic program will be selected to receive the designation of
distinction. Departments or equivalent academic programs may elect not to nominate any
candidates for this designation in a given semester.
