Graduating ‘with Honors’ is dependent upon completion of an Honors major (in almost all cases that means writing a senior thesis), and recommendation from the department. Another option for some students is completing Honors in the Engaged Liberal Arts (HELA). If you are not completing an Honors major in any department or HELA, you must complete a Transfer from Honors form, so that your record is accurate and your file and graduation paperwork can be released to the LSA Academic Auditors. They will process your senior audit and graduation certification. Here is the link to their website regarding graduation procedures: Newnan Advising Center - Applying for Graduation.
If you are in the Residential College (RC), even if you are completing an Honors major, RC Academic Services will process your senior audit and graduation certification. RC/Honors students are included in the Honors Graduation ceremony in the spring.
In order to be evaluated for graduation, every student must have an official academic degree audit. This audit informs students what degree requirements they have already fulfilled, and those that still need to be completed. We recommend students have their audit done prior to registering for their last semester of classes in order to make sure they are registering for the appropriate courses. To receive an audit, LSA Honors students must complete the following:
- Apply for graduation via the Student Center section of Wolverine Access. If you are completing requirements in the Spring or Summer terms, you should apply for Summer (August) graduation.
- Contact the department(s) of each of your majors & minors to request a Release. Some departments will require that you set up a meeting; others will have a form for you to complete. The Release will inform you and the auditors of your remaining major/minor requirements. (BGS students can skip this step.)
- Review Your Official Audit when it is emailed to you. The information in this audit will be used for your final graduation evaluation, so make sure you understand and agree with it. Ideally, you want to receive this audit prior to registering for your final semester so that you know for sure that the classes you register for will meet all requirements. It can take several weeks to receive this after you’ve done steps 1 & 2, which is why you should start this process 6-7 months prior to your anticipated graduation.
If you have questions or concerns, contact your Honors General Advisor or the Honors Auditor (honors.auditor@umich.edu).
Once all of your releases and your completed online application are received, the Honors Academic Auditor will send your Official Senior Audit to your umich.edu e-mail account. Generally, audits are completed within one to four weeks after the student has applied for graduation and all releases have been submitted. Please be advised that during certain times of the year, the process may take longer.
It is important to read your audit carefully because it contains the information that will be used to clear you for graduation. If you have questions or believe there is a mistake in your audit, please email the Honors Academic Auditor: honors.auditor@umich.edu. (Please note that the online degree audit on Wolverine Access & the My LSA Audit Checklist are useful tools, but are NOT an official degree audit. The only official audit is the one that you receive via email from an Academic Auditor of the College.) It is your responsibility to make sure your remaining courses will satisfy the unfulfilled requirements listed in your audit.
If you are taking courses for a major or minor other than the ones listed in your audit (i.e., you have made a change in how you are fulfilling a major’s requirements), have your departmental advisor submit an updated release, so that your official audit can be updated.
