Graduation Honors
The official dates for the completion of degree requirements are February 1, June 1, and September 1. Commencement ceremonies are held only once a year in May. At the Commencement exercises all students who have completed degree requirements since the previous Commencement are awarded any honors they earned at MMC. Some of the honors listed below may be awarded on Honors Day.
To qualify for honors at Commencement, students must be scheduled to have earned a minimum of sixty (60) credits at MMC by the date of Commencement. Only credits earned through coursework at MMC will be counted towards graduation honors; credits earned through Prior Learning Experience, CLEP, CPE and other similar exams as well as transfer credits are excluded from consideration. Decisions about graduation honors are made immediately upon the conclusion of the January semester each year; students who wish to be considered must ensure that any transfer credits have been received by the conclusion of January semester, and that any Incompletes have been converted to letter grades by then.
A student who has a maximum of 6 credits to complete and will have a graduation date of September 1, may request permission to walk at the Commencement ceremony held the previous spring. If such permission is granted and the student elects “to walk,” he or she automatically forfeits any and all MMC academic honors she or he may have been eligible for, since his/her degree requirements will not have been formally completed by the date of the ceremony. Students will, however, achieve cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude, at the time their degree is actually conferred, provided that they have achieved the requisite final grade point average and the 60 credit minimum requirement.
Latin Honors
Students who have achieved a GPA of 3.90-4.00 are graduated summa cum laude; those who have attained a GPA of 3.70-3.89 are graduated magna cum laude; those who have attained a GPA of 3.50-3.69 are graduated cum laude.
Gold Keys
A Gold Key may be awarded in each concentration to one graduating senior who has achieved a high degree of excellence in their chosen academic field. The criteria to be eligible for the Gold Key are: 1) a minimum 3.50 GPA based on all credits in the major field completed through the January semester of the year of Commencement; 2) a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 through the January semester of the year of Commencement; 3) 60 or more credits scheduled to be completed at MMC through the Spring semester of the year of Commencement. In addition, Gold Key recipients should demonstrate academic integrity, self-reliance, and a commitment to independent learning. Faculty members in each department decide on the recipient of the Gold Key from among those graduating seniors who meet the criteria above. There may be one honorable mention for each Gold Key awarded.
PROCESS: Once a department puts forward its recipient, Academic Affairs checks to see if they have any violations and if so, notifies the department. Based on the details (when the violation occurred, etc.), the department can decide if it warrants a change in their recipient.
Certificates in Minors
A Certificate in a Minor may be awarded in each minor to one graduate who has achieved a high degree of excellence in this field of study. The criteria for this certificate are a minimum GPA of 3.50 based on all credits in the minor field completed through the January semester of the year of Commencement and a minimum of 60 credits completed at MMC through the Spring semester of the year of Commencement. Faculty members in each minor select the recipient from among eligible students.
Valedictorian
The valedictorian is the senior with the highest GPA through the January semester of the year of Commencement who is scheduled to earn a minimum of 60 credits at MMC through the Spring semester of the year of Commencement.