Graduation Requirements and Issuance of Credentials

NorQuest College recognizes learners for successful completion of program requirements by issuing official graduation status as well as credentials in the form of both transcripts and parchments.

The Office of the Registrar is responsible for establishing graduation application deadlines, reviewing student records for graduation eligibility, and issuing credentials.

Graduation Requirements and Process

Official program graduation requirements are reviewed annually and published on the NorQuest College website. Students must successfully complete all program and grade point average (GPA) requirements to be eligible to graduate. The requirements that apply to a particular student are determined by the requirements published for the year they were admitted to their program.

Residency Requirement

Residency requirement is the minimum number of credits in a program that must be taken through NorQuest College in order to receive a credential. Students must meet the course residency requirement of 50% to be eligible for graduation (refer to Transfer Credit for more information).

Applying for Graduation

• Students who have completed or will complete their program requirements during the current academic year must apply for graduation via their MyQuest account.
• Upon receipt of the application to graduate, the Office of the Registrar will review each student’s record.
• As each applicant’s eligibility to graduate is determined, a notification email is sent to the student’s NorQuest MyMail email account.
• If all requirements have been completed, the credential will be issued within 30 days of the final grade submission.
• A transcript notation of completion is added to the student record. The parchment is mailed to the student’s address as recorded on their MyQuest account.
• Applications to graduate are limited to the academic year in which a student applies. If a student is not successful in achieving their credential in that year, they must re-apply to graduate during the year they complete the outstanding requirements.

Credentials

• The college may issue Alberta Advanced Education approved credentials for certificates, diplomas, and NorQuest high school equivalency diplomas.
• Credentials can be issued at any time of year. To receive a credential, a student must apply to graduate and have their eligibility reviewed.
• A credential for a program is conferred upon a student once, even if the student successfully completes the program requirements more than one time. The credential notated on the official transcript will reflect the earliest program completion date.

Issuance of Official Parchment

• A parchment is the official document embossed with the NorQuest College seal and logo, and signed by the Board of Governors Chairperson, President and CEO, and Registrar acknowledging the completion of the requirements for a credential.
• An official parchment will be issued once and can only be issued in the student’s legal name as indicated on the student record. Parchments may be reissued if a student submits a signed Declaration for Parchment Replacement Form confirming loss or damage of the original parchment or a legal name change. If it is not lost, the original parchment must be returned. A duplicate parchment will replicate the original except for a reprint date notation, as well as any design changes that may have been made to the NorQuest College parchment since the issuance of the original document. The replacement will bear the signatures of officials in office at the time of reprint.

Honours Criteria

Post-secondary certificate and diploma programs (excluding employment certificates) recognize the honours distinction for outstanding academic achievement. To qualify for graduation with honours, a student must have achieved an overall GPA of 3.7 or greater, with no courses having been failed or repeated. The honours distinction will be noted on the transcript and parchment of qualified graduates.