Graduation Honors

Commencement Honor Cords

UM-Flint undergraduate students may walk in commencement ceremonies with honor cords if they applied to graduate and have a 3.5 overall GPA. Courses in progress are excluded from GPA calculations. Eligible students completing their degrees in August may choose to participate in either the April or the December ceremony.

Honors are officially posted to the transcript and diploma based on the GPA calculation following the final audit and degree conferral. Walking with honor cords at commencement does not guarantee honors will be posted to the transcript and diploma.

Honor cords are awarded to honor students at their schools’ Honors Convocation Ceremony or Graduation Celebration Party. These functions are usually held the week before commencement. Invitations to these ceremonies are sent out to students through the various deans’ offices.

For all other departmental awards or fraternity/sorority awards, please contact your department. These awards will not be handed out at the commencement.

If you have any questions about the Honors Convocation Ceremony or Graduation Celebration Party, please contact your dean’s office.

Maize & Blue

The Maize & Blue award is the university’s highest undergraduate award and is presented to no more than thirteen graduates at the May and December Commencement Ceremonies. Maize & Blue Award winners receive a stole and pin at the commencement ceremony and the award is noted on their official transcripts and diplomas. The commencement student speaker is chosen from the group of Maize & Blue Award winners. August graduates are eligible for the award only after finishing their degree requirements.

Students who have earned at least 58 credit hours at UM-Flint (including the current semester), with an overall GPA of 3.75 or better in all completed credits earned at the UM-Flint, are eligible to be nominated for the Maize and Blue Award. This GPA requirement constitutes a “firm” or minimum criterion. Once the list of eligible students is determined, the academic departments are asked for nominations from that list. Nominations are submitted to the Scholarships, Awards, and Special Events Committee, and the committee elects the award winners from the students who were nominated.

If you have questions regarding the Maize & Blue Award, please contact the Provost’s Office.

Master’s and Doctorate Level

The official Hooding Ceremony of graduate students takes place during commencement. This process adds to the graduation experience by making it possible to focus on advanced degree candidates and their accomplishments. It allows graduate faculty and staff, family and friends a chance to witness the ceremonial hooding of the graduate student, recognizing the completion of their graduate studies during commencement. Hoods are essentially the most expressive component of the academic regalia. They serve to communicate the graduate’s school, degree and field of study through their length and the colors of the lining and binding.