Metropolitan State University is the only MnSCU University lacking a Dean’s List

-- Carin Mangimeli

When you cross the stage to accept your hard-earned diploma, will you be wearing golden cords around your neck? Is graduating with honors one of the goals you have set for yourself? It’s a hard-won honor at Metropolitan State University. To graduate with honors, students must be in the top 10 percent of graduates of their college; no automatic honors are awarded based solely on individual grade point average (g.p.a.). This policy differs from most colleges and universities that bestow honors upon students obtaining a certain g.p.a.

Another difference is that students are not notified of their standing within their respective colleges until their last semester at Metropolitan State University and as such, can’t make a home stretch push in the last couple semesters to bring their grades within that range.

According to University Procedure #252 of the Metropolitan State University Regulations, "Students graduating with honors will be noted in the commencement program and…the distinction announced …at the commencement ceremony." "After the semester grades are posted, students…will have graduation honors noted on their diplomas."

Most colleges award students cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude status and/or graduation with honors automatically based upon their cumulative g.p.a. at graduation (usually anything over 3.0), without the necessity of ranking with other students. Thus, Metropolitan State University’s policies, coupled with the lack of any other honors distinction (Dean’s List, honors program, etc.) has the potential to put many graduates of Metropolitan State University at a disadvantage during their career searches when compared to other college graduates.

One recent graduate said, "I had a hard time finding a job after graduation. I think being able to note that I had graduated with honors on my résumé would have given me an edge up."

In addition, unlike other colleges, Metropolitan State University students do not have the option of an honor society membership, another potential option for boosting their résumés and/or chances for a better job. For instance, when considering pay grades for employees, the Federal Government awards a higher pay grade to those that have achieved "Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.)." According to their Web site, S.A.A. standing is based upon class standing, g.p.a. or honor society membership. While students can still claim class standing and/or g.p.a., the lack of an honor society membership may put them at a disadvantage to other employees.

Metropolitan State University, however, does choose to recognize one student a semester from each academic unit, the six different colleges, with the Outstanding Student Award. Students are nominated by faculty, peers and/or themselves. Awards are given on the basis of academic achievement, community service, academic innovation in the educational program, personal accomplishments and any other criteria nominating advisors and/or teachers consider valuable.

Finalists and recipients are notified and recognized at commencement, though like other colleges, no formal notation is made on their transcript. Students can, however, note it on their résumé as an accomplishment, should they receive an award.

Metropolitan State University is the only four-year school in the Minnesota State Colleges and University (MNSCU) system without a Dean’s List. Only two other schools, both two-year community colleges, in the system do not currently have Dean’s Lists.

Some of these schools allow students to qualify for the Dean’s List while carrying only six credits, one obstacle officials have cited as preventing a Dean’s List at Metropolitan State University. "Since only a minority of our students attend the university full-time, any attempt to institute a Dean’s List would automatically exclude most of the students enrolled in the university since the Dean’s List is calculated on the g.p.a. of students carrying a full academic load," said Ed Malecki, College of Arts and Sciences dean.

"The question of instituting a Dean’s List at Metropolitan State was discussed last semester by the deans and the provost," Malecki said. "The unanimous decision was against starting such a practice. The university already awards honors at graduation so superior academic achievements are regularly acknowledged. In addition, each college recognizes outstanding undergraduate and graduate students at fall and spring commencements."

Deb Constandine, a former member of the Student Executive Council (SEC) says that their organization worked to implement a Dean’s List a few years ago, but the administration failed to follow through.

Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Metropolitan State University, William Lowe, responded by saying, "About two years ago, the Student Senate inquired about a Dean’s List. We consulted with the Metropolitan State University faculty, with whom such a project such as a Dean’s List would have to be planned at that time. The faculty did not express an interest in starting a Dean’s List either."

Constandine said SEC was never notified that the Dean’s List would not be implemented.

The vast majority of Metropolitan State University students are working adults and/or parents, making their educational situations unique in comparison to other college students. This is one of the main reasons Metropolitan State University honors all students receiving a bachelor’s degree, said Lowe, not just those with a high g.p.a. "The achievement of the bachelor’s degree is what the university honors. Since it is such a significant accomplishment that each of our students achieves individually and in many different ways, the university has traditionally recognized the conferring of the bachelor’s degree as the threshold that all of our graduates share. We value and celebrate everyone’s academic success."

When asked what it would take to implement automatic honors designation and/or a Dean’s List at Metropolitan State University, Lowe replied, "The university is not actively considering the establishment of any other graduation honors system. If the university decided to support a graduation honors system, it would then remain to designate the grade point average minimums for each level of honors. Once these decisions were in place, responsibility would have to be assigned for generating and reviewing the appropriate data for posting to students’ transcripts. Similarly, the grade point average threshold for a Deans’ List would, first, have to be decided and reviews conducted at the end of each term."

What do the other four-year MnSCU schools do?

Bemidji State University
Students can graduate with honors and a note on transcript as follows:
Summa cum laude (3.9 g.p.a.);
Magna cum laude (3.7-3.9 g.p.a.);
Cum laude (3.5-3.7 g.p.a.);
and Students with a minimum g.p.a. of 3.25 for 12+ credits published in Dean’s List each semester.
Students in honors program and obtaining a g.p.a. from 3.0-4.0 receive special recognition at graduation automatically.

Minnesota State University–Moorhead
Also offers a graduation with honors with the following requirements:
Cum laude (3.4-3.59 g.p.a);
Magna cum laude (3.6-3.79 g.p.a);
Summa cum laude (3.8-4.0 g.p.a);
Honors program if students acquire a 3.5 g.p.a. during their freshman year.

Minnesota State University–Mankato
Students graduating with honors wear medallions with colored ribbons at commencement:
Gold ribbons: Summa cum laude (3.8 - 4.0 g.p.a.);
Purple ribbons: Magna cum laude (3.5-3.79 g.p.a.);
Purple and gold ribbons: Cum laude (3.3-3.49 g.p.a.);
Offers a Dean’s List and notation on transcript for students with 3.5 g.p.a. and 12+ credits;
Academic Highest Honors and notation on their transcript for students with g.p.a. of 4.0; and offers an honors program and numerous honor’s society memberships, all noted at commencement.

Southwest Minnesota State University
Students achieving a high cumulative g.p.a. wear medallions with colored ribbons at commencement:
Gold ribbons: Summa cum laude (3.8 - 4.0 g.p.a.);
Purple ribbons: Magna cum laude (3.5-3.79 g.p.a.);
Purple and gold ribbons: Cum laude (3.3-3.49 g.p.a.);
Offers Honors Program, noted at commencement with gold stoles;
A Dean’s List for students with g.p.a.’s over 3.5 with 12+ credits, noted at student’s transcript; and an Academic High Honors List for those with 4.0 g.p.a., noted on transcript.

Winona State University
Offers a graduation with honors with the following requirements:
Cum laude (3.4-3.59 g.p.a.)
Magna cum laude (3.6-3.79 g.p.a.)
Summa cum laude (3.8-4.0 g.p.a.)
A Dean’s List for students with a g.p.a.’s over 3.5 and 12+ credits.

St. Cloud State University
Offers a graduation with honors with the following:
Cum laude (3.25-3.5 g.p.a.)
Magna cum laude (3.5-3.75 g.p.a.)
Summa cum laude (3.75+ g.p.a.)
Offers a Certificate of Scholastic Achievement—Dean’s List notation for any student with a g.p.a. of 3.75 and carrying 9+ credits; and Honors program and many honor society memberships.