The Department hosts two Graduate Academic Certificates (GACs), which are designed to add value and focus to a student's educational experience and improve their employment prospects by giving them specialized competence in an interdisciplinary field of study.

Students must apply to be officially active in the programs. It is best if applications are submitted the semester before the student is expected to receive their certificate. This gives Graduate Admissions time to process the application and time for the departments to admit the student.

• Current students can complete the Application for Concurrent Graduate Academic Certificate Programs found here: https://tgs.unt.edu/webform/application-concurrent-graduate-academic-certificate-programs.
• Inactive or new students must complete an Apply Texas application and pay the $75 application fee. Inactive students are students who have completed/graduated from their graduate program or have been discontinued in EIS due to 3 consecutive semesters of non-enrollment (this includes the Summer semester).

The next requirement is the submission of the GAC Verification form to the Graduate School before the appropriate semester deadline, which is 1 week after the last class day. The DGS and Grad Coordinator will complete this step. This form lets the Graduate School know that the student has completed the coursework required by the department. The difference between this and a degree plan, is the Verification Form is submitted at the end of the intended awarding semester. Without this form, the Graduate School does not know that a student has completed their GAC program.

Once the Graduate School receives this form, they will verify that all requirements are met. Here are the awarding conditions:

• The student must be admitted in the GAC program. If the student is not active in the GAC program, then the Graduate SChool will reach out to the department directly about which application the student is eligible to complete. This will delay the certificate awarding to the next semester.
• The student must have a 3.0 CGPA in the awarding semester.
• The earliest course listed should be no more than 4 years old, meaning the coursework must be completed and the certificate awarded within a 4-year time line. If there are time limit issues, the Grad School will reach out to the department directly.

A few more notes:

• GAC courses are stackable/shareable (count toward general degree plan)
• Just like degrees, GACs are awarded 3 times per academic year.
• It is the responsibility of the student to provide correct permanent and present mailing address information at all times.
• Students who have completed the GAC courses prior to the official creation of the GAC program can still apply and receive the GAC, as long as it is within the 4-year window.