Commencement Ceremony Participation Policy

For Those Who are Completing a Certificate Only:

Although, there is no ceremony for students earning a graduate certificate at this time, staff here at the Graduate School would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations on your accomplishments and wish you the best of success with your newly earned certificate.

For Those Who are Graduating in the Current Term:

Students are who are completing a graduate degree in the fall or spring term are eligible to participate in the fall or spring ceremony respectively provided that they 1) have necessary degree paperwork on file, 2)that they have completed the online Application for Graduation and 3) completed the online RSVP to attend commencement. Summer graduates are invited to attend the fall ceremony (see the table below for regular participation term dates)

For Those Who Have Already Graduated:

Students are only eligible to attend the commencement ceremony for the term in which they are graduating. However, the Graduate School recognizes that there can be certain circumstances beyond a student's control that may prevent this. Therefore students are granted a grace period of one semester following semester they should have participate to attend the Graduate School commencement ceremony. This includes summer graduates who are invited to the following fall ceremony (see the table below for grace period dates).

To be eligible to participate in the commencement ceremony a term after you have graduated:

• Contact the Office of the Graduate School.
  • If you do not do this first, your RSVP to attend the commencement ceremony will be deleted.
• Complete the online RSVP to attend the commencement ceremony.

For Summer Exceptions*:

Although summer graduates are invited to participate in the fall commencement ceremony following their summer graduation and also have an additional grace period of one term following the fall ceremony (see section on "For Those Who Have Already Graduated") the Graduate School recognizes that there may be certain circumstances that may necessitate a summer graduate participating in the spring ceremony prior to their term of graduation (see the table below for summer exception dates).

To be eligible to participate in the spring ceremony prior to your summer graduation:

• Contact the Office of the Graduate School.
  • If you do not do this first, your RSVP to attend the spring commencement ceremony will be deleted.
• A Doctoral Candidate must submit their D4 on or before the day of Spring Commencement.
• An Educational Specialist candidate must already have an approved S1 and S2 on file with the Graduate School prior to the beginning of the spring term.
• A Master's candidate must already have an approved M1 (an M2 if doing a thesis option) on file with the Graduate School prior to the beginning of the spring term.
• Complete the online RSVP to attend the spring commencement ceremony.
  • Note: this process has registered you for spring commencement. However to officially graduate in the summer you must remember to complete the online graduation for application when it becomes available.

Early Participation:

• Is not an indication of completion (i.e., graduation)
• Does not mean a student can receive their diploma, transcripts and other final documentation early.

Note: All students are still responsible for meeting the deadlines for graduation. Participating in a ceremony does not equal graduation.

When you may participate in a commencement ceremony

When You Graduated		When You May Participate in a Ceremony
	Regular Participation Term	Grace Period	Summer Exception*
Summer 2008	Fall 2008	Spring 2009	Spring 2008*
Fall 2008	Fall 2008	Spring 2009
Spring 2009	Spring 2009	Fall 2009
Summer 2009	Fall 2009	Spring 2010	Spring 2009*
Fall 2009	Fall 2009	Spring 2010
Spring 2010	Spring 2010	Fall 2010
Summer 2010	Fall 2010	Spring 2011	Spring 2010*
Fall 2010	Fall 2010	Spring 2011
Spring 2011	Spring 2011	Fall 2011

Back to Graduation and Commencement