Most postgraduates choose to attend the university’s formal graduation ceremony. Graduation is a spectacular event, with processions, academic robes and great ceremony, and is an opportunity for the university, the students and their families and friends to celebrate together. If you attend graduation you will be presented to a senior member of the university, often the Vice Chancellor or Chancellor, and in some cases you will be presented with your degree certificate or even presented with your academic ‘hood’ in a public ceremony.
Graduation ceremonies vary enormously between universities. Some are very large ceremonies, some are small; some are on campus, some are in a large venue near the university. Some are in the summer, in July or August, while others are spread throughout the year. You will need to find out about the arrangements in your own university.
For many international students graduation raises some interesting personal questions. Most would very much like to attend graduation, and bring their family and friends to watch the ceremony. Particularly with a postgraduate degree it is seen as the pinnacle of academic achievement, and a real cause for pride and celebration. However, there are two important issues. First, will you be able to attend yourself? Unless the ceremony is held at a time shortly after you have finished your degree programme you may find that you will have had to return home to your own country before it takes place. There will then be questions about whether you can afford the time and the money to return to attend graduation. Secondly, will your family and friends be able to attend? You will almost certainly want them to be there, but the cost of them coming from your home country or finding the time to come may be a problem.
With these two issues in mind, you need to plan very carefully as far in advance as possible if you want to make the arrangements to be there. Most universities publish the dates of their graduation ceremonies 6–12 months before they occur. This means that some advance planning is possible. You can plan at an early stage for flights and hotel accommodation for your guests, and your family and friends can plan to cover their financial costs.
It is also important to check how many guests you will be allowed to bring to the ceremony. In some universities graduands can only bring one or two guests, and in all universities there is some limit, probably no more than three or four. You will therefore need to decide who you want to there. In many cases the ceremony is relayed by close-circuit TV to another hall so those who cannot be present at the ceremony can still watch it ‘live’. In addition, most departments will hold a reception or lunch for their new graduates, and you will probably be able to take more guests to that event.
There are a few practical issues to remember about graduation:
• You do not have to attend graduation at all. If you have passed your postgraduate programme arrangements can be made for you to be sent your degree certificate by mail.
• You will have to give notice of your intention to attend graduation several months before the event and probably quite a long time before you have actually passed your programme. If you do not complete the programme then you can withdraw from the graduation arrangements. Check what your university requires you to do. As a Masters student you may receive a graduation information pack early in your course. However, as a Doctoral student where the final date of completion is not as easy to predict, you may have to make enquiries yourself as you begin what you hope will be your final year of study.
• You may have to pay a small fee to attend graduation and will have to meet the cost of hiring academic dress. Fees for graduation vary greatly between universities, and many universities do not charge at all.
You will need to make your own decision about whether you want to or are able to attend graduation, of course. For some it is a very important mark of a major achievement in their lives. For others the achievement and the degree are reward enough.
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