commencement question

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by aic712, Apr 23, 2004.

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  1. aic712

    aic712 Member

    I haven't been to a commencement since highschool (didn't go for first undergrad or AA), and I am scheduled to walk for phoenix in december. I am getting my second bachelor's, I was just wondering how they announce you? Do they just say your name and degree earned? Or do they say the date you will received it, degree earned, etc? Also, I noticed you have to pay a fee for the phoenix diploma (which I could care less about, just want the transcript), so I take it they don't hand it to you on stage unless you pay the fee. I know this seems like a trivial question, but I was just wondering since I haven't been to a commencement since high school.
     
  2. Mustang

    Mustang New Member

    Myles,

    I just completed, 14 Apr 04, my Masters in Organizational Management with UOP, and will be going to the commencement ceremonies in Jul. I was told that the commencement stuff is separate and you get a "fake" diploma at the ceremonies. The real one that you have to pay for comes in the mail.

    All the best,

    Fred
     
  3. atraxler

    atraxler New Member

    Myles,

    I graduated from UoPhx in 2002 and attended the commencement ceremony in Phoenix. This is how it was done back then.

    The ceremony was held at the Civic Center in Downtown Phoenix. That year they had one ceremony for all degrees and I am not sure if they still do it that way or if they now hold one ceremony for undergraduate and one for graduate degrees.

    Students are grouped by the degree they are earning in rooms outside the large auditorium (where the ceremony takes place). The master of ceremonies announces each degree and students in that group enter the auditorium. For example, the master of ceremonies says “Master of Organizational Management, class of 2004” and all the MAOM students enter the auditorium and sit in the designated area. Within each of the groups students are not arranged in any particular order so that means you can sit next to whomever you want. Before you enter the auditorium, they will give you an index card in which you’ll write your name phonetically… the card will be handed to the announcer later.

    When all groups have been announced and all the students are seated, the ceremony begins. In 2002 they showed video of several industry leaders and politicians extending congratulations, speaking about the university, online learning, the need for a degree/high education, etc. Then the speeches: one from the president of the university, one from a guest speaker and one from a student. Then they call the first degree group (associates, bachelors, masters, then doctors); all the students from that degree group stand up, form a line and walk towards the side of the stage. An assistant collects the index card with your name and will pass that to the announcer; the announcer reads your name, you walk up the stage where university officials greet you, one will hand you a nice looking piece of paper and will shake your hand, and then you walk down the stage and go back to your seat. Then the announcer calls the next group and so on. The whole thing took about two hours.

    The nice looking piece of paper that they give you simply says “congratulations” and that your diploma will be mailed at a later date. I received my diploma one week before the ceremony because I’ve completed my degree requirements at the beginning of May and the ceremony was held at the end of June. It took 6 weeks from the time I applied for graduation until I got the diploma and official transcripts in the mail.

    The graduation fee actually has nothing to do with the graduation ceremony. The graduation fee you pay is for the printing of your diploma, your official transcripts, and to audit your records (to verify you’ve met all academic requirements, financial obligations, and for them to put on your academic record that you earned a degree). Even if you choose not to attend the ceremony you’ll have to pay the graduation fee. Your costs to attend the ceremony are your traveling expenses, plus your cap & gown.
     
  4. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Customs vary a LOT. My law school commencement, for instance, was separate from the rest of the University. They didn't hand us diplomas or even diploma holders. Instead, each of us (104 graduating students) was called to walk separately to be hooded and receive the Dean's firm handshake.

    (Side note: Our J.D. tassels were purple and black, not gold, an imagined 'slight' that our Dean mentioned in his remarks. Now I see that J.D.s at UNM wear gold tassels but the Ph.D. and Ed.D. grads now sport a VERY elaborate and colorful academic costume (beefeater hat and lots of ruffles) instead of our traditional black silk (nylon) with velvet facings and stripes and mortarboard...)

    ANYWAY, my daughter graduated from Evergreen State. Cap and Gown were green and optional (she wore a fetching red dress) and in place of "pomp and circumstance" a dance and drum troop performed Polynesian dances! It was the neatest commencement I've ever attended. Each student was called and walked separately and received his diploma.

    My undergrad commencement was unique as well in one tiny detail; we wore bachelor hoods. Most schools don't do this.

    Bottom line: Don't blow off your commencement. Getting a degree is a big deal and you should savor the moment!
     
  5. Tireman4

    Tireman4 member

    I dont know if this helps.

    At North Carolina Wesleyan College, they gave us the degrees in the holder and at North Carolina Central..I got my MA in the holder too. At the University of Phoenix, they graduated at Minute Maid Park( Home of the Astros). UofPhx plays the graduation on videotape for people waiting to see the counselors. I noticed this as I was applying to teach there. Interesting.
     
  6. DL-Luvr

    DL-Luvr New Member

    Graduation



    I got my bachelors years ago at a small college and we wore hoods. Without the hood it's like getting a high school diploma.

    Evergreen State is a neat school.

    Professional doctorates aren't real doctorates. :D
     
  7. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    BA grad: skipped because the speaker was (surprise surprise) a Communist nomenklatura-type (remember Communists?).
    MDiv grad: went mostly to show off my bachelor's hood on the way in, to snicker at the one-world-idealist speaker, and to upset the lowchurch types by wearing a clerical collar since I had been ordained ahead of schedule.
    MA grad: skipped because it was downtown in a major US city and I didn't want to pay for parking and waste a whole Saturday in the land of the free.

    Notice how my motives have deteriorated from high-minded protest through low-grade nose-thumbing to sheer indifference.
    It's nice being a role model.

    Enjoy your graduation, and congrats as your degree work nears completion. Really. Best wishes, Janko the slovenly Carpathian
     

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