Commencement Eligibility Policy
Who is eligible to participate in Commencement?
Standard policy statement
Students who plan to complete their degree requirements within the academic year (fall, spring, summer) are eligible to participate in that year’s Commencement ceremonies. Please see your Academic Advisor or your school Registrar to inquire about your eligibility. Exceptions to this policy may be made by permission of the dean or Registrar of their home school.
Detailed policy for Commencement 2024
Students who are expected to graduate at the end of the fall, spring or summer term will be included in the spring commencement program of that academic year. Additional students may be included by permission of the Dean. A list of any students being invited to participate in commencement off cycle should be provided in writing to the Office of the University Registrar. To be included in the commencement program, all additions must be received no later than
April 1.
What this means is that students graduating in the fall (2023), spring (2024) or summer (2024) will be included in any requests, communications, invitations, etc. that may be generated for the spring commencement program. Data sets will be derived based on the “Expected Completion Date” present on the student record in UR Student. It should be known that for any student that is still active, this date is simply a prediction and will provide us with the widest net.
eligible participants in commencement and degree programs
Candidates for Bachelors, Masters or Doctoral or MD degrees shall be invited to participate in commencement events and individual school or department recognition ceremonies.
Except for the Performer’s Certificates, students earning certificates, advanced certificates, diplomas, advanced diplomas, minors, concentrations, or other similar credential will not be individually recognized during the university, school, or departmental celebrations.
Based on direction from the Provost’s Office individual schools may choose to include candidates for Advanced Certificates on the invitation list and for participation in their individual school or department recognition ceremonies.
Degree conferral and diplomas
The Registrar’s Office is responsible for certifying degree requirements are complete, conferring the degree on the student record and ordering the diploma. In most cases, students should expect to receive their diploma 4-6 weeks after the degree is conferred. Diploma covers will be provided to participants at official commencement/degree ceremony events. It is expected that one cover be provided for each of the degree types indicated above (Bachelors, Masters or Doctoral or MD degrees).
How is the Commencement Communication List generated?
The Commencement Communication List is pulled using the Department Commencement Program Report URSTU 5250 in UR Student. This report will capture students who are:
- Active (status of in progress or pending completion) or conferred (status of complete)
- Have an expected completion date in URS within Fall 2023, Spring 2024, or Summer 2024 (ECD Range of 9/1/2023-8/31/2024)
- Some exclusions apply based on specific school requests.
- There will be multiple lines for students earning more than one degree.
- Undergraduate students in AS&E with intended programs of study (undeclared) are included if they meet the other criteria.
- Students on a Leave of Absence are not included and should be handled by exception.
- Students who have been submitted as exceptions to the Office of the University Registrar are added manually and will not pull on 5250 out of UR Student if you run it yourself.
- If a student was pulled and sent to communications previously, but their record has changed, and they no longer fit the parameters they will not pull on this report. If these changes occur after March 31, they will continue to receive communications sent from University Marketing and Communications.
Any student that is not included on this report will be required to be added by exception, or their expected completion date/academic record in UR Student will need to be updated by the school registrar to meet the parameters for the next pull.
This is an image of how the report is ran for the entire University. Some clean up occurs after export to accommodate specific school inclusions/exclusions. If you are running it for yourself, you will want to adjust the school, program(s) of study, academic level or cohort you want to look at.
How do I submit an exemption to the policy?
We will not be policing the reason for the request, only the requestor. Exceptions are due no later than March 31, as to not interfere with the final weeks of commencement planning.
If you are a Registrar needing to submit an exception, please use the exception request form you were provided via email.
If you are an advisor or department in AS&E Undergraduate, you can send an exception request to Registrar@rochester.edu.
Who is handling the Commencement Book?
Each school and department will need to manage their own commencement book per standard practice, there is no change to how we are producing the big book.
The list of commencement communications list being distributed is who will be invited to the University Commencement Ceremony; presumably, your school/department book should match.