Graduation Ceremony Event Details: Fall 2010
Students who are completing degrees during the 2010 fall semester will be eligible to participate in the Fall 2010 Commencement Ceremony. The Ceremony will be held on December 18th2010 at 2pm in the Ramsey Center, and will include the Graduate and Undergraduate candidates in one program. All Summer 2010 graduates are allowed to participate in the Fall Ceremony. Line-up will begin at 1:00pm. Please show up with your cap and gown and be ready to go. You should not bring purses, bags or personal items with you. There will be no storage facilities. If you need restrooms for last minute grooming, there are bathroom facilities available. Please plan to show up earlier if this is necessary.
Tickets are not required, however the seating arrangement is first come, first serve. It is recommended that friends and family arrive early.
Parking will go quickly close to the Ramsey Center. There are shuttle services available on campus for families that have to park further away.
People with disabilities have a couple of access options. For further information contact Disability Services at 828-227-2716.
Latin Honors Cords
Undergraduate students receiving Honor Cords for Latin Honors (cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude) will be able to pick their cords up at the One-Stop 3 weeks prior to the ceremony. Distance Students will be able to pick up cords during line-up. Please note: to qualify for honors, your current GPA must be a 3.5 or higher. Final grades do not factor into honors for the ceremony because they will not be submitted until the week following the ceremony. All Latin honors receive the same gold cord. Graduate students are not eligible for Latin honors. GPA’s are also not rounded up. A 3.45 will not become a 3.5, and a 3.895 will not become a 3.9.
Honor Societies/Regalia
Honors cords from Honors Societies must be obtained through the society itself. WCU does not distribute these cords; however, they are permitted in the ceremony. Sorority and Fraternity sashes and regalia ARE NOT PERMITTED. You are also not permitted to decorate your mortar boards (hats).
Conferral and Diplomas (Fall Candidates Only)
Please be aware that attending the Commencement Ceremony does not mean that you have graduated. Conferral is the process which will officially award you your degree. This process will begin after the holiday break in January. During this time every candidate’s degree audit is checked for completion. Students with blue audits will be cleared and their diploma’s awarded. Students with red audits will need to actively work with their advisors/departments to resolve any unmet requirements. Requirements not met by the conferral deadline will be moved forward to the next conferral period, which will be in May. Please check your audits carefully! This can be done anytime through your MyCat account, and it is available to ALL students. Be certain to generate a new audit to see the one that is completely up-to-date. If you see any issues contact your department.
Diplomas are ordered through a printing company, so we will not have copies of them available on campus. The diplomas will be ordered in two intervals. The first order will go out in early January for all students who had blue audits and no conferral issues. Students with late resolution issues or with transfer work will be submitted in the second order, which will go out at the end of the conferral period. The printing process takes 2 weeks and then you will be notified via your catamount email address that your diploma is being shipped. Please note: the diplomas do not ship with WCU covers. Those are handed out exclusively at the ceremony. Students, who fail conferral, meaning they had issues that could not be resolved, will be sent a certified letter notifying them of their status. It will be up to the student to get in touch with their department to find out what they need to do to complete their program, and to work on their re-instatement if necessary.
Not Attending
If you are not planning to attend the ceremony, all you need to do is access the “Request to Be Excused Form” and submit it to us. This will excuse you from the ceremony. You may, still however continue to receive information regarding graduation because our notices are sent out in mass emails using all the graduates in the database , but rest assured you have been excused. You will just need to ignore any additional information that you see.
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