July graduation ceremonies: A message from the President and Vice-Chancellor

06 Apr 2020

Ceremonies scheduled for this July will not take place

Dear colleague

Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, I am very sorry to tell you that the University has decided that the graduation ceremonies scheduled for this July should be postponed. We will reschedule the ceremonies, but just yet cannot give details of dates. This delay is to protect the health and wellbeing of all our graduands and their families while also noting UK government restrictions.

We are looking at alternative ways to mark students’ achievements both remotely in July and then, when time allows, in person, as we recognise how important this celebration is to students and their families.

I realise that this news will be disappointing to many of you and I share that disappointment - graduation is to me the most important part of our academic year. I hope that you will understand that we cannot guarantee that the ceremonies could go ahead and that we are giving our students as much notice as possible to avoid disrupting the plans of them and their families.

Students who complete their degree requirements will, of course, still graduate - even though there won’t be an immediate ceremony. All colleagues involved in teaching and supporting our students should feel as proud as ever for their hard work, particularly in recent weeks.

We will make sure that your degree certificate will be posted to students’ home addresses. If you are speaking to a graduating student, please ask that they ensure their address details are correct on their student record.

In the coming weeks we will looking at alternative arrangements we can put in place to enable graduates to celebrate their achievement alongside their families, friends and classmates. We will be in touch in the next few weeks with details of these plans, which of course may depend on current restrictions on gatherings and travel.

At this stage, we expect our December graduation ceremonies will go ahead as scheduled. However, we will keep this under review and will provide more details nearer the time for students who would normally expect to graduate in December.

I am very proud of everyone who graduates from our University, and that is particularly true this summer.

To you as colleagues, thank you again for rising to the challenges that this pandemic has placed upon us all.

Please stay safe and well.

Nancy Rothwell

President and Vice-Chancellor