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Convocation Information Graduation Ceremony

​Convocation Ceremony

 

Ceremony Procedures

 

SCHULICH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

LETTER FROM THE ASSOCIATE DEAN (INTERIM)

Letter from Associate DEan

BRANTFORD CONVOCATION 2011

The Brantford Convocation Ceremony for Nipissing University will be held on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 2:30pm.  The Convocation Ceremony will be held at the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts, 88 Dalhousie Street, Brantford, ON. 
The Convocation Dinner will also be held on June 21, 2011 at the Best Western Park Inn and Conference Centre, 19 Holiday Drive, Brantford, ON.  Cocktails will be served 5:30 pm and dinner will follow at 6:30pm.  Registration for the Convocation Dinner tickets will open on April 8, 2011.  Please visit this link to confirm your RSVP:     http://rsvp.brantford.nu                                     
Students will receive final confirmation of graduation and an Instruction Sheet from the Office of the Registrar in LATE May regarding pick up of regalia and times to line up for the Processional.

Grad Photos and Composite

Updated information to follow.

Honorary Degree Recipients

Nipissing University confers an honorary degree at each of its Convocation ceremonies.  Nominations for honorary degree are solicited from the university-wide community and are reviewed by the Honorary Degrees Committee and candidates are approved by the Academic Senate and Board of Governors. Criteria for an honorary degree nomination includes: national stature; relevance/contribution to Nipissing University; academic background; contributions to society (regionally, provincially, nationally, internationally) and sustained contribution to scholarship. 
Nipissing University offers two honorary degree designations: Doctor of Letters or Doctor of Education.  Each honorary degree recipient will provide a brief Convocation address to the graduating class.  A short biography of each honorary degree recipient can be found in the Convocation program. 

Hooding

As graduands enter the Sanderson Centre stage during the processional, they carry their hoods on their arms and are officially hooded by the Dean of their Faculty when they cross the stage.  The hooding itself is the ideal Kodak moment for photos.  Nipissing University’s Convocation ceremony is a blend of the formal with a unique personal ambiance.  One of Nipissing’s traditions is to allow the opportunity for faculty and staff members to hood a graduate who is a relative.  This practice proves to be especially meaningful for both the graduate and participant. 

The Nipissing University Mace

Nipissing University’s mace is a complex mixture of artistry and power. Its presence depicts the authority vested in the university to grant degrees, yet its design signifies more than the right to certify students as knowledgeable; it incorporates all the effort, history and tradition that surround both the site of and the vision for the university.
Designed after Nipissing received its degree-granting charter on December 10, 1992, the mace masterfully pulls together the many symbolic elements important to its identity: the university’s crest, the Athenian owl pictured on the crest, the Nipissing University logo, Nipissing’s motto “Integritas” and the traditions of the Ojibwa people who have been keepers of the land on which the university stands.
The Nipissing University mace is an expression of growth and transformation within a context of harmony and equanimity with the world in which we dwell: specifically the Nipissing landscape. From the wisdom of the Anishinabek people, the mace draws the symbolism of the four orders of creation – mineral, plant, animal and human (and the gifts of the four winds):
  • the mineral elements are represented by the local red granite, gold, silver, bronze and polished stones signifying the four cardinal directions – red, yellow, white and black
  • the plant world is represented in the form of oak and maple leaves carved into the shaft of the mace
  • the animal world finds its representation in the owl
  • the human element is represented by the hands that hold the mace and the hands that crafted it
As well, in keeping with Native tradition, the mace joins mother earth and father sky as it journeys symbolically from the fragment of granite at its base, through the trees to the golden sphere of the sun and the owl of the air.
Like the institution it represents, the mace is not static; it expresses growth, movement and perpetuity.  Time is asserted through the four seasons and the transformation of the oak and maple from buds, to leaves, to fruit.  The movement of the eagle feathers, the beads of the “medicine wheel” and the owl poised with an ambiguous relationship to flight add to the dynamics.
The university itself is represented by the embossed silver and enameled emblem, repeated to form a band, by the four coats of arms that support the crown and by the embossed silver motto "Integritas". The mace is designed to represent that which makes Nipissing University distinct:
Harmony
Growth
Perpetuity
(designed by Jean Laroque)

Webcast

Friends and family who are unable to attend the Brantford Convocation ceremony in person can view a webcast of the event. Live webcasts of the event and archives of those webcasts can be found on the Convocation Webcast page.

Please note: participants in the Brantford Convocation are consenting to Nipissing University recording, altering, broadcasting, reproducing and using their visual and/or aural likeness from any still images, video recordings and/or audio recordings, in any medium, for any purpose, for perpetuity. Nipissing University is the copyright owner of the recorded materials, and reserves all rights.

Processional/Recessional

The Processional is led by the Marshal who carries the mace.  The graduands are first in line in the Processional that begins at the Odeon building, leads to the front entrance doors of the Sanderson Centre.  The Assistant Marshal assists the graduands in seating.  The faculty members follow the graduands and pause at the middle aisle until the graduands have entered their designated seating area.  Faculty proceed to their seating area located on the stage.  The Processional continues with members of the platform party, including the President, Chancellor, Dean, honorary degree recipient, and Board representative who take their respective places on stage.  All participants and members of the audience will remain standing until singing of the National Anthem and the Invocation are concluded.
When the ceremony is completed, the Recessional starts on cue from the Marshal.  The band will begin playing a Recessional march.  The audience will rise and remain standing while the Recessional departs.  The platform guests will exit the stage area, followed by the faculty, then, lastly, the graduates.  The band will continue playing until the last graduate exits the Sanderson Centre.  The Assistant Marshal assists the graduates during the Recessional.  The Marshal leads the graduates out of the Sanderson Centre. 
Students
- line up for the processional 45 minutes before the start of the Convocation ceremony.  BEd graduates will meet at the Research and Academic Centre and MEd graduates will meet at Nipissing University's 67 Darling Street building.  Please review the information below for more details.

Teacher Candidate Convocation Information
Faculty
- line up location TBA
Platform Guests
- line up location TBA
 
Students will receive a pre-printed card when they line up prior to the Convocation ceremony.
Education students will line up according to Section (e.g., Primary/Junior) and by the number indicated on the name card.  More detailed instructions will be provided upon arrival.  Students may highlight on the card any unusual pronunciation of their name (indicate phonetic spelling).  Students should ensure that the Reader knows how to pronounce their name, before presenting their card to the Reader.

Programs

Convocation programs are handed out to family and guests at the entrance to the Sanderson Centre auditorium. Graduates will receive a copy of the program at a separate time.  Faculty and platform guests will find their programs placed on their seats.
 
 

Seating and Guest Policy

Special seating is reserved for graduates at the front centre aisle.  There is no restriction on the number of guests permitted.  Guests are advised to arrive 30-45 minutes prior to the ceremony for best seating. 

Unable to Attend the Ceremony?

Students who are unable to attend the Convocation ceremony may request that their degree be conferred "in absentia".  Degrees will be mailed to those who do not attend Convocation.

 



 
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100 College Drive, Box 5002
North Bay, ON, Canada
P1B 8L7
Tel: 705.474.3450
TTY: 877.688.5507
Brantford Campus
50 Wellington St.
Brantford, ON, Canada
N3T 2L6
Tel: 519.752.1524
Muskoka Campus
125 Wellington Street
Bracebridge, ON, Canada
P1L 1E2
Tel: 705.645.2921
 

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