Daughter unable to attend her graduation ceremony as it is full. Advice please

[mildlyfried]

My daughter has just finished a three year Bsc (hons) at a major University. She has been advised that she cannot attend her graduation ceremony as it is full and she is on a waiting list. All the other ceremonies are at capacity too. She has been told that if a place does not become available then she can either try to graduate in November without her friends or have her certificate posted to her for a £10 fee.

To say we are upset and disappointed is an understatement. Has anyone ever heard of this before? I did not think a University would do this and would make sure they had enough graduation days/dates for all their students. The students have paid tens of thousands in fees and slogged for three years to be denied the chance to get their degree in a ceremony with their family watching.

Is there anyone out there with any advice? maybe someone who works at a University? I'm tempted to go to the local paper and tell the story so other students know what to expect at this University. Students should be told when they are choosing the University that they are not guaranteed a graduation.

Thanks for reading

You can understand it, without thinking it’s the right thing to do.

Why do people keep referring to applying before the deadline? Ive read the post which is a copy of the university post regarding these ceremonies saying how the process is carried out. It does not ever mention a deadline.

It says its on a first come first go basis. When all the tickets are gone they are gone so get in quickly.

Unless someone has posted up a copy of the OP's correspondence then it just looks like the OP's DD was too slow/lazy/absent minded to get in for her tickets quickly enough.

Life lesson.

Even if the daughter had managed to get her ticket, that would mean another student didn’t. I think it’s a rubbish system.

Exactly!

Are some of the posters on here working for the university and trying to justify the unfair system that excludes some students from their graduation ceremony.

No it doesn’t.

The process at Lancaster has been explained in detail by @PerditaCampbellBlack.

My DS went to Lancaster and it was clearly communicated to all students how the system works and that you need to apply prior to the allocations being made. There was very clear communication about the process and timelines.

This is how they know how many ceremonies/spaces they need - by how many people apply on time based on the clear guidance given.

She did not apply on time (despite the assertions from the OP on this thread). She applied after the allocations were issued.

It’s not incumbent on the university to put on extra ceremonies because someone didn’t apply on time. She has been offered a place on a waitlist or at another ceremony.

She and her mum are pissed off because she didn’t get the date she wanted because (unlike her friends) she only applied after the allocations were done being prompted by her friends all being notified of their dates.

Well it is certainly a system that sounds ridiculous and restrictive, compared to the many other universities who manage to include all their students who want to attend in the summer graduation!

It includes all the students who follow the guidelines and apply on time.

As explained below Lancaster has a collegiate system. That should not be a surprise to any student whose been there for 3 years and aligned to their college for that duration.

It’s not restrictive to say if you don’t apply on time we are not going to guarantee you’ll get the dates you want.

Nor to overturn the collegiate system (in place since the university was founded) so you graduate on a course based system.

DS did not graduate on the same day as many of his course friends as they were in a different college. It was the same when he graduated as a post grad at Cambridge.

That’s simply how it is (and is the same at other collegiate based institutions). If you don’t like that then other (none collegiate) universities are available.

As I posted below and others have pointed out the OP hasn’t exactly been transparent about what has happened here leading to some false assumptions and unfair criticisms of the university.

It says quite clearly in their website that places are allocated on first come first served basis until capacity is reached and then people are placed on a waiting list. Nothing to suggest that if you apply before a certain deadline you will definitely get a place.

Yes but you are highly likely to get a place if you apply on time.

The OP’s daughter did not apply until AFTER the allocations had been issued.

The university calculate how many ceremonies/spaces they need based on those who apply on time - because the Great Hall is restricted in numbers.

She applied after this was done, and no it’s not reasonable to suggest the uni should put on more ceremonies after this was all scheduled because she did not read her emails.

If she had applied at the same time as her friends (and according to the clear instructions that will have been provided to her) then she would be graduating at the same time as them. But she didn’t and the OP has been disingenuous about this.

As I posted upthread the OP has been (put mildly) highly judicious in the information she chose to share on this thread which has led to many posters drawing conclusions that do not reflect the facts.

Ain't that the truth. I haven't seen her mention colleges at all.

Thank you to BreadInCaptivity for clearly explaining how the system works. I think LU are unfairly getting a kicking here by people who can't be arsed actually reading how their system works.

Yes I totally agree. Paint it anyway you like but there is not enough room for all the students to graduate. That’s WRONG.

@PerditaCampbellBlack what was the response of other parents on the FB group that you say the OP posted on about this issue weeks ago?

I think I'm on that FB page and I can't even get that group page to load so I'm wondering whether loads of MNers have now applied to join!

This is crazy, I would be devastated if I could not attend my own graduation ceremony and I would be deeply disappointed if my parents couldn't come. Surely they should reserve spaces for all students and if capacity is an issue restrict guests to parents only, no siblings or extended family or find somewhere with more space.

To explain yet again….

The University clearly communicates to students that they need to confirm they wish to attend the graduation ceremony before they schedule the ceremonies in Mid May.

Based on the number of confirmations the university then schedules how many ceremonies they need to ensure they can accommodate the students who have communicated they want to attend (to avoid exactly this issue as The Great Hall is restricted in numbers).

The OP’s daughter DID NOT inform the university before this deadline.

She only told them she wanted to attend AFTER realising all her friends had got their allocation confirmations in Mid May.

It’s not reasonable to expect the university to then schedule more graduation events to cover students who didn’t follow the guidelines and summit their intention to attend after all the scheduled dates.

Despite what the OP has said her daughter did not apply in time plus there is also the red herring about graduating at the same time as her friends on the same course - in respect of the latter as this would only have been possible if they were on the same course AND in the same college.

BreadInCaptivity just out of interest, when did the first emails actually go out to students? The OP seems very sketchy on actual dates as to when her dd and her friends actually applied? And what is the actual deadline date if there is one?

OK, I'm sorry, I didn't read the full thread. My feelings still stand, this wasn't the case at my graduation nor my brothers, neither if which, due to capacity issues, were held at the uni.

Agree. If a university has space issues with their own venue, they need to hire out somewhere else and make the whole process less fraught for students and more inclusive. This is a graduation, an important event at the end of finals, not a scrum for Olivia Rodrigo tickets.

So why is this not clear on the university website. Regardless, the university will know that the great majority of undergrads will want to attend graduation and while a minority won't want to i bet it is a similar amount each year. Rather than insist students let them know while they are in the middle of their exams (and probably don't even know for sure that they will get their degrees), they could just allocate spaces for everyone.

Crazy that they don't plan sufficient places for everyone. If you apply before the deadline you should get a place.

Feb/March according to the FB group

So I wonder when the DD actually applied?

And whether there was an actual deadline?

Ah OK. I am starting to wonder whether the DD did actually apply before the deadline. If emails went out in Feb/Mar, registering in mid/late May seems very late.

There aren't space issues. The uni plans the events based on numbers that have confirmed.

But that might be wasteful if a lot can’t make it. They also plan food and champagne.