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

I agree with this, as both a graduate and the parent of a graduate. Certainly, don't wait for the graduation ceremony in November, she'll have moved on by then, she'll have her degree certificate and it will be ancient history.

Yes, we still hand our 'proper' certs to students on stage.

I was quite surprised when my son already had his before the ceremony and the actual event involved the shake of a hand and a cheer from the audience (us!)

Clearly OP and her daughter want to go so what you thought of yours is irrelevant.

I’m amazed that universities still hand them out on the day. So many must get lost or crushed in the melee. I’ve graduated from 4 different universities and worked at two others and in all of those I either picked my certificate up from an office or it was posted to me.

Typically around 70 - 80% of a graduating class attend a ceremony by the way.

The invite made clear that guest passes were on a first come first served basis.

Her friends read this and acted promptly.

Your daughter didn’t

I know people are trying to be positive and yes, it can be a long slog when your child has been on stage and you're still sat for an hour but the OP is disappointed and wants to see your DD have the full experience as her cohort.

@mildlyfried I feel for you all, the University should plan their Graduations on the number of students graduating that year. This year we're having 3 x ceremonies per day to fit in all our students (more than previous years)

But what you said applies to guests, not the graduand. It'd be fine if she didn't have guest tickets as she was late, but she should still have a slot for herself to graduate, that's the issue here.

Lancaster university has a dedicated “Graduation” page.

Please note that capacity in the Great Hall is limited. We strongly advise graduands to register as soon as possible after they receive a graduation invitation. Graduand spaces are allocated on a first-come, first-served basisuntil the capacity in the Hall has been reached. If you are placed on a waiting list for your ceremony, we will contact you directly regarding alternative options available to you. Please refer to the section 'When will I graduate' for details about which qualifications are awarded at our ceremonies.

yes but if you read what the graduation page for Lancaster states

it explicitly states that first come first served

Here

and that was repeated In the invite itself

Omg that is absolutely awful, there should be enough room for all the graduating students. The students should have priority before any visitors. I wonder how many dignitaries ect will attend. If the university doesn't have a big enough venue then they should hire one. The students pay an absolutely fortune for their education. The students deserve their ceremony.

She did apply later than others

They have suggested a possible graduation in November

So, in other words, the university absolutely is providing your daughter with a graduation ceremony, just not the one she would have preferred, which was her fault because she didn't apply promptly despite knowing it was first come first served.

A significant number of students won't attend their graduation, which is why the university doesn't spend a large amount of money on organising a ceremony that accommodates every single student - they would be wasting a lot of money if they did that. So they organise ceremonies that accommodate roughly the usual percentage of students who actually attend. Occasionally, that might mean that if slightly more apply than usual, some students will attend a different ceremony than the one they preferred.

You say she can't attend 'her' graduation ceremony. But any graduation ceremony at which she is present IS 'her' graduation ceremony. The July ceremony isn't 'hers' just because she happened to complete her degree nearest to that date - the fact that her friends applied in time to get a place at that ceremony is just one of those things.

I do understand why you're disappointed, obviously. But the university isn't at fault here.

There is limited space in the Grand Hall. There simply is no way around that.
Hence stressing this and margining in first come first served.

Hopefully the waiting list will come through for your dd

Fair point. It's a shoddy way of doing it. It should have been all students first, then a scramble for guests.

All of this 100%

There will be another graduation ceremony to ensure everyone can attend.

This issue is this DD simply hasn’t got the date she wanted

So she should contact the university and say

1. I couldn’t be bothered to read the instructions sent
2. I am so special that the rules don’t apply to me
3. You are too stupid to realise you should allocate places to graduands before guests.

That will go down well.

You spend time meeting your friends families as well though. Students always want to graduate with their friends, the people they've spent the last three years with in lectures and seminars.
I teach at a university and have taught at a few places. Never had this or heard of this. As staff we'd be pretty upset that this was happening to our students.

So if this particular date was so important and meaningful to the now adult DD then she should have taken the “first come first served” and”limited space” as seriously as her friends did

They’re not denying her a graduation ceremony. Hers is in November. Not sure why everyone is so incredulous.

If she had such a preference for the Summer graduation ceremony then she should’ve submitted her forms with more urgency. As it is, she’s having her ceremony in Autumn.

Loads of universities run a dual graduation schedule and have done for as long as I can remember. You’re wanting to write to the press? 😂 Mate, that’s crazy.

She needs the Daily Mail or equivalent. Shame them as much as you can and hit future recruitment.

It’s totally unacceptable and typical of the ‘’we’ll take your money, will provide the absolute minimum face to face teaching we can get away with , expect you to accept no teaching or support whatsoever during constant strikes and not bother our shirts about your graduation’ attitude of many U.K. unis now.

Not everyone at all if you bothered to read the thread

They offer two dates for the graduation ceremony
they make clear limited space and on first come first serve basis

The DD took her time responding whereas her friends took it seriously.

So the DD doesn’t get the specific date she wants . That is not the fault of anyone aside from the Dd

It would be normal to limit guest tickets, but not to lack capacity for actual graduates. A November ceremony won’t have the same meaning and they know it. You need your daughter’s permission, but if she consents, I absolutely would kick publicize this.

Yes. My university (25 years ago now!) changed their system which meant almost everyone in the year above wanted to graduate a year late so they could get a fancy dinner with all their friends. So there were very few spots available for my year. I graduated from my undergraduate degree three years later, after I'd already graduated from my Master's degree 😂

I actually got a third degree and the ceremony for that was cancelled due to Covid.

It's not a comfort I know, as it's a milestone, but they are indeed boring.

I'd keep my fingers crossed for a waiting list spot, then go in Nov if no luck. I didn't spend much time in the end with friends on the day - I spent most of it with family. Being on the same day as my friends didn't turn out to be as important as I'd thought.