Information for Commencement Coordinators

Information for Commencement Coordinators

Icon of a undergraduate student in commencement apparel.

Thank you for joining us for the commencement coordinators meeting. A recording of the meeting for anyone unable to attend may be found below. Our fall debrief meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. via Microsoft Teams. Add the debrief meeting to your calendar.

All future meeting invites will come from the UI-commencement@uiowa.edu email and will be held on Microsoft Teams.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions by contacting us at UI-commencement@uiowa.edu.

Best wishes for your ceremonies this fall!

Disruption Announcement

The recorded disruption announcement will be played before the start of all ceremonies again this fall per the request of Pete Matthes, vice president for external relations and senior advisor to the president.

"Today we celebrate the academic accomplishments of our newest Hawkeye graduates. We ask that all in attendance are respectful of today’s ceremony and adhere to university policies that prohibit disruption in university facilities."

Regalia Information

Student Regalia

  • Student regalia orders shipped to the Iowa Hawk Shop and University Bookstore will be available for pickup beginning Monday, Dec. 9.
  • Regalia is available for purchase (undergraduates) and rental (master's/doctoral) in the Iowa Hawk Shop.

Emergency Kits for Ceremonies

Emergency kits for the day of your ceremony will be available. Please contact Gabby McIlvanie (gabrielle-mcilvanie@uiowa.edu) from the Iowa Hawk Shop and University Bookstore and Melissa Hibbard from Herff Jones (gradmidwest@gmail.com) if you are interested in a kit.

Regalia Contacts

Iowa Hawk Shop: Gabby McIlvanie (gabrielle-mcilvanie@uiowa.edu)
Herff Jones: Melissa Hibbard (gradmidwest@gmail.com).

Graduation Support Program

The Dean of Students Graduation Support Program provides financial assistance for graduation apparel and materials to students experiencing financial hardship who are unable to afford to participate in graduation ceremonies at the University of Iowa. The program provides funding for eligible students – undergraduate, graduate, and professional – for the costs of graduation apparel and materials. Students can find more information about the program, including eligibility details, and complete an application for funds on the Dean of Students website.

Upcoming Deadlines

See all commencement-related deadlines on the coordinator resources page.

Deadline Task
Dec. 4 Scripts due to UI-commencement@uiowa.edu
Dec. 6 Deadline for students to submit slide photos
Dec. 11 Deadline to approval all slide photos
Dec. 12 Slide photos published
Dec. 16 Completed run of show due to UI-commencement@uiowa.edu
Submit order of events for website to UI-commencement@uiowa.edu
CLAS platform map due to UI-commencement@uiowa.edu
Dec. 17 Name cards delivered to colleges
Dec. 18 CLAS ceremony security list due to UI-commencement@uiowa.edu

 

Scripts

Scripts are due to UI-commencement@uiowa.edu by Wednesday, Dec. 4. These scripts will be used by individuals captioning the livestream of your ceremony, along with the ASL interpreters from Hands Up Communications. Additional guidance for scripts used for closed captioning is available on the coordinator resources page.

Run of Show

The run of show is due to UI-commencement@uiowa.edu by Monday, Dec. 16. A run of show template is available to download on the commencement coordinator resources webpage. We will share these with the president's office and other conferring officials, our colleagues at Hancher, the OSC video team, and the interpreters.

Order of Events

If your ceremony creates an order of events that you would like to have linked on the commencement website, please send it to UI-commencement@uiowa.edu by Monday, Dec. 16.

Platform Maps

A platform map for the CLAS ceremony at Carver is due to UI-commencement@uiowa.edu by Monday, Dec. 16.

Commencement Coordinator Resources

Please visit our coordinator resources webpage on the commencement website.

Additional Updates

Carver Security Enhancements

The University is now working with the contracted security company, Best Crowd Management.

Beginning in fall 2024, all doors into Carver-Hawkeye Arena will be equipped with the latest technology in walk-through metal detectors that graduates and guests will need to pass through for entry. Graduates and guests will not need to empty their pockets or belongings unless instructed by arena security. Please note that steel-toed boots and hard eyeglasses cases can set off the sensors, so consider leaving those items behind if possible. The clear bag policy and all other Carver-Hawkeye Arena security policies remain in effect.

Name Cards

We continue to work with MarchingOrder for commencement name cards. They have made a change in their equipment and are now using QR code scanners. There will be no changes to the process but the cards will now have a QR code instead of a bar code.

RSVP

Confirmed Attending RSVP Totals by College 

College RSVP Total
Liberal Arts and Sciences 468
Graduate College Doctoral 135
Education 74
Engineering 68
Graduate College Masters 105
Nursing 90
Tippie 164
University College 16

 

Submission of Late RSVPs

Please continue to submit late RSVPs on behalf of your students so they receive our communications between now and the ceremonies.

All students who have applied for a degree will have a slide. However, if they are interested in having a photo added, the collegiate coordinator will need to create a template to manage that process.