| Information for Commencement Coordinators | 
Thank you for joining us for the commencement coordinators debrief meeting. A recording of the meeting for anyone unable to attend may be found below.
As always, please let us know if you have any questions by contacting us at UI-commencement@uiowa.edu.
We will be in touch with RSVP and regalia deadlines, along with more information before the start of the fall semester.
Enjoy the rest of your summer! | | | Commencement Regalia | Regalia Numbers
1797 bachelor's, 224 masters, and 344 doctoral regalia orders were placed online and then picked up at GradFest or at the Iowa Hawk Shop and University Bookstore. About 25% of the orders were home shipped and the remaining orders were taken care of in the Hawk Shop.
Regalia Updates Beginning Fall 2024
The website will now show the required items package on both the Grad Packages tab and the Cap & Gown tab. We hope that this will make it clearer for students, so they are not purchasing additional items that are not required (unless they want to!).
There will also be a website available for faculty to rent their regalia and have it shipped directly to them. The spreadsheet option will continue to be available for any college that prefers to manage the regalia for their faculty. Additional information will be shared at future meetings.
Announcements will continue to be available for purchase later than they were this spring.
Regalia Contacts
Melissa Hibbard at Herff Jones: gradmidwest@gmail.com
Gabby McIlvanie at Iowa Hawk Shop: gabrielle-mcilvanie@uiowa.edu | | | Ceremony Attendance + RSVP | Ceremony Attendance
A breakdown of your ceremony run time, the length of time for name reading, and the total number of name cards scanned are available in the Spring 2024 Ceremony Length and Attendance spreadsheet.
RSVP and Microsoft BI Report
The new report functionality has cut down on data processing time for the commencement team. Please let us know if you have suggestions for how to improve the report! We will work to better tailor our instructions to the needs of our professional colleges.
Recent RSVP dashboard updates greatly reduced questions about the slide photo upload.
RSVPing for students in MAUI should be reserved primarily for when the RSVP is closed. We print degree applicant cards for all students who have applied for a degree before the data is turned over to Marching Order for card creation.
RSVP Extension
- 196 RSVPs during the 3-day extension
- 102 RSVPs after the extension closed
| | | Ceremony Updates | The most up-to-date commencement ceremony information is always available on the ceremony page of the commencement website.
Fall 2024 and 2025 CLAS Ceremonies
CLAS ceremonies are moving from Saturday to Sunday at the end of the fall semester.
December 2024 and 2025 commencement dates:
- Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, at 1 p.m., Carver-Hawkeye Arena
- Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, at 1 p.m., Carver-Hawkeye Arena
The decision to move the ceremonies by one day, from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon, is due to variables beyond the University of Iowa’s control. May ceremonies will not be impacted by this change.
There are no planned changes for fall commencement ceremonies currently scheduled at Hancher Auditorium.
Spring 2025 Graduate College Ceremonies
The Graduate College will hold the following ceremonies in spring 2025:
- Thursday, May 15 at 7 p.m., Graduate College Masters Ceremony, Carver-Hawkeye Arena
- Friday, May 16 at 7 p.m., Graduate College Doctoral Ceremony, Carver-Hawkeye Arena
| | | Templates + Additional Reminders | Templates
There are a variety of templates available on the coordinator resources webpage. If there is something that you need but do not see, please contact us at UI-commencement@uiowa.edu.
Additionally, we will be updating our run-of-show template and creating a script template for this fall. These are used by the OSC video team, ASL interpreters, closed captioning team, and others to support the experience of our graduates and their guests.
Additional Reminders
Please remind your speakers to use the language "please stand if you are able."
We will be reviewing and updating our emergency action plans this summer. As new challenges come about, we will continue to modify the plans accordingly. We appreciate your patience with the last-minute changes this spring!
The commencement team no longer has diploma covers. If you are interested in purchasing them for your college, please contact the Iowa Hawk Shop and University Bookstore. | | | Spring 2024 Meeting Recordings | | | | | |
