Chancellor Mary Jo Haddad and registrar Alice Miller send congratulations to UWindsor grads as they record video messages on a stage outside Dillon Hall.
Convocation ceremonies, Oct. 14 to 17, will mimic the traditional observance as closely as possible given the strictures demanded by the COVID-19 pandemic, says registrar Alice Miller.
“All the elements will be there, albeit in cyberspace rather than the St. Denis Centre,” she says. “The chancellor and president will address the graduands, we’ll hear greetings from the deans and the winners of special awards, and every grad who submitted their information will have their name called and their slide displayed during their specific session.”
The event will be presented in 13 sessions recognizing the achievements of those who completed their requirements for graduation in either Spring or Fall 2020.
- On Wednesday, Oct. 14, graduands of programs in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences will be honoured in sessions streaming at 3, 5, and 7 p.m.
- On Thursday, Oct. 15, graduands of programs in the Faculty of Engineering will be honoured in sessions streaming at 3, 5, and 7 p.m.
- On Friday, Oct. 16, graduands of programs in the Faculty of Nursing will be honoured in a session streaming at 3 p.m.; and those in the Faculty of Science in sessions at 5 and 7 p.m.
- On Saturday, Oct. 17, graduands of programs in the Faculty of Education will be honoured in a session streaming at 1 p.m.; in the Odette School of Business at 3 p.m., in the Faculty of Human Kinetics at 5 p.m., and in the Faculty of Law at 7 p.m.
A team from the Office of the Registrar, public affairs, and enrolment management staff have been working for more than a month to create video elements that will grace the ceremonies.
“People on campus may have wondered what was going on, but we were careful to observe all safety protocols with the help of Campus Police and the co-operation of all the presenters,” Miller says. “It really took a village to pull all this together.”
Graduands will each receive a kit containing a note of congratulations as well as accoutrements of convocation: their diplomas, a printed program, tassels, and gifts to show their continuing pride in accomplishment. See a sample unboxing in a video by digital media producer Naomi Pelkey: