Graduating from SIUC
Degree Audit - Degree Progress Report
Deadlines for cap and gown order is April 1 for the May commencement, July 1
for August, and November 1 for December.
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For Undergraduate students and for Law students, application forms may be obtained from the Office of Records and Registration, or may be printed from this web site (see below). Complete and sign the form. Undergraduates deliver or mail it to the Office of Records and Registration, SIUC Mail Stop 4701, Carbondale, IL 62901. Law applications should filed with the Registrar's Office, SIUC School of Law, Mail Stop 6804, Carbondale, IL 62901.
- If you are to receive two degrees at the same commencement, please complete two separate Graduation Applications.
- Mark the upper section of the form accordingly if you have one of the listed forms of Financial Aid that pays for the Graduation Application fee.
- Print or type your name on the form as you wish it to appear on your diploma.
- Enter your SIUC ID Number.
- List the Degree being sought (ie., BA, BS, etc.) Law degree is "J.D."
- List the College for the academic program in which you are applying to graduate (ie., Agriculture, Business, Education, etc.)
- List the Major for your degree (ie., English, Mathematics, etc.)
- List any Minor(s) for which you are formally enrolled in, and will be completing with your Major.
- Specify the Month and Year this Graduation application is for.
- Indicate if you plan to attend the ceremony of the applied for Graduation date.
- List the address to which you would like your diploma mailed, and indicate if this address is the same as your permanent/home address.
Sign and date the form, and deliver it by mail or otherwise to the Office of Records and Registration (Law to Registrar's Office, SIUC School of Law), by the deadline.
If the candidate does not meet degree requirements for the applied for commencement, the original application will automatically be moved once to the next commencement without assessment of an additional fee. Should the undergraduate or Law applicant subsequently not meet the degree requirements by the deadline for that commencement date, the applicant name will be removed from the pending graduation list. It will then be the responsibility of the applicant to submit a new Graduation Application form by the end of the first week of the future semester in which they plan to complete degree requirements. The new application will result in the assessment of a $25 graduation application fee. Graduate students should check with the Graduate School regarding their application status.
Undergraduate students may not apply for or participate in a Commencement prior to completion of all degree requirements unless they have the written approval from their Academic Dean, and the approval is on file in the Office of Records and Registration. Students with special permission from their Academic Dean to participate early, must meet the same deadlines as are given for regular applications.
Graduate students may not participate in a Commencement if their degree requirements are not met, and subsequent Graduate School clearance has not been given.
If you indicate on the Graduation Application that you plan to attend the commencement ceremony on the Carbondale campus but later discover that you will not be attending, please inform the Office of Records and Registration by the end of April for the May Commencement, by July 15 for the August Commencement, or by November 15 for the December Commencement.
The commencement ceremony is an important occasion not only for the candidate, but also important for other graduates, families, and friends. Although it is a happy time, it should not be a time of revelry. Conduct by all at the ceremony should be dignified. Alcoholic beverages may not be brought into the ceremony facilities by degree candidates or by guests. Security personnel will be on hand to deal with alcohol or other distracting objects.
Guest seating is available in the Arena and Shryock Auditorium, and tickets
are not required for admittance. Seats for family, friends, and the general
public are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The facilities are
open one hour before each ceremony is to begin.
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Magna cum Laude – The High Honors designation awarded to graduating students with a scholastic average for SIUC work in the range 3.750 – 3.899 or higher, and who also have an All-Work GPA of 3.750 or higher.
Cum Laude – The Honors designation awarded to graduating students with a scholastic average for SIUC work in the range 3.500 – 3.749 or higher, and who also have an All-Work GPA of 3.500 or higher.
Departmental Honors may also be posted to the undergraduate student’s academic record, transcript, and diploma at the time of graduation for students in departments in the College of Agriculture, the College of Liberal Arts, and the College of Science.
Graduate students do not have special degree honors designation posted to the academic record.
Law students do have special degree honors posted to the academic record,
transcripts, and diploma based on School of Law criteria.
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Caps and Gowns may be rented or purchased through the Student Center Bookstore. Note that the deadlines for rental are April 1 for the May commencement, July 1 for August commencement, and November 1 for December commencement. For more information contact the Student Center Bookstore (618) 536-3321.
The academic regalia, consisting of cap, gown, and hood, originated about the twelfth century and was worn primarily for warmth. Later, the material of the gown and lining and shape of the hood represented the economic and social as well as the academic status of the wearer.
In 1895, a commission of American educators established an inter-collegiate code for the academic regalia. This code, revised in 1932, 1969 and again in 1989, provides a comprehensive system of academic regalia for American colleges and universities. While the code specifies black gowns, foreign universities and a growing number of American universities have gowns of various colors.
There are four types of gowns and hoods—the associate's, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s. The associate and bachelor’s gowns are the same except for a slight difference in color, untrimmed and have a closed front and long pointed sleeves. Women may wear a white collar with the bachelor’s gown when no hood is worn. The master’s gown is untrimmed, may be worn open or closed, and has extremely long, closed sleeves with an opening at the wrist. The end of the sleeves are square with an arc extending from the wrist opening to the square end. The doctor’s gown may be worn open or closed and has round, bell-shaped sleeves. There are wide velvet borders down the front and three velvet bars on each sleeve; the borders and bars may be black or the color of the discipline of the degree.
The hood for each degree has a distinctive form. The master’s hood is three and one-half feet in length with wider velvet edging and more of the lining exposed. The doctor’s hood is four feet in length with the widest velvet edging and full exposure of the lining. Hoods are lined with the color(s) of the college or university conferring the degree. The color of the velvet edging identifies the discipline of the degree.
The black mortarboard cap is standard in the United States, although soft
tams are worn at some universities. Tassels are usually black, except when no
hood is worn, in which case the color of the tassel represents the field of
study. Doctor’s caps may have gold tassels. Upon conferral of the degree the
tassel is worn on the left of the cap. Caps are considered part of the academic
regalia and are customarily removed only during prayer, oath, or pledge, and
then by men only.
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In the United States the hood is edged with the color of the field of study and lined with the colors of the university conferring the degree. Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s hoods are lined in maroon with a white chevron. Tassel and/or velvet hood colors, representing the fields of study, worn by students and faculty in the academic processional are:
Tassels (Undergraduate Colleges)
Agriculture, Maize
Applied Sciences and Arts, Orange
Business and
Administration, Drab
Education, Light Blue
Engineering, Orange
Liberal
Arts, White
Mass Communication and Media Arts, Blue
Science, Golden
Yellow
Hoods (Masters and Advanced Degrees)
Agriculture, Maize
Applied Sciences and Arts, Orange
Arts, Letters and
the Humanities, White
Business and Administration, Drab
Education, Light
Blue
Engineering, Orange
Fine Arts, White
Law, Purple
Liberal Arts,
White
Mass Communication and Media Arts, Blue
Music, Pink
Philosophy,
Dark Blue
Public Administration, Peacock Blue
Science, Golden
Yellow
Social Work, Citron Yellow
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The University holds commencement ceremonies at Carbondale three times during the year; May, August, and December. The August and December ceremonies are typically held in the SIU Arena, and the May ceremonies are usually held at the SIU Arena or at Shryock Auditorium based in the specific schedule in place. In August, there is usually a combined single ceremony beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the SIU Arena. For December, the facility used will be the SIU Arena, but there will be two ceremonies. Certain colleges will participate in the morning at 9:30 a.m. with the remaining group of colleges participating in an afternoon ceremony at 1:30 p.m. For May, the colleges each will have their own individual ceremonies over the course of Friday night and Saturday, and using either SIU Arena or Shryock Auditorium, based on the specific schedule.
Candidates should pay particular attention to their time and place of Commencement. Ceremonies are not divided by parts of the alphabet, and candidates may not switch from their ceremony to another. If candidates choose to participate, they must participate in the ceremony for their academic unit. (Graduate students must attend the ceremony for the Graduate School.) The commencement instructions letter gives detailed information, and is sent to all candidates approximately ten to twelve weeks (seven weeks in Summer) before the commencement date.
The length of the ceremonies varies, but range from as short as one-hour to
as long as two-hours. The schedule of ceremonies
is available on-line.
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Graduate students may not participate in a Commencement if their degree
requirements are not met, and subsequent Graduate School clearance has not been
given.
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The tassel is worn on the right side of the cap until the degree is conferred, and after conferral, the tassel is moved to the left side of the cap.
All rented caps and gowns must be returned immediately after the ceremony to the Student Center Bookstore staff present in the Arena Lobby and in the Shryock Auditorium Lobby.
Honors Cords and sashes are generally not recognized as a part of the
Commencement ceremonies, however some student organizations do encourage their
members to purchase and wear those items.
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Seating is available in the SIU Arena and in Shryock Auditorium for guests. Tickets are not required for admittance. Seats are available on a first-come first-served basis. The SIU Arena and Shryock Auditorium will be open for admittance one-hour before each ceremony is to begin.
Both facilities have designated areas for use by guests who may have physical
conditions that would prohibit them from being seated in regular seating
areas.
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Undergraduate and Law Ceremonies in Shryock Auditorium – Candidates should pick up their name/seating card in Altgeld Hall, Room 114 (the building immediately north of Shryock) and assemble there at least one-half hour before their ceremony start time. Candidates in these ceremonies will line up and then proceed from Altgeld Hall to Shryock to begin the ceremony. It is imperative that the candidate be on-time in order to be in the proper place in the processional line. Candidates MUST have their name/seating card before proceeding across stage.
Graduate School Ceremony (and Law School Ceremony when it is held in the SIU Arena)
Candidates for the Doctoral degrees and their major professors, candidates for the Juris Doctorate and the School of Law Marshal/Usher and Reader (when the Law ceremony is in the Arena – August and December), the platform party, and a representative faculty group will participate in the processional and recessional for the ceremony. Doctoral candidates and their major professors (and Law candidates with School of Law Marshal/Usher and Reader) will assemble on the second floor of the classroom wing of the Arena by no later than one-half hour before the ceremony start time. Advanced degree candidates will be given name/seating cards at that time.
All graduate degree candidates should be at the Arena by one-half hour before
the ceremony start time. Candidates for the Master’s degrees will be assigned
specific seats on the SIU Arena floor to be in proper order to receive their
diplomas. They must pick up their name/seating card from the South Lobby of the
Arena before taking their seat in the designated chair on the Arena floor.
Masters degree candidates must be seated in their designated seat on the floor
at least 15 minutes before the ceremony starts. Candidates MUST have their
name/seating card before proceeding across the stage.
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Professional photographers will be at both sites for all ceremonies, and will
be taking a photograph of each candidate as he or she crosses the stage and
a second shot as they leave the stage. A full-color proof set will be mailed
to each candidate approximately one week following the ceremony, but there
is no obligation to purchase. The photography company who currently provides
this service is Chappell Studio, Inc. They may be contacted by calling (515)
472-6892, or by E-mail services@chappell.com or at their web
site http://www.chappell.com/.
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Law School diplomas are typically issued at the May ceremony for candidates who have completed all degree requirements. For August and December ceremonies, the Law diplomas are distributed to the graduates later after grading has been completed.
Diplomas for all Associate, Bachelor, and Master degree candidates, and for Doctoral candidates who do not attend the Commencement Ceremony, will be mailed eight to ten weeks after the ceremony, providing that all degree requirements are completed and any financial obligations to the University are cleared.
If degree requirements are not met, the undergraduate candidates who first
applied for the Ceremony in question, and all Graduate School candidates, will
have their application automatically moved to the next Commencement date.
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Visitor Information, Maps, and Parking
Shryock Auditorium is located in the central portion of the old campus just to the west of Highway 51 (University Avenue), and north of the Student Center. Traffic coming from the north may exit Highway 51 by turning west at Mill Street, then to South Normal Avenue. From South Normal Avenue, one may choose to park in lots at Woody Hall, or turn west onto Lincoln Drive and park in lots north of Pulliam Hall (Clock Tower). Traffic from the south may choose to exit Highway 51 at Lincoln Drive and park at the lots immediately on the right or park in the parking garage just prior to the Student Center. Handicapped parking for the Shryock facility is provided on Faner Drive (the circle drive between Shryock and Faner), just off of West Grand Avenue via South Normal Avenue.
Other parking and routes may be used. See a map of the University showing visitor
information, parking lots, and building locations at http://www.siu.edu/siuc/visitor/.
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If I find that I will not be attending the ceremony I’ve applied for (a change from how I marked the application), what do I do?
| Office of Records and Registration SIUC Mail Stop 4701 Carbondale, IL 62901 |
Office of the Graduate School SIUC Mail Stop 4716 Carbondale, IL 62901 |
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