Spring Graduation

If you’re graduating in the spring 2023 semester, you’re eligible to attend Commencement on Friday, May 5, 2023 at 7pm in the UIC Dorin Forum.  Summer and Fall graduates will be invited to attend the December commencement ceremonies.  (NOTE:  Summer graduates who wish to participate in the spring commencement ceremony must submit the Graduation Petition form above by March 1 to be considered for participation.  Please contact ahsinfo@uic.edu with questions.)

All students who intend to graduate are expected to meet with their academic advisor at least one term prior to graduation to ensure that they are on track to graduate. You’re encouraged to meet with your academic advisor regularly to prevent delays in term of graduation.

Graduate students must also meet deadlines set by the Graduate College. All graduate students (excluding professional Doctor of Physical Therapy and Doctor of Occupational Therapy students) are expected to comply with the Graduate College deadlines regarding thesis defense, format approval and graduation form submission. Refer to the Graduate College for deadlines and requirements.

The campus has partnered with Marching Order to create our graduates’ experience.  Marching will create a display to show your  name, degree, and major on screen as you cross the stage.  Marching Order will also have professional name readers records your name to be played while you are on stage.  All graduates who wish to participate in the Spring 2023 in-person AHS Commencement ceremony on May 5, must REGISTER with Marching Order by April 9. 2023  Late registrations will NOT be accepted.

You will receive an email from Marching Order with your personalized registration link the week of March 13 to create a password and set up your Marching Order account.  You can then:

• Register/RSVP for the ceremony between March 13 – April 9
• Create your personalized slide for the virtual ceremony
• Obtain your GRAD PASS that will be used for check-in and announcing your name at the ceremony.
• Set up the “Record your Name” feature on the registration form to ensure that your name is properly announced.
• Request GUEST TICKETS to attend the ceremony.  Tickets will be required for guests 1 year and older.  At this time, each graduate will initially be able to request up to 4 guest tickets through the Marching Order system.  Graduates may use the following form to request additional tickets. However, requests will be reviewed after registration closes to determine how many additional tickets are available.  This form will “go live” on March 13 and close on April 9.  Graduates will be notified the week of April 17 if they will receive extra ticket(s).  Tickets will be added directly to graduates’ Marching Order account.  Unfortunately, due to limited extra tickets, we will not be able to accommodate all requests.  The ceremony will be livestreamed for guests who cannot be accommodated.  A viewing space will also be set up in Student Center East during the ceremony.

NOTE: Marching Order registration links cannot be shared between graduates as each link is customized to each graduate.

For those who are unable to attend the in-person ceremony, we will have a virtual ceremony page that will show the webcast of the in-person ceremony and have a slide for each graduate.  You are encouraged to customize your slide with a photo and personal message.  The slides can be downloaded and shared with family and friends, or posted to social media, but will not be used in the in-person ceremony.  The link to our virtual ceremony will be available on the university commencement website.

Once graduates register through Marching Order, they will be able to obtain a “Grad Pass.”  A Grad Pass is a personalized code that will be scanned at the commencement ceremony check-in and also as graduates process across the stage.  The Grad Pass is coded to pull up each graduate’s name and degree information.  Please bring your phone to the ceremony or print out your Grad Pass, as you will need it to check-in and before entering the stage.

Please note that academic dress is required to participate in the in-person commencement ceremonies.  Students can preorder regalia through the Josten’s website.  Orders will be shipped directly to your home.  The deadline to preorder regalia is March 17.  Graduates are strongly encouraged to preorder their regalia as limited supplies will be available in the bookstores.

Caps and gowns are still available for purchase in the UIC Bookstore for those who did not preorder through Josten’s.

NOTE: Students earning a Master’s degree in AHS should select the “Student Master AHS” collection when ordering.

For more information, please see the university commencement website. Additional graduation products can be purchased through the UIC Bookstore.

DPT/OTD/DCEP Robes: Specialty caps and gowns for professional students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT); Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD); and Doctor of Clinical Exercise Physiology programs must be ordered online by March 17 using Josten’s preorder link.  A limited number of robes for the DCEP, DPT and OTD programs will be available for purchase in the bookstore in April.  If you plan to order regalia for professional programs, you should plan to do so through Josten’s preorder process.

Prices for regular retainable student caps and gowns are as follows:

• Bachelors – $59.99
• Masters – $89.99 (includes a red stole)
• Doctorate – PhD – $99.99
• Professional Doctorate – OTD/DPT – $159.99

Academic regalia consists of the following:

• Bachelor – Blue cap, blue gown, red stole, and tassel indicative of degree conferred
• Master – Blue cap, blue gown, red stole, tassel and hood indicative of College (gold hood and green/gold tassel)
• Doctorate (DPT, OTD) – Black tam, black gown, teal tassel and hood indicative of College
• Doctorate (DCEP) – Black tam, black gown, gold tassel and hood indicative of College
• Ph.D – Red cap, red gown, gold tassel, and hood lined with red and indigo

• Bachelor of Science: gold tassel
• Bachelor of Arts: white tassel
• Master of Science: green/gold tassel and gold-lined hood
• PhD students: gold tassel and a hood unique to your discipline
• Doctor of Physical Therapy: teal tassel and teal-lined hood
• Occupational Therapy Doctorate: teal tassel and teal-lined hood
• Doctor of Clinical Exercise Physiology: gold tassel and gold-lined hood

A tassel is included with cap and gown orders, but additional tassels are available at the bookstores.

Latin Honors are awarded to undergraduate students who are earning a degree and whose UIC grade point average falls within the following honors categories:

• Summa cum laude: 3.90 and above
• Magna cum laude: 3.75 to 3.89
• Cum laude: 3.50 to 3.74

The UIC cumulative grade point average must be at least 3.50/4.00. Latin Honors designation for commencement purposes will be based on grades and credits earned through the end of the term prior to the commencement ceremony. Student records will be updated after final grades are posted.

Latin Honors cord pick-up:

Honors cords will be distributed in Student Center East (SCE) prior to Commencement week.  Details to follow.  Cords will also be available on site at the commencement ceremony.  Eligible graduates will receive notification from the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs.

Diplomas will be mailed approximately 4 – 8 weeks after graduation. The printed diploma will be delivered to your active mailing address, unless you have created an active diploma address in my.UIC. Addresses can be updated from the Personal Information menu. Any changes to the delivery address of the diploma after the last day of classes should be reported to the Records Office at 312-996-4381, M-F, 8:30 am to 5 pm.

It is recommended that you access your final grade report via my.UIC for your records. Your name as it appears in the portal as of the last day of classes will appear on your diploma. If you have a change of name that you would like to appear on your diploma, please complete the current student diploma name change form to request changes to your name.

If you have any questions, contact the Records Office at 312-996-4381, M-F, 8:30 am to 5 pm.

Diploma covers will be distributed to graduates participating in the in-person commencement ceremonies.  For graduates who do not plan to attend, you may request a diploma cover be mailed to you.  Please contact the AHS Office of Student Affairs at ahsinfo@uic.edu after the commencement ceremonies to make this request.  Please be sure to include your name, UIN, and mailing address in your request.

Degrees are not posted until after final grades have been submitted.  Once grades are submitted, each program begins the process to verify that all degree requirements have been satisfied for each degree candidate.  The college then certifies degrees and sends them to the Records Office for posting to students’ transcripts.  Degrees for the Spring 2023 term will be certified between May 15 – June 2.  Students in professional programs with pending licensure exams are expected to be certified the week of May 17.  Degree dates for each term can be found here.

Although each college’s commencement ceremony may be on a different date, there is one official degree date each term for graduating students.  Generally this degree date is the Sunday following final exam week.  For the Spring 2023 semester, the degree date is Sunday, May 7, 2023.  A list of future degree dates can be found at the following link.

The ceremony will be livestreamed at the following link:

https://go.uic.edu/AHSCommencementLivestream 

You can submit your audition for the AHS Commencement student speaker using the link below.

The Office of the Dean is now accepting submissions for the 2023 Commencement Student Speaker!

Please visit the following link to view the student speaker guidelines and submit your online audition form.  A You Tube video of your speech should be included with your submission. The 2023 Student Commencement Speaker will be selected based on the following criteria: Presentation, Content and Engagement.

All auditions should be submitted no later than March 15, 2023.  For additional questions, please contact Eileen Doran at eileend2@uic.edu.

NOTE:  Professional , graduate, and undergraduate students are all eligible for submission

Graduating students can submit nominations for the AHS Excalibur Award for Teaching Excellence to recognize an outstanding instructor.   The AHS Student Council will collect nominations and identify one instructor from each department to be presented with the Excalibur Award.  Nominations are due March 1 and can be submitted via the following link. (DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MARCH 7.)

Graduating students may also submit nominations for the AHS Advising Award to recognize outstanding advisors in the College of Applied Health Sciences.  The AHS Student Council will select 1-2 advisors to be recognized with this honor.  Nominations are due March 1 and can be submitted via the following link.

Graduates from the Class of 2020 and later can request to keep their UIC email address and forward emails sent to their UIC address to a personal account of their choosing.  Please following the following link for additional details.  Graduates must opt-in for this service using the following opt-in form.  For Spring 2023 graduates, you must wait until your degree has officially be posted to opt-in to this service.  Spring degrees are generally posted by the first Friday in June.

Please note that all bags will be subject to search and all graduates will enter through a metal detector.  Please refer to the seating guidelines and venue policies for more information about prohibited items.

TICKETS:  Tickets ARE required for guests 1 year and older for the AHS Commencement ceremony on May 5, 2023 in the UIC Dorin Forum.  Graduates will be able to request guest tickets through Marching Order once they have registered for the ceremony.  Each graduate will be able to request up to 4 tickets.  If additional tickets are needed, graduates can submit a request for additional tickets through the following form.   This form will not open until March 13.  Requests will not be reviewed until after the registration has closed to determine how many extra tickets are available. Graduates will be notified the week of April 17 if they will receive extra ticket(s).  Tickets will be added directly to graduates’ Marching Order account.  Unfortunately, due to limited extra tickets, we will not be able to accommodate all requests.  The ceremony will be livestreamed for guests who cannot be accommodated.  A viewing space will also be set up in Student Center East during the ceremony.

CHECK-IN:  Doors open at 6pm, one hour before the ceremony begins.  Graduates need to check-in by 6:30pm in the Forum and should bring their Grad Pass to check-in.  Graduates should leave their personal belongings with their guests with the exception of their phone which may be used for their Grad Pass.

SEATING:  Graduates will be seated by degree level in the graduate seating area, but specific seats will not be assigned within programs.  Seating is not assigned for guests but tickets are required.

Graduates or Guests who require accommodations or additional seating assistance should contact the Venue staff at 312-413-5700 prior to the day of the College Commencement to arrange for a seat location and assistance.

PARKING:  Parking is FREE for commencement attendees in Lot 5 (1135 South Morgan Street) and Lot 6 (1135 South Halsted Street).

Additional information about parking can be found here.

Our venues are in compliance with the City of Chicago Covid-19 mandates.   Please visit the City of Chicago Vaccination Requirement website for more information.  If COVID-19 protocols change, information will be posted on the university commencement website. 

At this time, masks are not required for attendees but recommended.