University of Bolton to resume in-person graduation ceremonies

The university will resume in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since summer 2019, before the first national coronavirus lockdown, with covid-secure measures in place.

But no guests will be invited.

It had hoped to stage traditional ceremonies for graduating students last year and this year, but with the uncertainty around 'freedom day', the university says it has come up with 'innovative' alternative plans in which graduands can don their cap and gown.

It is one of a handful of universities to award degrees in person, with other establishments choosing to stage virtual ceremonies or postpone them.

But one student told The Bolton News they would prefer to have been given the choice to hold a traditional ceremony when restrictions are lifted.

She said: "The crowning glory after three years of hard work is the graduation.

"The feeling of walking proudly in front of friends and family to be rewarded for years of studying towards dream careers.

"Now this has been snatched away from Bolton University graduates. It is understandable after the pandemic that things are still very uncertain, however, the mass majority of students would have preferred to wait another year to have the real graduation experience they deserve."

A total of 7,500 students, including those whose ceremonies were cancelled last year, will be invited to the 'unique' event, which will be filmed by a documentary crew.

The ceremonies will take place from July 9 to 16 on the university’s covid-secure campus. Students will be invited individually to attend the campus at a specific, allotted, time slot.

They will be required to show on arrival proof of a negative lateral flow test.

Other measures, include airport-style temperature scanners at entrances, face coverings and social distancing will also apply.

Family and friends will be able to watch a film of the graduation at a special ‘world premiere’ in late summer

Graduands will arrive on campus and be dressed in their gowns and photographed before receiving their degrees individually in the main lecture theatre.

As they receive their scroll on stage from the presiding officer, the head of the school of faculty, they will have their photograph taken again and then leave via a one-way system.

The documentary film of the whole event will be directed by Professor David Thacker, a Bafta-nominated TV and Oliver Award-winning theatre director.

Professor George E Holmes DL, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Bolton, said that it was clear that students wanted to have some sort of physical graduation ceremony if it was at all possible. He added: “When we told students our plan for the alternative graduation it was very well received.

“As you can imagine, organising graduation this year has been a complex undertaking, as the situation and national regulations have been changing at a fast pace.

“However, I am confident that it will be a unique and special day and one that students can remember, at a time when many other universities are organising purely virtual graduations or just cancelling them.

“We were very reluctantly forced to defer our graduation ceremonies last year. We were determined that this year we would do everything we could to make the day special for our students.

“They have worked incredibly hard in the most challenging of circumstances, under some sort of restrictions for most of the past 16 months.

“They deserve to be able to physically receive their degree, to get dressed in their academic gowns and hats and to celebrate their fantastic achievements.”

Professor Holmes said: “It is obviously not ideal that friends and family will not be able to attend this year and we understand their disappointment, but this was the only safe solution in terms of a graduation event this summer, particularly with the latest news about the prevalence of the new Delta variant.

“Instead, we have decided to produce the film which everyone will be able watch at a later date, with their friends and family and keep as a lasting memento of a special day.”

Students upset at the plans are said to be organising their own graduation ceremonies once restrictions end.

The student said it was what they deserved after having their university life and studies disrupted by the pandemic.

She said: "Many students are currently planning a mass boycott of the insulting event and resorting to planning their own graduation in 2022, booking out their own venue and renting their own gowns."

The university said it was aware and understood the upset felt by some students, but added their plans had been well received by the majority of graduands.

Cambridge University has resumed in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since February 2020, before the first national coronavirus lockdown.

Press Release from the University of Bolton

University of Bolton students will collect degrees in person this summer at ‘Alternative Graduation’

Students at the University of Bolton will be able to collect their degrees in person this summer in a series of ‘Alternative Graduations’.

A total of 7,500 students, including those whose ceremonies were cancelled last year, will be invited to the unique event, which will be filmed by a documentary crew.

The ceremonies next month will take place on the University’s Covid-secure campus.

An animated video, featuring a character called ‘LearnEd the Owl’, has been produced to explain to students as clearly as possible how the ‘Alternative Graduation’ will work.

From July 9-16, students will be invited individually to attend the University of Bolton’s Covid-secure campus at a specific, allotted, time slot.

Students and staff will be required to show on arrival proof of a negative lateral flow test, taken as close to the event as possible and definitely no more than 48 hours old.

Other measures, including airport-style temperature scanners at entrances, wearing face coverings and practising social distancing, will also be in place to keep students safe.

Because of the requirement to practise strict social distancing, no guests will be invited.

However, family and friends will be able to watch the final professional graduation movie at a special ‘world premiere’ in the late summer (August or September).

Graduands will arrive on campus and be dressed in their gowns and photographed, before making their way to receive their degrees individually in the Main Lecture Theatre, where there will only be essential staff attending, no guests.

As they receive their scroll on stage from the presiding officer (Head of the School of Faculty) they will have their photograph taken again and then leave via a one-way system.

The process will operate in a similar way to a Covid-19 vaccination appointment. No student should be on campus for more than 30 minutes.

The documentary film of the whole event will be directed by Professor David Thacker, a Bafta-nominated TV and Oliver Award-winning theatre director, who is the University’s Professor of Theatre.

Professor George E Holmes DL, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Bolton, said that it was clear that students wanted to have some sort of physical graduation ceremony if it was at all possible. He added: “When we told students our plan for the Alternative Graduation it was very well received.

“As you can imagine, organising graduation this year has been a complex undertaking, as the situation and national regulations have been changing at a fast pace.

“However, I am confident that it will be a unique and special day and one that students can remember, at a time when many other universities are organising purely virtual graduations or just cancelling them.

“We were very reluctantly forced to defer our graduation ceremonies last year. We were determined that this year we would do everything we could to make the day special for our students.

“They have worked incredibly hard in the most challenging of circumstances, under some sort of restrictions for most of the past 16 months.

“They deserve to be able to physically receive their degree, to get dressed in their academic gowns and hats and to celebrate their fantastic achievements.”

Professor Holmes said: “It is obviously not ideal that friends and family will not be able to attend this year and we understand their disappointment, but this was the only safe solution in terms of a graduation event this summer, particularly with the latest news about the prevalence of the new Delta variant.

“Instead, we have decided to produce the film which everyone will be able watch at a later date, with their friends and family and keep as a lasting memento of a special day.”

As well as the main movie featuring all graduating students, there will be several versions edited separately and featuring the individual University Schools.

The graduation ceremonies will run from July 9-16, 2021.