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Graduate School

Doctoral Hooding Ceremony

A hooding ceremony is an intimate gathering of faculty and students in academic regalia to recognize the achievement of the highest academic accomplishment. During the ceremony, the student will be seated center stage while their name, dissertation/capstone title, and brief background of the student is read. Traditionally, the faculty advisor and Director of the Graduate School will hood the student, signifying their success in completing the graduate program. However, the student may choose a graduate faculty member of their choice to hood them.

Two hooding ceremonies will be performed each academic year. The December ceremony will recognize August and December graduates of that year. The May ceremony will recognize May graduates of that year. A reception will follow each ceremony.

2021-2022 Dates

December 10, 2021 at 6 pm in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center

May 6, 2022 at 5:30 pm in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center

  • Eligibility

    Doctoral students (Ph.D., Ed.D., Au.D. or DNP) will be eligible to participate if they have completed all degree requirements including successful defense and submission of final deposit materials of the dissertation or capstone by November 8, 2021 for the December ceremony and March 28, 2022 for the May ceremony.

  • Registration

    Eligibility to participate will be verified. See eligibility requirements above.
    The registration deadline is March 28, 2022 for the May ceremony.

  • Faculty Hooder

    You will be asked to designate a hooder during the registration process. This is most often your faculty adviser, or another faculty member from your department. Please confirm that this person is willing to participate before completing the registration form. The faculty hooder will submit up to 100 words about the student and their research to be read by the emcee during the ceremony. This will be given to the student as a memento. Additional details will be provided to the faculty hooder.

  • Regalia

    Regalia is strongly encouraged for participants (student and faculty). If you need to order regalia, please visit the Jostens website.

    Faculty deadline is March 25.
    Student deadline is March 18.

  • Special Accommodations

    If you need a special accommodation to fully participate in this event, please contact the Graduate School at (309) 438-2583. Please allow sufficient time to arrange the accommodation.

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