2009 UCL GRADUATION CEREMONIES
THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR FORTHCOMING GRADUATION CEREMONY. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN A SAFE PLACE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. We are pleased to invite you to attend the UCL graduation ceremonies which will be taking place in September 2009. To guarantee your attendance please complete the online application which can be accessed via your UCL Student Information Service Homepage (PORTICO) at: https://evision.ucl.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_lgn. This will be available to use from 17 December 2008. If you are unable to complete the online application please contact the Graduation Ceremonies Office in writing or by email and a paper copy will be sent to you. All applications must be submitted with payment to the Graduation Ceremonies Office by the deadline of 30 April 2009. If you do not wish to attend your graduation ceremony or wish to defer it please indicate this on your application. Graduands can only defer attendance at their ceremony once and will have to apply and pay for tickets when the application process begins the following year. By submitting an application the graduand accepts the terms and conditions of the graduation ceremony and reception, which are available to view on our website. If you attempt to submit your application with incorrect or missing details, or if you fail to include the correct payment, you will receive an automated message informing you that your application has not been processed. Any incomplete paper applications will be returned to the sender unprocessed. Once you have submitted your online application you will receive an immediate acknowledgement. You will also be able to view your ceremony booking status on the Graduation Ceremonies section of your PORTICO page. If you submit a paper application an acknowledgement letter will be sent to your ‘contact’ address within seven days of it being processed. If you do not receive this acknowledgement please contact the Graduation Ceremonies Office immediately. If your application is received after the deadline we cannot guarantee your attendance at any of the ceremonies. The date and time of the graduation ceremony is provisional until you receive your official confirmation letter from the Graduation Ceremonies Office. This will be sent to your ‘contact’ address, as it appears on PORTICO, in June 2009. Graduands and guests are strongly advised not to make any travel and/or accommodation arrangements until the confirmation is issued. The Ceremony & Reception The graduation ceremonies will be held at the Logan Hall, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL, U.K. Each ceremony will last approximately one and a half hours and no longer than two hours. After the ceremony, ticket holders are invited to a drinks and canapé reception at UCL. Tickets A graduand ticket costs £15 and guest tickets are £25 each. Payment must be submitted with your application by the deadline of 30 April 2009. If you apply by the 30 April 2009 you are guaranteed your ticket and at least two guest tickets; however, where possible we will try to allocate all tickets requested. We recommend you apply for the maximum number of tickets you think you will require. If we are unable to honour your full request we will refund you. The earlier you apply the better chance you have of receiving your requested number of tickets. Additional tickets will be allocated on a first come first served basis and are subject to availability.
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UCL accepts payment by cash, UK postal order, or debit/credit card. Cash payments are only accepted with paper applications and must be in UK sterling. We are unable to accept American Express / Diners club cards. For paper applications, if you wish to pay using a card which is not your own, please ensure that the cardholder completes the card details section and signs the booking form to give us authorisation to debit the money. We do not recommend that you post cash to the Graduation Ceremonies Office. If you wish to cancel some or all of your tickets you must submit written notification to the Graduation Ceremonies Office by 01 July 2009. Cancellations received after this date will not be eligible for a refund. Attendance of children Graduation ceremonies are recommended for children aged 10 years and over as they are long, formal occasions. Children over the age of 5 will have to pay the full price for their tickets and must be accompanied by an adult. There are no concessionary prices. Children under 5 years of age will not be admitted to the graduation ceremonies. Access Our Access Guide provides useful information about the ceremony and reception venues and can be viewed on our website at www.ucl.ac.uk/registry/events/graduation/access. If you or your guests will be attending in a wheelchair please contact the Graduation Ceremonies Office so we can allocate appropriate seating. We regret that we cannot provide any parking facilities, disabled or otherwise. If you have any specific queries regarding access please contact UCL’s Disability Co-ordinator, Marion Hingston Lamb, on +44 (0)20 7679 1343 or e-mail disability@ucl.ac.uk. Address Changes All correspondence relating to the graduation ceremonies will be sent to the ‘contact’ address on your student record. It is the responsibility of all graduands to amend their address details using the UCL Student Information Service (PORTICO) on the web: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/portico/. If your PORTICO access has expired please email the Student Records Office at studentrecords@ucl.ac.uk and they will amend your address. The Graduation Ceremonies Office cannot be held responsible for mail which does not reach the intended address. If you do not receive mail that you are expecting from our office then please contact us immediately. Visas We appreciate that if you or your guests are travelling from outside the EU to attend a graduation ceremony then you may require a visa to enter the UK. UCL is unable to produce anything relating to your attendance at the ceremonies until you have submitted your completed application with payment. If you have any queries regarding visa applications please contact the International Office at international@ucl.ac.uk. The confirmation letter you receive in June 2009 is usually sufficient to obtain a visa; however, if you would like something prior to this the Student Records Office can produce a certificate of student status, including a statement which confirms that you are expected to attend a graduation cerem ony in September. Both of these documents will name the student who is graduating and the number of guest tickets that have been paid for.
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Academic Robes Academic robes are mandatory at UCL's Graduation Ceremonies and cost £36 to hire. If you apply to attend the ceremonies we will send you details of how to hire your academic robes in June 2009. Data Protection Act 1998 The Data Protection Act 1998 means that we are only able to discuss personal and individual student related matters with the student directly. The Graduation Ceremonies Office is not at liberty to divulge information or take instruction from a third party, even if that third party is a family member. Graduands who apply to attend a graduation ceremony will have their first name, last name and degree title printed in the souvenir programme and it may appear on some merchandise. Degree classifications are not referred to. Thesis titles for research graduates will also be published at the graduation ceremonies. Graduands must inform us in writing, by 30 April 2009, if they would like this information withheld. All information will be taken directly from UCL’s Student Information Service (PORTICO). If a graduand does not apply to attend a graduation ceremony their name will not appear in the programme or on any merchandise. At the ceremony the graduand’s first name, last name and degree title will be announced. The degree classification will not be announced at any point during the graduation ceremony. Official recorded footage of the UCL graduation ceremonies may be posted online. Important Dates 30 April 2009 – Application deadline & Data Protection deadline 01 July 2009 – Refund request deadline We hope you will attend your graduation ceremony. It is, after all, the culmination of many years of study and your degree is an achievement of which you and your family should be proud. With your cooperation we will do our best to make your graduation ceremony as enjoyable and as special an occasion as possible. If you have any queries or would like further information about the graduation ceremonies please do not hesitate to contact us on +44 (0)20 7679 2051/3568/1383/2055, at grad_ceremonies@ucl.ac.uk or visit our website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/registry/events/graduation/
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