Return of Winter Graduations for Healthcare Students
Category: University Petition
Voting closed
University Response
Annie Jennings (Director of Student Life): Annie acknowledged that there should not be a delay and agreed with the principle of the petition. She provided the following context:
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Additional graduation ceremonies are scheduled for 21–22 March this year, though Annie acknowledged these are not as timely as students would like.
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Approximately 350 students are expected to graduate that weekend.
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The university is in a transition period and is actively working to determine what arrangements work best in the longer term.
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Options under consideration include June graduation ceremonies and an equitable solution that could include an additional ceremony alongside the main graduation.
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The university's longer-term goal is to ensure timely recognition for all students, including healthcare cohorts.
Years of hardwork, months of intense placements, hours of study sessions with coursemates, yet rewarded with a delayed ceremony the following year.
This delay is unfair and unnecessary. It withholds the well-earned recognition that we all deserve and creates financial and emotional strain, whilst failing to acknowledge the reality of students' lives, commitments and unplanned circumstances. Graduating should be a celebration that we all deserve to experience timely, not a postponed congratulations.
We are calling on the University to consider Winter graduations for healthcare students, so achievements are recognised when they are earned.
Comments
Let’s have winter grads! We all deserve it!
This is such a great petition and will benefit so many students whose course does not finish in time to allow them to have a summer graduation. We deserve to have a timely graduation after the years and effort we put into our degree and shouldn’t have to wait until a year later.
There shouldn’t be a delay !
Thank you for this Nife, we shouldn’t have to put off celebrating our hard work ! Hopefully this is actually taken into consideration.
This is brilliant! I stand with you on this one.
Having a winter graduation would be amazing as it would be close to when we are all qualified. It will also make sure that most of us are able to attend as most people will be on vacation in the summer, might move countries or they might also be busy with their lives.
Brilliant I stand with this one
Really good idea! Well deserved for students finishing their studies in summer. Signed and shared :)
This is amazing, every student should be able to be celebrated timely!! :)
There shouldn’t be a delay! I agree
As a nursing student, I completely agree with this! Thank you for seeing a lot of our concerns
As a nursing student, I completely agree with this! Thank you for seeing a lot of our concerns
In agreement, lets hope uni listens to this request
A much needed petition! All students deserve to celebrate their achievements without delay.
This is a great petition. As a dual nursing student at Anglia Ruskin University, I felt compelled to sign it. It is unfair to expect nursing students, who have juggled placements, personal life, mental health, and work to then wait an additional year to graduate and officially celebrate their achievements. We already make significant sacrifices for this course; the very least that can be done is to allow for student nurses to graduate when we are supposed to.
I agree, waiting 9 months for graduation is very unfair
Even if it’s a smaller graduation we should be given the opportunity to be #classof2026 and graduate on the year we actually graduate. Graduating 9 months after finishing the degree is not fair and the atmosphere in the summer graduation will be orientated towards the ungrads, there will be decorations for #classof2027… where will our recognition be?! There are also many international students in my masters cohort that i’d like celebrate graduating with that wouldn’t be able to make it in 2027 because of their visa. I fully support bringing back winter graduation.
We deserve to graduate on time since we have all worked very hard!! It wouldn't feel the same graduating so late. Bring back winter grads!!!
as a nursing student this is a brilliant idea and we have trained for years and deserve it
I fully support it
I fully support the petition
Don't delay
Don't delay
I support this petition
I support this petition!