Information for Students

Sunday, June 9, 2024
11:00 AM 
Boston Park Plaza Hotel
50 Park Plaza at Arlington Street, Boston, MA

Graduating students should arrive by 10:00 AM.

Doors for family and guest ticket holders will open at 10:30 AM. There is no assigned seating for guests. The commencement program will be available on the commencement website. 

1. Complete and submit the Graduation Application. If you are not academically cleared for graduation, the Registrar’s Office will notify you.
2. The portal for ordering commencement regalia is now closed. If you have not ordered regalia, please contact graduation@williamjames.edu by May 10.
3. Complete the Exit Counseling survey if you borrowed a loan from the federal government. If you have any questions about this, please contact Hilary Baxter, the Director of Financial Aid at hilary_baxter@williamjames.edu, or 617-327-6777 x1524.
4. Check to ensure you do not have a balance with the College. You may check your balance by logging into use.vg/KFD1DV. If you have an outstanding balance, you must contact Debra Boyce, Bursar at bursar@williamjames.edu or 617-327-6777 x1523.
5. If you have any Library materials outstanding, please contact Manny Jeudy, emmanuel_jeudy@williamjames.edu or 617-327-6777 x1243, to make arrangements to return them.
6. A special area will be set aside for ticketed individuals with disabilities and one ticketed for individual accompanying a person in a wheelchairs (not provided). Please contact WJC Accessibility Services if you will have a guest in a wheelchair attend the ceremony.

Each student approved to graduate will be allotted four tickets for guests to attend the ceremony. Graduating students and children under 12 do not need tickets. Commencement tickets are not automatically mailed. You must request your commencement tickets immediately at Commencement Information and Tickets. Once the form is received, your tickets will be mailed to you at the address you provide.

Once you are inside, there will be signs posted around the ground level of the hotel to direct you to the robing and line-up area for your program.  Light refreshments will be available for graduates.

You must give your personal belongings to a family member or friend before you proceed to the robing and lineup area. WJC and the Park Plaza are not responsible for any personal items left behind. Please bring your pressed robe, cap, and hood with you to commencement. If you will be carrying a mobile phone, please remember to turn off the ringer during the ceremony. Some students decorate their mortarboards (caps). Please remember to keep it professional.

Doors for family and guest ticket holders will open at 10:30 AM. There is no assigned seating for guests. The commencement program will be on the commencement website. 

Family members and guests may find information about local hotels on the commencement website. 

There is very limited on-street parking near the Park Plaza. Several pay for parking lots are available close by.

Guests, including personally-hired photographers, may take photographs and video during the ceremony only in designated areas. Following Commencement, you and you your guests may take photographs in front of WJC “step and repeat” banners in the robing areas. Photographers will not be permitted in the roped-off areas or in the aisles where the Commencement ceremony will take place. Personal photographers are not given press passes and must present a guest ticket in order to enter the commencement ceremony. William James College has arranged to have a professional photographer take pictures of graduating students as they cross the stage. Information about ordering photographs will be emailed to you after commencement.

WJC staff will be available to assist you to get ready for the ceremony. You must stay in the designated area until the ceremony begins and be in your designated place in line when we give the signal to march. WJC staff will direct you where to go. It will be very important to keep noise to a minimum in this area so you can hear directions from staff and follow last-minute instructions.

All students carry their hoods folded on their left arm during the procession into the hall. After your name is called and you receive your diploma, Dr. Nicholas Covino will hood each student on stage. At this point, if you have children, they may come to the stage to help with the hooding (see specific information below).

Before you depart the robing & lineup area, please be sure to turn off/silence your cell phone. You will begin to march behind in the order stipulated by the WJC staff assisting that day. Walk slowly, stay in line, and follow the directions of the WJC staff member guiding you. File into the seats reserved for your degree group as directed by the usher. Remain standing until President Covino calls the commencement exercises to order and gives further direction.

The commencement program will be available online. Check back to view the program which will be available on the commencement website.

When your department chairperson announces the candidates for your degree, please stand up together. Under the direction of an usher, proceed to the stage one row at a time and keep a continuous flow to the foot of the stage. You will process to the left front stairs as you face the stage. Be sure to allow the student ahead of you adequate time to go up on stage before you follow.

You must bring your lineup card with you. You will be placed in line in alphabetical order by last name within your degree group, using your lineup card. You will present your card to the name reader when you arrive on stage to be recognized. Do not write on your card.

If you wish to have a child accompany you on stage to receive your diploma, a family member must meet you at the bottom of the stage to hand off the child as you first approach the stage. Your family member must then meet you and the child on the opposite side of the stage, and as you come off the stage, take the child back to their seat. Please note that your family member should be as indiscernible as possible and cannot interfere in any way with the ability of the audience to view the ceremony. No children (or other guests) are allowed in the procession, recession, or graduate seating areas.

Once you are on stage, hand your lineup card to the name reader, who will announce your name at the microphone. You will then turn, accept the folder with your left hand, and use your right hand to shake hands with the department chairperson and President Covino, respectively. Dr. Covino will then hood you and your picture will be taken. You will then walk across the stage and down the second set of stairs and return to your seat. You are expected to remain in your seat until the ceremony finishes.

The college marshal will raise the mace to signal the stage party and all graduates to stand for the recessional. The stage party (faculty and administration) will process down the center aisle when looking at the stage, and the graduates will follow. Please carefully follow the directions given to you by the ushers and proceed slowly, remaining in line as you process so the faculty can congratulate you.

The faculty and staff form two receiving lines outside of the hall to receive the graduates as they exit the hall.

Please click here for information regarding access to your William James College email after graduation.

Diplomas for students completing their degree requirements in June will be mailed by July 1. Diplomas for graduating students will be printed with the student's name as it appears on their official college records. Diploma names may be changed by completing the Replacement Diploma Request Form. Information is available about requesting transcripts.

Students who have any outstanding financial obligations to the university at the time of degree conferral will not have their diplomas released to them. If you have an outstanding balance, you must contact Debra Boyce, Bursar at bursar@williamjames.edu or 617-327-6777 x1523 for information regarding tuition accounts.

Family members and guests may find information about local hotels here.

There is very limited on-street parking near the Park Plaza. Several pay for parking lots are available close by.

The commencement ceremony will be livestreamed. Viewers may watch the Commencement ceremony on June 9 at 11:00 AM ET by visiting the commencement website.

A special area will be set aside for ticketed individuals with disabilities and one ticketed for individual accompanying a person in a wheelchairs (not provided). Please contact WJC Accessibility Services if you will have a guest in a wheelchair attend the ceremony.