Colleagues from across the university are invited to play a special part in this winter’s graduation ceremonies.

Volunteers are needed to be part of the graduation platform party for each of our ceremonies. Staff at all levels and from all job families are encouraged to take part.

The time commitment required to be a member of the platform party is two hours in total. You arrive 45 minutes before the start time of the ceremony to the staff robing room – upstairs at David Ross Sports Village – where you will be robed by Ede and Ravenscroft.

Around 20 minutes before the ceremony starts, you’ll be asked to form the academic procession which will be led down into the ceremony hall and marks the beginning of proceedings.

After an introduction by the Presiding Officer, students will be called to the stage to have their degrees conferred and you’ll be asked to applaud as the students cross the stage.

The ceremony generally lasts for an hour, after which the academic procession will leave the ceremony, returning to the robing room. Robes are collected back in and at that point you’re able to leave, unless you want to stay and circulate with graduates in the post-ceremony refreshment area.

This winter we are holding graduation ceremonies between 13 and 16 December for our Class of 2022. This is an amazing time to celebrate the achievements of our graduates and staff and feedback from students tells us that they really value seeing staff who have been involved in their learning and broader student experience at their ceremonies.

We are particularly low on stage presence at the ceremony below:

Wednesday 14 December at 11:45am – School of Computer Science, School of Mathematical Sciences and School of Physics and Astronomy.

Your support would be hugely appreciated – contact Claire Warry at graduation@nottingham.ac.uk to register by Friday 18 November 2022.