Convocation Handbook for Grads

Each student is guaranteed up to three tickets for friends and family (please note, students do not need tickets). You are allowed to request up to three more tickets. These are NOT guaranteed and are allocated on a first-requested, first-served basis. This is another reason to get your graduation application in as early as possible. Please also note, ceremony sizes vary, which means some ceremonies will have more extra tickets available than others. If you miss the February 28 deadline to apply, you are not guaranteed any tickets. 

You will receive your tickets when you receive your regalia in the Campus Store on the Nanaimo Campus. This occurs in the week leading up to convocation with dates announced in May. Please schedule time to complete this vital step. Your guests cannot gain entry to your ceremony without their tickets and you cannot participate without regalia. See below for information about regalia rentals. 

Due to Fire Code regulations, every guest must have a ticket (including infants).

If you were allocated tickets but won’t be using them, please email convocation@viu.ca and let us know. We will allocate them to one of your fellow classmates.

VIU holds convocation ceremonies in the gymnasium at our Nanaimo campus. See the map at the bottom of this page.

Free parking will be available in all VIU parking locations on convocation days. Parking Lot Q will be reserved for students and guests with mobility challenges. Guests can also be dropped off on the south side of the gymnasium or at Lot V1 and Lot S off Fourth Street. 

Please find the accessible map for convocation.

The main doors to the VIU gymnasium will open one hour prior to the ceremony. Guests must be seated at least 10 minutes before the ceremony begins. Bleacher seating is general and first-come, first-served.

Guests may bring their own cushion for added comfort, and are encouraged to bring water as it can get warm in the gymnasium.

The ceremony is usually about two hours long with no intermission. We ask that your guests remain seated in the gymnasium for the duration of the ceremony.

There will be a display of merchandise and flowers for sale before and after the ceremony. Guests can also order ahead of time to guarantee a desired colour or size. Orders will be ready for pick up at the ceremony.

Ceremonies are as follows: 

• Monday, June 9, 2025, 10 am: Ceremony one: Faculty of Management
• Monday, June 9, 2025, 2:30 pm: Ceremony two: Faculties of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Trades and Applied Technologies, Academic and Career Preparation
• Tuesday, June 10, 2025, 10 am: Ceremony three: Faculties of Education and Science and Technology
• Tuesday, June 10, 2025, 2:30 pm: Health Sciences and Human Services
• Thursday, June 12, 2025, 10 am:  Semélshun Indigenous Graduation Recognition ceremony. This ceremony is for Indigenous students only.

The alternate viewing location is in Building 210, Room 275. 

Reception information will be released towards the end of the Spring academic semester. 

The Vancouver Island University Residences - Nanaimo Hotels

offers affordable short-term accommodation for summer visitors to the city of Nanaimo.

Our hotel features a variety of room options to suit every need, including four-bedroom apartments, two- bedroom suites and single rooms. Enjoy spectacular views, free guest parking and campus amenities! We look forward to welcoming you during convocation. Please contact (250) 740-6640 or residence@viu.ca with any questions.

If you or anyone in your family have mobility or accessibility concerns and need additional support to participate in the ceremony, please contact us as soon as possible.

Accessibility Services Office: 250.740.6446 | AccessibilityServices@viu.ca

Convocation Office: Convocation@viu.ca

If any of your guests are in a wheelchair or require special seating arrangements, please email Convocation@viu.ca well before the ceremony date to make arrangements.

Content coming.

The last day to order regalia online for Convocation 2025 will be around May 10. Gaspard cannot take orders after this date.

It may be possible to place a late order through the Nanaimo Campus Store. Email Campus-Store@viu.ca to inquire.

Please note: an additional, non-refundable $55 late fee will be charged in addition to the regalia rental cost on all late orders. 

Your VIU regalia will be available at the Campus Store starting the week before convocation. This is also where you will collect your tickets for your guests.

When you pick up your VIU regalia, please make sure you receive all that you ordered. All students should pick up a mortarboard cap/tassel and black gown. If you are graduating with a bachelor's or master's degree, you should also pick up the appropriate coloured hood. If you are graduating with an advanced diploma, post-degree diploma, graduate diploma or graduate certificate, you should pick up the appropriate coloured stole.

A friend or family member can pick up your VIU regalia for you if you give them a permission note (by letter or email) to take with them to the Campus Store. Your note should include your full name and student number, your representative’s full name and the exact credential you are receiving.

The cap is yours to keep, but the gown and the hood or stole must be returned. Please return your regalia to the Nanaimo Campus Store (Building 305) immediately after your ceremony/reception.

Parchments will not be handed out at the ceremony. This is due to feedback from previous years graduates that parchments were difficult to keep track of and often got damaged. They asked for alternatives to receiving them during the ceremony.

You may pick it up at the Registration Centre in Building 200 during the week of June 9 to 13.  Any parchments not picked up by July 11 will be mailed out to your address as noted in your online student record. 

More information on Semelshun Indigenous Graduation Recognition Ceremony will posted here when it is available. Because Semelshun Indigenous Graduation Recognition Ceremony is in the gym (Building 190), parking and location information is the same. If you have any questions about Semelshun Indigenous Graduation Recognition Ceremony, please email convocation@viu.ca.  

This information will be updated in May.

Note: your guests should go directly to the gymnasium, not to your muster location

Each group of graduating students will be led throughout the ceremony by a VIU faculty or staff member, called a marshal. Your marshal will assist you before the ceremony with putting on your regalia, giving you your oath card, and helping you get in order and moved to your assigned seat location in the gym. The marshals will also line you up at the podium to receive your credential or certificate and lead you out of the gymnasium at the end of the ceremony.

You need to be at your muster location no later than 1 hour before your ceremony. Be sure to allow extra time for parking and more time if you need to pick up your regalia and tickets before your ceremony.

It will get warm in the gymnasium, so keep your clothing light. If you choose to wear a suit, you may want to leave the jacket on a coat rack in your muster location, so that you won’t get too warm.

Master’s students should be aware that the master’s gown sleeves do not cover your lower arms.

When choosing your footwear, keep in mind that we will walk outdoors from your muster location to the gymnasium, which may include hills or stairs.

Please note: no flowers, buttons or other ornamentation is permitted on your regalia.

Be sure to bring all of your regalia with you, and only the basics you need for the ceremony. Students often find having too much to carry becomes a nuisance and items are often forgotten and lost in the muster locations. Water will be available in the muster locations.

Leave valuables at home or with your guests. We cannot guarantee the security of your valuables if you leave them in the muster location. If you do leave anything in the muster room, be sure to retrieve it directly after the ceremony. Items not collected right away can be picked up from the gym office during regular office hours.

When you get to your muster location check in with the reception desk. You will be directed to the appropriate spot to meet fellow students and the marshal responsible for your program. 

Your marshal can help you get your regalia on properly. There will also be volunteers wearing VIU aprons who can help with regalia. Your marshal will give you an oath card with your name, your reserved seating location and your parchment number on it, and will line you up in order according to the number on your card.

Keep this oath card to present to the reader when it's time to cross the stage.

Shortly before the start of the ceremony, your marshal will walk with you to the northwest entrance of the gymnasium. Once you enter the gym, convocation hosts will guide you to your reserved seating location.

Note it is critical that you arrive at your muster location an hour before the ceremony begins so you can be seated with your program. 

If it is raining on convocation day, umbrellas will be provided to graduates for the walk from their muster location to the gymnasium. Umbrellas will be collected as you enter the gymnasium.

The ceremony starts with a welcome from the Snuneymuxw First Nation, a blessing from VIU Elders-in-Residence, and the singing of “O Canada.” Then, the Master of Ceremonies asks everyone to be seated and officially opens convocation.

During the ceremony, there is often a special presentation of an honorary doctorate or other university award. Following the presentation, there is a welcome from the Alumni Association and the Graduate Candidate Oath. This is where your oath card will come in handy!

Following the oath, members of the graduating class will be presented individually to the Chancellor, the President and your Dean:

1. The number on your oath card represents your position in this lineup.
2. Each program will be presented in turn. Remain seated until it is your program’s turn. Your marshal will signal for your group to rise and line up at the podium.
3. When it is your turn to be presented, hand your oath card to the reader at the podium. If your name is difficult to pronounce, please whisper the pronunciation to the reader.
4. Once your name has been announced, walk at an even pace to the centre of the lower stage.
5. At centre stage, you will meet the Chancellor, the President and your Dean.
6. Continue across to the bentcorner box at the far side of the stage, where you will be invited to participate in a scholarly tradition unique to VIU: touching the inside of the lid of this ceremonial box. In this way you will symbolically leave your imprint on your university.
7. Return to your seat. After all grads have been presented, the valedictorian will address the graduating class.
8. The ceremony will conclude with closing remarks from the Master of Ceremonies.
9. At the end of the ceremony, a bagpiper will lead all graduates and VIPs out of the gymnasium.

Each ceremony is broadcast live at VIU’s Facebook page. The live feed will start just before the ceremony. If you have family or friends who are unable to attend the ceremony in person, we hope they will be able to share in your experience from afar.

After the ceremony, you can find the video on VIU's Facebook page under videos. It will also be posted on the Historical Convocation Ceremony Information page.

You will see photo op locations with commemorative backgrounds. These are a great spot for your family, friends and supporters to snap a great picture in the moment!

Candid photographs taken during the ceremony and reception by VIU staff members will be made available on VIU’s Facebook page.

We encourage all of you to post photos to social media. Use the hashtag #VIUGrad to help us share your joy.