Information for Graduates

Prepare for Commencement

All students must apply for graduation through the student portal in Workday. Contact the Office of Enrollment Management for more information, or call (601) 984-1080.

Announcements

Graduate products are available for purchase through the UMMC Bookstore. Invitations are available online only. Click here to order.

Location

Commencement is held at the Mississippi Coliseum, 1207 Mississippi Street, Jackson, MS 39202. Phone: (601) 961-4000. Graduating students must be lined up in regalia by 9:30 a.m. in the Trade Mart in the areas designated for each school. Before lining up, leave any personal items (suit coats, purses, cell phones or other electronic devices, etc.) with a family member or friend. There is no place to store personal items at the Coliseum. The Coliseum does not allow balloons or party items inside the Coliseum. Marked seating for handicapped persons and one visitor is extremely limited. Please encourage your friends or family members who are unable to climb stairs or who use a wheelchair to come early. The Coliseum does not provide wheelchairs.

Diplomas

Diplomas are printed with each student’s official name as recorded in Workday. This is also the name that will be announced at Commencement. Diplomas can be picked up in the Trade Mart at the Diploma station immediately following the ceremony once regalia is returned.

Students who do not participate in Commencement can pick up their diplomas in the Office of Enrollment Management on or after Monday, June 5, 2023. To have your diploma mailed, you MUST submit a written request to diploma@umc.edu. Diplomas are not mailed without a written request from the student.

Regalia

Regalia information is captured when students apply for graduation in Workday. Students may contact Lauren Nichols at lnichols3@umc.edu for more information. Regalia should be picked up in the Norman C. Nelson Student Union on Thursday, May 25 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. If you cannot pick up your own regalia, please have someone pick it up for you. Regalia should be returned to the Bookstore personnel in the Trade Mart immediately following the ceremony. Graduates cannot pick up diplomas until regalia is returned.

Added decorations to robes or mortarboards will not be allowed under any circumstance.

Honors cords denoting honors received while a student at UMMC may be worn at Commencement. No honor cords, medals or stoles denoting honors, awards or memberships received outside UMMC should be worn. Contact your school for more information on honors.

Event

The Commencement ceremony begins promptly at 10 a.m. and should end shortly after 12 p.m.

Candidate appearance

All candidates must wear appropriate apparel under the academic dress (dark dresses or slacks and dark shoes, no sandals, no jeans, no shorts, no tennis shoes).

Mortarboards sit straight on the head, not at an angle. Wear the tam horizontally so that it is parallel to the ground and sits about an inch above the ears. The tassel should hang over the left front of the mortarboard or tam at all times.

Candidate line-up

Candidates should enter the Trade Mart through the Mississippi Street (main) entrance on the north side of the Coliseum. Graduates must assemble by 9:30 a.m.

• School of Nursing candidates will robe and line in the up in the Trade Mart in a designated area.
• School of Health Related Professions candidates will robe and line in the up in the Trade Mart in a designated area.
• School of Dentistry candidates will robe and line in the up in the Trade Mart in a designated area.
• School of Population Health candidates will robe and line in the up in the Trade Mart in a designated area.
• School of Medicine candidates will robe and line in the up in the Trade Mart in a designated area.
• School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences and MD/PhD candidates will robe and line in the up in the Trade Mart in a designated area.

Candidate procession

• School of Nursing candidates   
• School of Health Related Professions candidates
• School of Dentistry candidates 
• School of Population Health candidates
• School of Medicine candidates
• School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences candidates
• MD/PhD candidates

Photographs

A commercial photographer will be taking photos of each graduate as they receive their diploma and/or hood. A free color proof will be mailed approximately two weeks after graduation to the graduate's address on file. This address can be updated by the student in Workday. You may order photographs from the proof at that time. If you do not wish to order, the proof is yours to keep.

Additionally, from 7-9 a.m. only, the photographer will be set up on the second floor concourse from the north entrance, to take studio prints of graduates (which can include family or friends). No reservations will be accepted. This is first come, first served only. All photos will end promptly at 9 a.m.

News releases

The Office of Enrollment Management provides to the Office of Communications and Marketing an electronic spreadsheet listing all graduates, their degrees conferred and their cities of residence. The Office of Communications and Marketing disseminates that spreadsheet, and a link to photographs of students who chose to have them taken prior to Commencement, to media via a news release on Commencement day. Graduates or their families wanting announcements in their local media outlet should contact the chosen news organization directly.

Office of Development – Alumni Engagement

Your Alumni Engagement team is here to help keep our vibrant alumni community connected to the University of Mississippi Medical Center and to each other. We accomplish this by strengthening communications between our alumni and UMMC, celebrating and building traditions, fostering student and alumni leadership, and creating opportunities for investment in UMMC’s future. Please take a minute to update your contact information today so we can keep in touch with you.