It wasn’t an easy decision for the University of Johannesburg (UJ) to suspend their graduations due to the Covid 19 pandemic, but now the university is planning to hold the event virtually this week.
UJ has unveiled its virtual graduation ceremony, where its 13 000 graduates will have the opportunity to don graduation attire in the comfort of their own homes.
Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UJ, Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, expressed, “We trust this virtual ceremony will afford graduands, family and friends to experience some elements of a graduation ceremony. The university is also planning an in-person celebration at a later stage, providing government restrictions are lifted on public gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The university had to suspend and postpone its autumn and winter series of graduations, which would have comprised of more than 60 graduation ceremonies from 16 March to 13 May. With UJ shifting the ceremony to online platforms, close to 10 000 undergraduate diplomas or degrees and almost 3 000 postgraduate degrees, including 669 Masters’ and 133 Doctoral degrees will be virtually awarded by Prof Marwala.
In total, more than 13 000 families and the communities that the graduands come from will be positively impacted by the success of the students. To celebrate the occasion, graduates will be able to take a graduation selfie (photo), in the graduation attire, while ‘standing around’ at the virtual graduation ceremony on an app recently created. Students with access to the app will also be able to access their academic records electronically.
Thanks to the app, graduates and current students will now be able to send a secure electronic academic record to themselves or a third party, for example a prospective employer, free of charge. The electronic academic record is an official document that is digitally stamped and signed by the registrar.
University of Johannesburg Virtual Graduation Ceremony video:
