GRADUATION DATES

There are three graduation dates each year: May, August, and December.

Students should plan to participate in ceremonies as follows:

• Students who plan to complete degree requirements by the end of the Spring semester participate in May commencement ceremonies.
• Students who plan to complete degree requirements by the end of the Summer session participate in May commencement ceremonies. There is no summer commencement ceremony.
• Students who plan to complete degree requirements in the Fall semester participate in December graduation ceremonies.

Specific graduation dates for a term can be found in the University Catalog and the Academic Calendar published for each semester at the Registrar's web site.  

Deadlines for Submission of Theses and Dissertations
Graduate students who have applied for graduation must submit their thesis or dissertation to the Registrar's Office according to the following schedule, for the term in which they are graduating. Missing the deadline may delay graduation.

TERM	THESIS DEADLINE	DISSERTATION DEADLINE
Fall	Friday before commencement date	Last day of classes for the term
Spring	Friday before commencement date	Last day of classes for the term
Summer	Friday before commencement date	Friday before commencement date

About Registering for Commencement
Applying for graduation with the Office of the Registrar does not automatically register you for the commencement ceremony. Registering to participate in commencement is a separate registration process.

You must submit the Commencement Participation Registration form in order to participate in the commencement ceremony (see step 5 at www.odu.edu/commencement). All questions related to commencement should be directed to the Office of University Events at commencement@odu.edu.  

Participation in the commencement ceremony does not certify that a student has graduated. The degree is awarded and posted to the student's transcript after all grades are reported to the Office of the University Registrar and posted to the student's record. The official graduation date is the end of the semester in which all requirements are completed.