Graduation and convocation are not exactly the same things although sometimes people use the two words interchangeably. 

Graduation is the official acknowledgment of your qualification to claim your degree/certificate parchment. It consists of two parts: 

1. Program completion 
2. Conferment by the University Senate. 

There are two graduations per year – June (Spring) and October (Fall). 

Convocation refers to the graduation ceremony at which you receive your parchment in person. Normally, only the June (Spring) graduation has a convocation..

To support your family’s application, they will need the following documents:

• A Letter of Invitation: The Office of the Registrar does not provide this letter. You can write the letter on your own. Instructions can be found on this webpage for your reference. 
• A copy of your study permit 
• A copy of the ID page of your passport notarized by a lawyer
• Verification of Program Completion* (formerly known as Verification of Graduation): You can order this via the Student Portal. Click on “Request Form” under the “Resources” tab.

*If you want to invite your parents to visit you for reasons other than convocation, a Confirmation of Enrolment might be needed instead of a VPC. 

Please refer to the IRCC website to find out the Visa application processes and processing time and plan ahead of time.

Submitting an application to graduate is a requirement for the conferral of your certificate or degree by the University Senate. Applying to graduate will put your name on the graduation list for the Senate to assess and confer your credential. 

Additionally, applying to graduate is a requirement to receive a Verification of Program Completion (VPC).

Yes! Application is a requirement in order to ensure you will be on the graduation list and if you are qualified to graduate, your degree/certificate is conferred by the University Senate. 

It is also required if you are applying for the Verification of Program Completion (VPC) letter before you officially graduate. The Office of the Registrar will not issue the VPC letter if you did not apply for graduation.

For the June graduation, the application is normally open in mid-October and closes in late January. 

For the October graduation, the application is normally open in mid-June and closes in late August.

It could be because:

• You missed the application deadline and the form is closed.
• If the application is not closed yet, please ensure that you access the form with your AU login credentials (the same user name and password for your AU email account and Student Portal). If you are presently signed in to your personal Gmail on your web browser or Gmail APP, you must sign off completely, and then sign in to your AU email account before accessing the form.

For the June graduation: If you have applied for the Convocation, the Office of the Registrar will conduct a graduation audit in May. If you meet the graduation requirements of your program, you will receive a congratulatory letter from the Office of the Registrar in late May and you will be included on the graduation list to be conferred by the University Senate in the first week of June. 

For the October graduation, the Office of the Registrar will conduct a graduation audit in September. If you meet the graduation requirements of your program, you will receive a congratulatory letter from the Office of the Registrar in late September and you will be included on the graduation list to be conferred by the University Senate in the first week of October.

In early May, the Office of the Registrar will release information about regalia pick up and email it to graduands. Please stay tuned and check your email.

When the Graduation Application is open, the Office of the Registrar sends an email notification to students. Reminder emails will also be sent multiple times before the deadline. It will also be promoted on the Student Portal, website and social media. Make sure you don’t miss it! If you missed the graduation application deadline, unfortunately, you will need to wait until the next graduation. 

For the June graduation, the application is normally open in mid-October and closes in late January. 

For the October graduation, the application is normally open in mid-June and closes in late August.

If you can’t attend the ceremony, the Office of the Registrar will start mailing your degree or certificate to the address you provided in the graduation application after the convocation is over. For June convocation, this will occur in late-June.

Please note that a convocation does not usually take place in the fall. For the fall graduands, the Office of the Registrar will mail all of the parchments to students around mid-October, after the graduation is conferred by the University Senate. 

Fall graduands will be invited to attend the June Convocation of the subsequent year. You will not need to apply for graduation again. The Office of the Registrar will send a separate invitation to the Fall graduands when the June Convocation detail becomes available.

Please note that a convocation does not usually take place in the fall. Fall graduands will be invited to attend the June Convocation of the subsequent year. You do not need to apply for graduation again. The Office of the Registrar will send a separate invitation to the Fall graduands when the June Convocation detail becomes available. 

Graduation must be conferred by the University Senate – this is an official step that must be completed before a degree or certificate is granted.

If you have completed your program, for instance, in December, and your graduation doesn’t occur until June of the subsequent year, you are not considered graduated until you are conferred by the Senate in June. Therefore, your official transcript will not and cannot state that you have graduated. It will indicate “None” under “Program Completion”. 

If you are applying for the Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) in the interim but have not received your degree/graduate certificate, you can apply for a Verification of Program Completion Letter (VPC). You can order this via the Student Portal. Click on “Request Form” under the “Resources” tab.

Students graduating with an overall average of 80 per cent or higher on all courses completed at Algoma University and required for the degree, will be granted their degree cum laude (The overall average must be calculated on a minimum of 60 credits completed at Algoma University presented for the degree). Students who were admitted to Algoma University based on a College Diploma with an A average, and maintained an A in their studies at Algoma U, will be granted their degree cum laude.

If you have been waiting for the parchment for weeks, possible reason for the delay could be: 

1. You still have balance on your student account. The Office of the Registrar will not release any documents (letters, transcripts, degrees, certificates) for students who have an account balance. You can view any outstanding balance under the Financial Summary in your Student Portal. To clear your account balance, you can make a payment directly on the Student Portal. For any account related questions, please contact [email protected]. 
2. You did not provide an accurate mailing address. Please email [email protected] to correct your mailing address. 
3. You have moved to a different address but did not inform the Office of the Registrar. Please email [email protected] to update your mailing address and update it on your Student Poral on your own. 

The mailing address you provided is a PO box. Please note that we shipped all parchments via Purolator. Purolator does not deliver to PO boxes. Please email [email protected] to update your address.