More than 300 to attend Otago Polytechnic “catch-up” graduation

More than 300 graduands will attend Otago Polytechnic’s Graduation ceremony at the Dunedin Town Hall today.

The graduation ceremony will involve many who were denied an earlier opportunity to celebrate in person because of Covid-related issues.

“We know and appreciate that celebrating and acknowledging learners’ mahi is an important part of the learner journey and a proud moment for whānau, our community and staff,” says Dr Megan Gibbons, Chief Executive, Otago Polytechnic.

“Because of Covid-19 concerns, we had to cancel our March 2022 Graduation ceremony, although around 4000 qualifications were conferred.

“As part of an online celebration at the time, we ran a survey asking our grads what kind of alternative event they might like to have.

“They overwhelmingly asked for a formal event where they could still cross the stage. It was important to many of them as an acknowledgement of their achievement,” Dr Gibbons says.

“That’s why we added a September ceremony to our calendar. It will be a large-scale, traditional graduation ceremony – just like those we’ve had in the past.”

In recognition of the disruption faced by Otago Polytechnic’s original March graduands, gown hire for this cohort is free.

“We’re really keen to make sure this is a wonderful day for our grads, their whānau and all our staff who work so hard to support our learners’ goals and ambitions,” Dr Gibbons says.