Makerere releases graduation program

KAMPALA - As over 12,000 Makerere University upcoming graduands are walking up and down the campus in quest for their missing marks and clearing for the award of transcripts, the university has released the 67th graduation program that will last for four days.

According to the University Academic registrar, Alfred Masikye Namoah, the program will kick off on February 21 with five colleges: college of engineering, design art and technology, college of agricultural and environmental sciences, college of veterinary medicine, animal resources and biosecurity, college of natural sciences and the school of law graduating on the same day.

Students from the college of business and management sciences and college of computing and information sciences will graduate on February 22.

Students from Makerere University Business School (MUBS) and the college of health sciences will graduate on February 23.

The following day, students from the college of humanities and social sciences and the college of education and external studies will be the last to graduate.

Customised graduation gowns

Menwhile, unlike the past graduation ceremonies' outfit, this time the 67th group of graduands are expected to wear the university customised graduation gowns acquired at the Senate building.

The gowns are decorated with the university logo, Makerere acronym ‘mak', and the year of graduation with multi-coloured hoods varying from one college to the other.

According to Namoah, the university council approved the introduction of customised graduation gowns for undergraduate and graduate programs including PhDs starting with the 67th graduation ceremony.

"These gowns are intended to provide the uniformity of the academic dress for graduands. It is professionally designed and unique with special features to rekindle the memories of this special day," he said.

In a letter dated January 19 to all graduands, Namoah added that in order to allow smooth transition, the university management will implement the council resolution in a phased approach beginning with selling these gowns on a first come-first serve basis.

Another approach is that beginning with the 68th graduation ceremony scheduled to take place in January 2018, all graduands will be required to procure university customised gowns.

However, according to this letter, current graduands who will not be able to secure these gowns have been granted liberty to buy other gowns from the open market.