MBA: Graduation
Commencement, Hooding Ceremony and Graduation
Commencement
UW Tacoma's annual Commencement is held on Friday of finals week each spring quarter in the Tacoma Dome. Commencement is a formal ceremony recognizing your educational achievement and includes all UW Tacoma undergraduate and graduate programs. Participating in Commencement is open to MBAs who complete their degree between autumn quarter of the immediately preceding year and summer quarter of the current year.
Students do not receive an actual diploma during the ceremony. Diplomas are mailed from the UW Seattle Diploma Office to the address on record at the time degree is completed and may take several weeks to arrive.
Information regarding purchasing cap, gown, and hood is available on the UW Tacoma home page beginning of spring quarter. For Commencement and the Hooding Ceremony, MBAs are expected to purchase and wear their cap, gown and hood.
Hooding Ceremony
The Milgard School of Business MBA Hooding Ceremony is held each year on the Thursday evening before Commencement. At the Hooding Ceremony, a master's hood with the velvet band of blue indicating a degree in Business and lined with the colors of the University of Washington is placed over each MBA student's head by Milgard School of Business Graduate Faculty. Hooding is a symbolic gesture of honor in recognition of the MBA's advanced academic achievement.
At the Hooding Ceremony, the top 20% of the graduating MBA class are initiated into Beta Gamma Sigma
, an honor society for collegiate schools of business, by Milgard School of Business Graduate Faculty holding membership in the society. Membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is a signal honor carrying lifetime affiliations with other outstanding graduates of business schools.
Graduation
MBA students must apply for the master's degree online starting on the 1st day of the quarter the degree is expected to be completed. This may or may not be the same quarter that the graduation ceremony occurs. The MBA student must be registered for a minimum of 2 credits at UW Tacoma for the quarter in which all of the requirements for the degree are met.
Graduation occurs when an individual audit of the academic record by the UW Graduate School and the Milgard School of Business reveals that all degree requirements are completed. The UW system grants the degree and the student name is forwarded for a diploma.
