What is the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony?
The Doctoral Hooding Ceremony is a unique graduation event that is hosted each semester by FSU in which doctoral students are dressed in academic attire and hooded by their selected faculty advisor on stage, as a symbol of passage from student to doctor.
What is Doctoral Regalia?
Doctoral regalia consists of a gown, hood and tam. The interior lining of the hood displays the color of the institution in which the doctoral student is graduating. Options to rent or purchase a full regalia are available at the FSU Bookstore.
Who Does the Hooding?
Doctoral students must invite one faculty member to perform the hooding and sit with them during the ceremony. The invited faculty member may be the student’s faculty advisor (i.e., major professor) or another faculty member of the student’s choice. If a doctoral student’s faculty advisor (i.e., major professor) is unable to attend the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony, then the Academic Dean of the doctoral student’s respective college will perform the hooding.
Additional faculty members who wish to attend the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony are most welcome. In such cases, the additional faculty members must be wearing their full academic regalia in order to be seated at the venue. Additional faculty members will be seated in a separate section on the venue floor and not next to specific doctoral students. The Graduate School (Joy Stein) must be notified in advance if additional faculty wish to attend, for event coordination purposes.
Doctoral Marshals
Doctoral marshals are graduate faculty or administrators who are present at the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony to assist the doctoral students in navigating the procession, answer questions, and direct the doctoral students to and from their seats.
Pre-Event Refreshments
Prior to the start of the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony, a meeting room will be open and available with light refreshments where doctoral students can meet and mingle with their selected faculty advisor. Students and faculty are encouraged to arrive early to the event.
At 8:30 AM, the doctoral marshals will provide a short demonstration on hooding and then direct all students and faculty out to the arena floor where they must (promptly) find their seat in the designated college section. The event will start promptly at 9:00 AM.
Instructions for Hooding on Stage
Once the doctoral student’s college is announced, a doctoral marshal will direct the students of the selected college to the platform for hooding. The doctoral student should walk first with their “Yellow Card” in their hand, followed by their selected faculty advisor behind them.
Once the doctoral student reaches the bottom of the platform, they must present their “Yellow Card” to the staff member to be scanned, walk up the platform, and then hand their “Yellow Card” to the assistant of the reader. The announcer will then introduce the student by name and college.
The student should walk to the front of the stage and kneel forward to be hooded by your faculty advisor, and then proceed to walk to the opposite end. During this process, the student will be able to shake the hand of the Dean of the Graduate School and Academic Dean of their respective college. A Doctoral Marshal will be present at the opposite end of the platform to direct the student and their faculty advisor back to their seat, where they must remain until the end of the event.
Location and Additional Information
The Doctoral Hooding Ceremony is a separate commencement ceremony that takes place before FSU’s other commencement ceremonies. The event takes place at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, FL, located at 505 West Pensacola Street.
For additional information pertaining to guest tickets/passes, photography, parking instructions, a map of the venue, OAS accommodations, a list of prohibited items, ceremony etiquette, etc., please visit the Registrar’s Office link below.
University Registrar Graduation Ceremony
Contact
If you have questions regarding commencement ceremonies, please visit commencement.fsu.edu. For further information, visit Graduation | University Registrar (fsu.edu). Otherwise, please email Joy Stein at The Graduate School.