Hello again! 

As this You Make Change has been open for a while now for voting to take place, I'm going to mark it as completed. Needless to say, however, that myself and Emily (VP Student Communities) will continue to monitor the situation, and should any changes be suggested we'll be sure to reach out to our PhD student population. 

If you have any more questions don't hesitate to get in touch with me on vpeducation@susu.org.

All the best,

Samuel Dedman (VP Education 2017-19, vpeducation@susu.org)

Hello!

Thanks for getting in touch. You're correct in saying that this was changed due to the length of some ceremonies, although the Union's PG reps did raise concerns very similar to yours when the conversations were taking place. The University's Graduation Team have responded with the following: 

"I absolutely acknowledge the sheer amount of blood, sweat and tears shed in getting a PhD. We do recognise doctoral students by reading out their thesis title (subject to consent) before announcing their name so they are on stage, so to speak, for a little longer. Additionally, some graduands were not comfortable with kneeling in front of the audience and/or the Presiding Officer. The subject was debated at some length by the University’s senior leaders last year and the current arrangement was considered the best solution, and all I can say at this stage is that it’s unlikely to change in the short term."

This You Make Change is now live on the SUSU website, so voting on your idea can now take place. Make sure you send the link around to your peers - the more student input, the better! 

All the best,

Samuel Dedman (VP Education 2017/18, vpeducation@susu.org)