Academic Dress Information

Academic Attire

Graduation day is approaching and you may wonder what the academic attire may be. Grande Prairie Regional College will supply a graduation gown, hood/stole and hat for your use during the Convocation ceremony. All gowns are the customary Cambridge shape, i.e., a gown of black material falling below the knee with full sleeves. Mortarboards are the standard black, white or red trencher shape and include tassels with a golden graduation year pendant hanging from the band, which are worn forward and to the left. You can view a similar style of gown at Gaspard & Sons. Gowns and hoods/stoles are not for sale and must be returned at the completion of the ceremony. Hats and tassels make a terrific memento and are the graduate's to keep.

Please dress comfortably for the ceremony and the weather. Any combination of suit, blazer, dress pants, turtleneck or shirt and tie for men and suit, dress, pants, skirt or blouse for women is acceptable. During the Convocation ceremony, students’ hands must be free to accept handshakes and receive parchments, so please check your totes, purses, briefcases, valises, coats, sweaters, flowers, etc. for safe keeping in the gown-up room, or leave them with family members or friends.

Gown-up Room
The gown-up room is located in the Blackbox (L104) and is staffed throughout the day. Students must sign in when they arrive and sign out when they return their gown at the end of the ceremony.

Flowers or handbags and other items are neither worn nor carried during the Convocation ceremony and should be left in the gown-up room until convocation has completed.

Academic Dress

Academic dress has a long and complicated history, symbolizing our link with the early development and traditions of higher learning. Although there are countless variations throughout the world, the design and colours of the gowns, hoods and caps are intended primarily to indicate the level of the degree awarded by a university or similar institution as well as the discipline in which it has been awarded. The varies academic dress worn by our platform guests represent study in numerous disciplines at a wide range of prestigious academic institutions throughout Canada and around the world.

Hoods

• Undergraduate Programs are, in most cases, represented by the colours used by the degree-granting institution and a black mortarboard
  • University of Alberta has hoods made in the Oxford pattern of spruce green material. The Bachelor's hood has a border three inches wide of the color distinctive of the Faculty as noted below:
    • Bachelor of Science Nursing graduates are represented by a crimson and white hood
    • Bachelor of Education graduates are represented by a royal blue hood
  • University of Calgary
    • Bachelor of Social Work graduates are represented by a furry white hood
  • Athabasca University has hoods that are black with only trim in specified colours
    • Bachelor of Commerce graduates are represented by a burgundy trimmed hood
    • Bachelor of Management and Bachelor of Human Resources & Labour Relations graduates are represented by a taupe trimmed hood
    • Bachelor of General Studies graduates are represented by a green trimmed hood
    • Bachelor of Arts Students are represented by a fuchsia trimmed hood
    • Bachelor of Science, Computing & Information Systems graduates are represented by a gold/yellow trimmed hood
• Diploma programs are represented by a white mortarboard and vee stole
• Certificate programs are represented by a red mortarboard and vee stole
• Apprenticeship programs are represented by a grey mortar board and vee stole. 

Honours Recognition

GPRC uses gold braided Honour Cords or gold satin Honour Stoles to recognize the academic achievements of both the Valedictorian and the Salutatorian. The Honour Cord is made with a double stranded twisted golden cord with tassels attached to each of the ends. The Honour Stole is made from gold satin in the traditional stole style with the word Valedictorian or Salutatorian inscribed on the front. They are both worn around the neck hanging down in front. You can view a similar style of gown at Gaspard & Sons.

Deans, Faculty and VIPs

The academic deans and faculty wear hoods and gowns in their appropriate faculty colour. Members of the Board of Governors wear scarves which are silver and red with black piping.