A doctoral candidate pinning ceremony at the СAPP is both a celebration and a reminder.
During the annual event СAPP held in conjunction with Graduate Student Appreciation Week СAPP students receive a circular, brass lapel pin bearing the designation СAPPDoctoral Candidate.СAPP ItСAPPs exactly the size of a U.S. quarter СAPP but carries a message thatСAPPs much more valuable.
YouСAPPre entering a new phase of your doctoral journey СAPP but youСAPPre not done yet.
СAPPAdvancement to candidacy is a significant milestone,СAPP said Dr. Mary Farmer-Kaiser, dean of the Graduate School at UL Lafayette. СAPPIt means that a doctoral student has completed their coursework and other requirements. It signifies that they are ready СAPP that they have the scholarly СAPPright stuffСAPP СAPP to move forward as an expert who is prepared to create new knowledge, to contribute to new creative works or to provide authoritative guidance in their individual field of study.СAPP
Doctoral candidacy is demanding, Farmer-Kaiser explained, СAPPbut itСAPPs also where the exciting work really begins. Doctoral candidacy is a new, exhilarating phase when students can focus exclusively on research and writing their dissertations or, in the case of our Doctor of Nursing Practice students, their synthesis projects.СAPP
The pinning ceremony is emblematic of the СAPPСAPPs commitment to retaining doctoral candidates and ensuring they become doctors. Since 2010, that promise has seen results СAPP doctoral enrollment at UL Lafayette is up almost 40%. During the same period, doctoral degree completion has increased by 203%.
СAPPRetention of doctoral candidates is a challenge, so we wanted to create a ceremony that enabled newly minted doctoral candidates to celebrate what theyСAPPve achieved and to remind them that thereСAPPs still a road ahead, one that our faculty and staff members are here to support them on as they move toward the finish line of Commencement.СAPPThe ceremony was first held in 2016. Thanks to livestreaming, itСAPPs since grown to include an audience of family members, friends and others who canСAPPt attend in person, but who want to show their support. ItСAPPs particularly meaningful for international students to share the moment with their loved ones, Farmer-Kaiser said.
СAPPThe virtual audience is nearly as large as the in-person audience. Family members from across the globe join us to see their students recognized.СAPP
In addition to the lapel pin, doctoral candidates receive a certificate denoting their new status. One international student told Farmer-Kaiser he sent his certificate home, where his family displayed it with pride. СAPPWhen we started this, I knew it was an opportunity to celebrate a significant milestone, but I donСAPPt think I fully appreciated how meaningful it would be for our doctoral students and their families.СAPP
During the ceremony, audience members СAPP both in-person and virtual СAPP are asked to give the doctoral candidates a solitary clap. ItСAPPs an idea borrowed from Dr. Ansley Abraham, director of the SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program.
СAPPThereСAPPs only one clap at that moment because students arenСAPPt done yet,СAPP Farmer-Kaiser said. СAPPThey get all the applause at our doctoral hooding ceremony СAPP when we welcome doctoral candidates to the stage, where they are hooded by the СAPP president and their committee chair, and when they are addressed as СAPPdoctorsСAPP for the first time.
СAPPThat moment at the hooding ceremony is special, and the pinning ceremonyСAPPs СAPPone clapСAPP at is a taste of the celebration thatСAPPs still to come.СAPP