Before you register for the semester/term in which you expect to complete your program requirements, meet with your advisor and determine if, when grades have been awarded for the courses in which you are about to enroll, you will have completed your program requirements.
Go to the "Steps to Graduate" portion of the CampusWeb (CampusWeb) "Student" tab and submit your Intent to Graduate.
Registration & Records will e-mail a response to you that lists any remaining program requirements — if necessary, meet with your advisor again to adjust your registration.
Your cap and gown for commencement is a free gift from the college to you! If you are going to be participating in the commencement ceremony and would like to order a cap and gown, be sure to list your height on your Intent to Graduate form. Caps and gowns will only be ordered for students with a height listed. Additional caps and gowns will be ordered and be awarded on a first come - first served basis. Caps and gowns will be given to you at commencement practice.

If you are expected to participate in Commencement the Office of Student Life will provide instructions to you.

Questions about your degree? Contact Registration & Records via one of the following modes:

• reghelp@mpcc.edu
• 308-535-3774 (North Platte) or 1-800-658-4308 ext 3774 (outside of the North Platte calling area)
• Visit a Welcome Center located within any of our three main campuses.

Questions about commencement?  Contact the Student Life Office via one of the following modes:

• Phone: 308-345-8108 or 1-800-658-4308 ext. 8108
• Email: bashorr@mpcc.edu

Students

What time does Commencement begin? 10:00 (CST) at McCook Community College, MCC Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center, and 3:00 pm (CST) North Platte Community College, South Campus, McDonald Belton Gym

What time do I have to I have to line up and where do I meet to line up?

At MCC – You need to be present in the MCC Event Center's Auxiliary Gym no later than 9:15 AM on commencement day.
AT NPCC – You need to be in the McDonald Belton Theatre no later than 2:15 PM on commencement day.

Do I get to keep my cap and gown? Yes

Do I get to keep my PTK stole? You will need to check with your PTK advisor.  Some students purchase their stoles as part of their membership dues. 
Key Point: Speak with your advisor.

Do I get to keep my PBL stole? You will need to check with your PBL advisor.  Some students purchase their stoles as part of their membership dues. 
Key Point: Speak with your advisor.

Do I get to keep my white honor cord? Yes, if you have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher by the fall semester prior to commencement you will be provided a white honor cord to recognize your academic achievement.

How do I get my commencement picture and diploma, certificate? Your commencement picture will be mailed to you at your permanent home address as listed in your student registration information on our college data management system.  Your Degree, Diploma and/or Certificates earned will also be mailed to your permanent address.

How long does the ceremony last? Commencement generally will last from 1 hour to 1 ½ hours depending upon the number of graduates at each location.

Where should I park? 

At MCC – Students that plan on driving to the event please park in the South parking lot.
At NPCC – Students that plan on driving to the event please park in the far North parking lot on the other side of the campus dorms.

Parents

What time does Commencement begin? 10:00 AM (CST) at McCook Community College, MCC Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center Main Gym, and 3:00 PM (CST) North Platte Community College, South Campus, McDonald Belton Gym.

What is the location of the events?  The McCook Community College campus is located at 1205 East Third St, McCook, NE, 69001.  The North Platte Community College's South Campus is located near the intersection of Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 83.  Address: 601 West State Farm Rd, North Platte, NE 69101.

How long does the ceremony last? Commencement generally will last from 1 hour to 1 ½ hours depending upon the number of graduates at each location.

Will there be special assistance for those attending commencement who need accommodations?  If you or members of your family attending commencement require assistance Mid-Plains Community College is committed to providing a discrimination-free environment for persons with disabilities. In McCook - please enter at the South West entrance. In North Platte - Golf cart shuttles will be available. Both facilities are wheelchair accessible. 

Where should I park? 

At MCC – Parking will be located around the MCC Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center and around campus with street level parking.
At NPCC – Parking will be in the south and north parking lots on south campus.

Can we take pictures? Yes, there will be areas for picture taking during the ceremony and there are numerous locations around campus for personal and family photos after or before commencement exercises.

Is there a reception? Yes.  A reception will follow the ceremony and be held in the MCC Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center and McDonald-Belton Building right after the ceremonies.

General

What time does Commencement begin? 10:00 AM (CST) at McCook Community College, MCC Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center Main Gym, and 3:00 PM (CST) North Platte Community College, South Campus, McDonald Belton Gym

Where do I park?

At MCC – Parking will be located around the MCC Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center and around campus with street level parking.
At NPCC – Parking will be in the south and north parking lots on south campus.

Will there be special assistance for those attending commencement who need accommodations?  If you or members of your family attending commencement require assistance Mid-Plains Community College is committed to providing a discrimination-free environment for persons with disabilities. In McCook - please enter at the South West entrance. In North Platte - Golf cart shuttles will be available. Both facilities are wheelchair accessible. 

How long does the ceremony last? Commencement generally will last from 1 hour to 1 ½ hours depending upon the number of graduates at each location.

Can we take pictures? Yes, there will be areas for picture taking during the ceremony and there are numerous locations around campus for personal and family photos after or before commencement exercises.

Is there a reception? Yes

The origins of academic dress date back to the 12th and 13th centuries, when universities were taking form. The ordinary dress of the scholar, whether student or teacher, was the dress of a cleric. With few exceptions, the medieval scholar had taken at least minor orders, made certain vows, and perhaps been tonsured. Long gowns were worn and may have been necessary for warmth in unheated buildings. Hoods seem to have served to cover the tonsured head until superseded for that purpose by the skull cap.
A statute of the University of Coimbra in 1321 required that all "Doctors, Licentiates, and Bachelors" wear gowns. In England, in the second half of the 14th century, the statutes of certain colleges forbade "excess in apparel" and prescribed the wearing of a long gown. In the days of Henry VIII of England, Oxford and Cambridge first began prescribing a definite academic dress and made it a matter of university control even to the extent of its minor details.

The assignment of colors to signify certain faculties was to be a much later development, and one which was to be standardized only in the United States in the late 19th century. White taken from the white fur trimming of the Oxford and Cambridge B.A. hoods, was assigned to arts and letters. Red, one of the traditional colors of the church, went to theology. Green, the color of medieval herbs, was adopted for medicine, and olive, because it was so close to green, was given to pharmacy. Golden yellow, standing for the wealth which scientific research has produced, was assigned to the sciences.

European institutions have always had great diversity in their specifications of academic dress and this has been a source of confusion. In contrast, American colleges and universities opted for a definite system that all might follow. A significant contribution to the development of this system was made by Gardner Cotrell Leonard of Albany, New York. Mr. Leonard designed gowns for his class at Williams College in 1887 and had them made by Cotrell and Leonard, a firm established by his family in Albany, New York. He was greatly interested in the subject and following the publication of an article by him on academic dress in 1893, he was invited to work with an Intercollegiate Commission made up of representatives of leading institutions to establish a suitable system of academic apparel. The Commission met at Columbia University in 1895 and adopted a code of academic dress, which besides regulating the cut and style and materials of the gowns, prescribed the colors which were to represent the different fields of learning.

In 1932 the American Council on Education authorized the appointment of a committee "to determine whether revision and completion of the academic code adopted by the conference of the colleges and universities in 1895 is desirable at this time, and, if so, to draft a revised code and present a plan for submitting the code to the consideration of the institutional members of the Council." The committee reviewed the situation through correspondence and conference and approved a code for academic costumes that has been in effect since that year.

A Committee on Academic Costumes and Ceremonies, appointed by the American Council on Education in 1959, again reviewed the costume code and made several changes. In 1986, the committee updated the code and added a sentence clarifying the use of the color dark blue for the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree.

Trimmings. Gowns for the bachelor's or master's degrees are untrimmed. For the doctor's degree, the gown is faced down the front with black velvet; three bars of velvet are used across the sleeves. These facings and crossbars may be of velvet of the color distinctive of the disciplines to which the degree pertains, thus agreeing in color with the binding or edging of the hood appropriate to the particular doctor's degree in every instance.

For all academic purposes, including trimmings of doctors' gowns, edging of hoods, and tassels of caps, the colors associated with the different disciplines are as follows:
View the List of Disciplines and their associated colors .