Commencement Countdown

COMMENCEMENT COUNTDOWN
148 DAYS UNTIL GRADUATION!

YOUR GUIDE TO GRADUATION

Office of Student and Diversity Affairs Support

Congratulations!

Congratulations on your upcoming final semester of dental school! This publication is just
the first of several created by the Office of Student and Diversity Affairs to begin preparing
you for that special day of recognition and celebration. Your Commencement ceremony
marks the beginning of your professional career in the world of oral health. We are working

to provide you with tools and resources for your new and exciting journey.
We have scheduled ADA Success Seminars, resumes writing workshops, a career fair and

other professional development sessions for your classes. We hope you choose to take
advantage of these great programs. This is a very exciting time, but if you do not plan
ahead, all of the programs and events can be quite overwhelming. We hope this guide
helps you to organize all of your upcoming deadlines, events and sessions. We are excited

to be on this journey with you.

THROWBACK PHOTOS!

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SAVE THE DATES

Tuesday, January 23- DMD and DMDAS Classes of 2018 Spring Class Meeting.
Meeting will take place from 1pm to 2pm in Lecture Hall South. This is a mandatory
meeting as important commencement information will be presented.

Tuesday, January 23 and Wednesday, January 24- Graduation Composite Photo
Session. See page 6 for more information.

Wednesday, January 24- UIC Career Services Resume Writing Workshop for
Dental Professionals. Workshop will take place from 1pm to 2pm in Lecture Hall
South. See page 5 for more information.

Thursday, January 25- American Dental Association Success Seminar on Finding
a Job. Presentation will take place from 1pm to 2pm in Lecture Hall South. The Illinois
State Dental Society will be sponsoring boxed lunches for the DMD and DMDAS
Classes of 2018.

Thursday, February 1- UIC Student Legal Service Introduction to Employment
Agreements for Associate Dentist. Presentation by Attorney Ted Kwon from 1pm to
2pm in Lecture Hall South.

Friday, February 2- UIC College of Dentistry 2018 Career Fair. See page 4 for more
information.

Tuesday, February 13- American Dental Association Success Seminar on
Understanding Employment Agreements. Presentation will take place from 1pm to
2pm in Lecture Hall South. Attendance is mandatory.

Wednesday, May 9- Exit Meeting. The mandatory exit meeting will take place at
9:30am in Lecture Hall South. At this meeting you will receive your Commencement
regalia. In addition, information regarding financial aid/loan consolidation and
repayment information will be provided by the Office of Financial Aid.

Saturday, May 12- UIC College of Dentistry 2018 Commencement Ceremony. The
ceremony will begin at 12:30pm. Doors will open at 11:30am for general public seating.
All graduates and family hooders must arrive by 9am.

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COMMENCEMENT

HONORARY

FAMILY HOODER

All graduates will be hooded during the
Commencement Ceremony by their
managing partner. Dental graduates are
hooded as a special recognition of their
doctoral degree, the placing of the hood over
the head of a graduate signifies his or her
success in completing a DMD program and
progression into the healing field of
dentistry.
An honorary family hooder assists your managing partner in the hooding, will participate in the faculty
procession and will remain on stage for the duration of the entire program. It is required that she or
he is an immediate family member with a doctoral or terminal degree in the health sciences field.

Please use the upcoming break to consider inviting a family member to participate in your
commencement ceremony as an honorary family hooder. If you plan on having an honorary family
hooder please begin collecting the following information: college or university of their DDS/DMD, MD,
PhD degree, weight and height. The college will provide your honorary family hooder with graduation
regalia for the event. The requested information is needed to order the regalia. Please note this is at
no cost to the graduate or the honorary family hooder.

Tip: Asking a family member to be your honorary family hooder is a free and meaningful gift
you can give this holiday season!

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CAREER FAIR 2018

The UIC College of Dentistry annual
Career Fair is a great networking
opportunity to assist in building your
professional contacts and polishing your
schmoozing abilities. Last year the fair
hosted over 30 vendors including dental
management companies, dental
corporate companies, advertising firms,
law firms, insurance and financial
institutional. This year, it is our goal to
bring even more resources and
opportunities to the fair. In January,
emails will be distributed listing
the attending vendors, be sure to do
some research on the
companies/organizations prior to the
fair. The more you know about
an organization and the opportunities
offered, the more prepared and impressive you come across to a possible employer.

Please do not come empty handed! Plan on bringing at least one resume per vendor. Not sure if your
resume has a professional and polished finished? Or are you simply interested in learning how to revamp
your resume or cover letter? Attend the Resume and Cover Letter Writing Workshop for Dentist lunch
and learn by the UIC Office of Career Services.

UIC Career Services
Annette Clemens
Assistant Director of Career Development Education
(312) 355-3585
[email protected]

Tip: Did you know you can schedule an appointment with
the Office of Career Services for mock interviews and one-on-one
resume reviewals? Contact UIC Career Services to schedule an
appointment today!

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TIME TO UPDATE YOUR PROFILE PICTURE!

Remember all the way back to
orientation week when we took your
composite photos? Well, we have
included the photos in case you have
forgotten. Look at those youthful and
fresh faces! During your Spring
semester you have the opportunity to
retake a professional composite. The
photo will be used for your
commencement program book,
graduation class composite and as a
business professional headshot.

Be sure to dress to impress on Tuesday,
January 23 and Wednesday, January
24. You will be asked to sign up for a 10
minute time slot on either date to take
your updated photo. You will be required
to wear business professional attire for
the photo, use the upcoming holiday
sales to plan ahead and purchase an
outfit if needed.

Tips: You only need to dress professional from the
waist up. The photo is a headshot, you are able to
wear your scrub bottoms for the photo if you would
like to save some time changing outfits.

Photo backdrop will be grey, while remaining
professional consider a colorful statement piece that
will make your photo pop!

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