Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee University online graduations allow city’s pandemic nurses to celebrate degrees

Nurse Becky Sands
Nurse Becky Sands

Dundee University graduations may be more about dressing gowns than academic gowns this year, but students are no less excited about the celebrations.

University bosses cancelled winter graduations due to the coronavirus pandemic. Online ceremonies are takings place on November 26 and 27 instead to allow students to mark their achievements with peers, families and friends.

Dundee nurse Leanne Scott, 24, is one of the university’s 300 nursing students who finished their courses early and began work to help tackle additional staffing pressures brought on by the pandemic.

She said she would be probably watching the Friday night ceremony “in her pyjamas” with her mum, dad and partner.

“The virtual ceremony gives you a chance to join in even though you can’t be there. It’s great they’ve taken the time to do it,” she said.

Life in the Acute Stroke Unit at Ninewells

Leanne qualified after leaving St Paul’s RC Academy at 16, working in an office before gaining an entry qualification at college.

Her degree followed this summer and she is looking forward to celebrating the achievement at the Dundee University online graduations.

“We have our message groups from uni so it will be great to see the ceremony,” she said.

“We will probably have a wee drink in the house afterwards. Just me, my mum and my dad.”

Leanne now works at the acute stroke unit at Ninewells.

“I’ve gone back to the area where I’ve had my first ever placement. They have been really, really supportive so I’m getting on fine,” she said.

Ceremonies will provide ‘closure’

Becky Sands, 21, is originally from Northern Ireland. She moved from Dundee to Edinburgh after qualifying to work in Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

She said she planned on catching the ceremony with her partner before clocking on for a nightshift

The celebration will provide important “closure” for nurses who entered the workplace early to help tackle staffing pressures, she added.

“We’ll be saying goodbye to our lecturers and all our academic support and colleagues.

“I haven’t seen a lot of my classmates since I was in my final lectures. It will be nice to see everybody – albeit virtually.”

The Dundee University online graduations will begin on Thursday with School of Business at noon, following with Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, School of Humanities, School of Science and Engineering, and School of Social Sciences at 7pm.

The virtual celebrations will continue Friday November 27 with School of Dentistry at 4pm, followed by the School of Education & Social Work, School of Health Sciences, School of Life Sciences and School of Medicine at 7pm.

Students, friends and family can view the celebrations at https://dundeeuni.stageclip.com/ .