Draft:
February 1, 2011
Email to:
LL.M. in American Law and
LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law students
From:
Assistant Dean Riccardi
SUBJECT: Important information about 2011 Commencement
As you enter the final semester of your program, I am happy to share some
very important information – including some critical deadlines – of which you
need to be aware in order to participate in Commencement and receive your
diploma.
The Law School Convocation ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 22 at 9
am in the Agganis Arena. A reception will follow at 11 am in the Fit Rec
Center. The All University Commencement ceremony will take place on May
22 at 1 pm in Nickerson Field. While those dates may seem a long way off,
they will arrive very quickly. This memo outlines the things you need to do in
order to participate in the ceremonies that day and to ensure that you receive
your diploma at the Law Convocation ceremony.
A special section of the BU Law website has been set up to help you get ready
for Commencement at http://www.bu.edu/law/events/commencement. You
can also find this section by clicking on “Commencement” on the BU Law
Central page. Please bear in mind that the graduation processes for J.D.
students are slightly different from the LL.M. requirements. As such, you
should pay close attention to all requirements and deadlines for
participating in commencement day ceremonies that are outlined in this
memo. You must complete the requirements on time in order to receive
your diploma.
Please carefully review the following checklist and note all important deadlines.
LL.M. Commencement Checklist:
American Law and Intellectual Property Law Programs
1. Complete the course verification process and ensure that all degree
requirements have been met.
As you may remember from the fall semester, we need to verify that the
classes you are registered for in the University database are the classes that
you are actually taking. As you review your spring semester schedules, keep
in mind the following points:
ADD and REG both mean that you are registered for the class.
DRP means that you have dropped the class. All dropped classes will
appear at the bottom of your schedule.
 CORE CURR LAW is an administrative placeholder, not a real class.
It’s there for ISSO’s purposes if you have 10 or 11 credits.


You will soon receive more detailed information from the OGIP regarding
course verification and how to complete the process by Friday,
February 11.
Complete a Concentration Declaration and submit it to the OGIP by
Friday, February 11.
For those of you who have structured your program so that you will satisfy the
requirements for either the International Business Practice concentration or the
Intellectual Property concentration within the LL.M. in American Law
program, we will need you to complete a Concentration Declaration Form
which can be obtained at the OGIP, beginning on Wednesday, February 2. On
this form, we will simply ask you to declare your concentration, decide whether
you would like the concentration to show on your transcript, and indicate
which classes you have taken to satisfy the concentration requirements. Visit
http://www.bu.edu/law/central/llm/graduate/american/program/concentrati
ons.html to review the requirements.
2. On the Student Link, apply to graduate and indicate whether you will
attend the graduation ceremony.
Login to the Student Link (http://www.bu.edu/studentlink) and apply to
graduate online. Once you login, click on the Academics tab, choose
“Diploma and Graduation Information” and update your name, exactly as
you would like it to appear on your diploma. If what is listed on the
Student Link is correct, click “confirm” to process your name. If you don’t
indicate otherwise, your diploma will show your name as it currently appears
on University records.
The last date on which you can make a change to the name listed on
your diploma is March 15, 2011.
 The last date on which you can update your Commencement
Ceremony Attendance Information is April 15, 2011.

3. Federal Loan Exit Counseling
If you received Federal Direct Stafford Loans while at BU Law, you must
complete an Exit Counseling Session to receive your diploma. Group
sessions will begin in the week following spring break. You may also
complete the requirement online or make an appointment to meet
individually with the Law Financial Aid Office.
Perkins Loan recipients must attend a separate Exit Counseling session
offered through the University's Student Loan Department and will be
notified of the schedule.
4. Order Your Cap and Gown
You must wear a “cap and gown” – the official “Graduation” outfit -- to
walk in Commencement ceremonies. As we mentioned during orientation,
you will need to rent these items and pay the rental fee. Barnes and Noble
will be in the lobby of the Law Tower to measure and take orders for caps
and gowns on Thursday, March 24, 2011 from 12:00 PM to 4:30 PM.
Please be sure that you specify that you need a black LL.M. cap and gown
when you place your order. (The commencement gown for LL.M. students
is black, the J.D. gown is red; there are pictures of both J.D. and LL.M.
gowns on the website.). You may pick up your cap and gown at BU Barnes
& Noble from Sunday, April 17 through Saturday, May 21.
If you cannot be at the Law School on March 24th to order your cap &
gown, you must go to Barnes & Noble to order them in person. All rentals
are on a first-come, first-served basis for sizes. Don’t wait until the last
minute!
Make sure that you have the correct cap and gown for your degree when
you pick them up at Barnes & Noble.
5. Fill out and submit the mandatory LL.M. Graduation Survey by
Friday, May 6.
We will notify you of a short, mandatory online graduation survey at the
end of April. The survey provides us with information on your
employment plans for next year to help us identify career needs of our
LL.M. graduates so that we can continue to work with you beyond
graduation. It takes only a few moments to complete this survey. You
must complete this requirement by Friday, May 6 in order to receive
your diploma at the Law Convocation ceremony.
If you have not completed the survey by May 6th, you may still march
at Convocation if you have completed degree requirements, but you
will receive an empty case with no diploma at the ceremony.
Unfortunately, we cannot make exceptions to this policy, and we
appreciate your understanding.
There will be some other end-of-year surveys and questionnaires
which we will ask you to complete. Please keep an eye out for
announcements later this spring.
6. If you do not receive your diploma at Convocation: The University
Registrar collects and holds all diplomas after the May 22 ceremonies. The
Law School will not have access to your diploma after the
Convocation ceremony. The University will not release your diploma
until the Law School Registrar advises them that you have met all degree
requirements and otherwise in good standing..

To obtain your diploma after Convocation, you will need to return to
the Student Link on the University Web site
(www.bu.edu/studentlink) and opt either to pick up your diploma in
person or provide a mailing address. The last day to do this on the
Link is June 13.

The University will begin dispensing diplomas in person to students
who have met all requirements on Monday, June 20.

The University will begin mailing diplomas to students who have met
all requirements on Monday, June 27.

The University Registrar will hold the diploma if they do not hear
from a student.
Additional Information

Convocation Announcements will be available for you to send to
family and friends later in the semester. Information regarding when
and where to pick them up will be posted on the Commencement
website. Guests do NOT need tickets to attend the Law
Convocation ceremony.

If you have a guest with a disability attending
Commencement/Convocation: The University will publish an online form through which you may request wheelchairs and/or parking
for guests with disabilities. You may also reserve one of the boxes on
the upper level of the Agganis Arena for guests who have difficulty
with stairs. The boxes can be reached by elevator and have a good
view of the floor. As soon as the on-line form is available, a link to
the form will be published on the Commencement section of the BU
Law website.

Additional information about Commencement, including
information about the post-Convocation reception will be posted
on the Commencement website as it becomes available.

If you have specific questions about the Law Convocation, you may
contact Andrea Rice, BU Law’s Event Manager at ajrice@bu.edu.
Have a great remainder of the semester. I look forward to congratulating all of
you at Commencement.
John N. Riccardi