Commencement Ceremony

The graduation ceremony, called “commencement”, is held at the end of the spring semester only. Students who anticipate completing their coursework during the following summer are eligible to participate in commencement exercises if a grade point average is sufficient for graduation and the Graduation Packet has been officially completed by the summer deadline. Due to the early printing date of the program, academic honors are based on the previous term’s grade point average.

We strongly encourage all Fall Graduates and prospective Spring and Summer Graduates to attend the Commencement Ceremony. This is a time for you, your family and friends, instructors, and college staff to celebrate your achievement!

Commencement Ceremony Checklist

If you plan to participate in the commencement ceremony, please make sure to do the following:

• Call or stop by the Bookstore to reserve your cap and gown by April 1.
• Graduation announcements will be available in two choices: personalized and generic. A representative from Herff-Jones will be in the bookstore on March 21 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm to accept orders for personalized announcements. Personalized will include the date, time, place, and your name.  Students may visit the Herff-Jones website www.herffjones.com/college/graduation to order custom graduation invitations.
  
  Generic announcements will include a “date-time-place” card for the ceremony. These announcements are scheduled to be in stock at the Bookstore the first week of April. It is customary to send your announcements out two weeks in advance of the ceremony date.

• Fall and spring applicants graduating with honors may order honor accessories through the Bookstore when picking up their cap and gown. The Bookstore will have a list of all prospective graduates that qualify for honors.
• Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society graduates may order honor accessories online at www.ptk.org. Leave time for shipping!
• Make reservations to attend the Graduates’ Awards Night and Reception by April 22. Donations will be collected at the Graduates’ Awards Night for a gift to the college from the Class of 2013.
• Pick up cap and gown beginning May 1 at the Bookstore. Tickets for your guests will be given to you at this time. Additional tickets may be requested online.
• Attendees with physical challenges:
  

  Attendees who use a wheelchair will be directed to a section at the front of the gym, left of the stage.
  There will be a limited number of seats on the floor for attendees who cannot ascend/descend the bleachers. These seats will be in a reserved section and only stamped ticket holders will be allowed to sit in this section. Each graduate will be allowed up to two tickets that they can get stamped for this purpose. Tickets can be stamped in the Office of Disability Services, Wood Campus Center, 108. Tickets will be provided on a first come, first serve basis. Attendees who do not have a stamped ticket and who cannot ascend/descend the bleachers, will be directed to the overflow area in the dining room in the Wood Campus Center.
  In addition to the marked accessible parking spots throughout campus, there will be an additional section reserved for cars with state accessible tags.
  Please call the Office of Disability Services at 230-3472 if you need additional information.

• Contact the Office of Disability Services if you have special needs for the Commencement ceremony.
• Attend Graduation Rehearsal on May 10 at 10:00 am at the Pickel Field House in the Gymnasium. It is extremely important for all participants to attend rehearsal. Graduates do not need to bring their cap and gown to rehearsal.
• Arrive by 9:00 am at the Pickle Field House and then in your designated room (P-106 or P-130) by 9:30 am on the day of Commencement, May 11.
• Plan to attend the President’s Reception for graduates and their families and friends. It’s across the hall from the Bookstore in the Mary Cole Nichols Dining Room of the Wood Campus Center immediately following the graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 11.
• Please complete our graduate surveys.

Information for your guests who will be attending the graduation ceremony is found on the Commencement website.