Day of Graduation
Directions, Lodging, Parking
Driving directions to the ceremony
Area lodging — Motels, hotels, bed and breakfast establishments near the university.
Parking Graduates and guests may park on campus or in the Bloomsburg Hospital lot where shuttle busses will be transporting people to Haas Auditorium and return after the ceremony. Reserved parking will be available behind McCormick Center and Navy Hall for persons who are handicapped or have trouble walking. Please request assistance from the police officers covering the event.
Guests with Disabilities — Guests with disabilities can park in limited reserved parking areas behind Bakeless and McCormick. Please ask the university police to direct you to this parking. Wheelchair seating and seating for guests with disabilities will be available with one additional attendee at the front right and left of the audience. Please arrive early to secure seating in these areas and, if needed, ask the officers or staff covering the event for assistance. If an interpreter for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing is required for the ceremony, please contact Anita Hakim, graduation coordinator, by e-mail to make arrangements at least two weeks prior to commencement.
Schedule
10 a.m. Winter Ceremony
Colleges of Liberal Arts and Science and Technology
| 8:45 | Auditorium doors open for general seating |
| 9:00 | Graduates begins to line up. Location announced later in the semester |
| 9:30 | ALL seats available for guests (any seats being saved at this time must be relinquished) |
| 10:00 | Procession begins into the auditorium |
| 10:00 | Platform party, faculty, graduates process |
| 10:15 | Late seating |
| 11:30 | Approximate time ceremony ends |
2:30 p.m. Winter Ceremony
Colleges of Business and Professional Studies
| 1:15 | Auditorium doors open for general seating |
| 1:30 | Graduates begin to line up |
| 2:00 | ALL seats available for guests (any seats being saved at this time must be relinquished) |
| 2:30 | Procession begins into the auditorium |
| 2:45 | Late seating |
| 4:00 | Approximate time ceremony ends |
Graduates and guests can park on-campus or in the Bloomsburg Hospital lot where shuttle buses will be transporting to Haas and back. Guests should allow sufficient time for parking and finding seats in the auditorium. Graduates must allow time to line up with their college. Undergraduate candidates are expected to line up for the morning ceremony by, the latest, 9:30 a.m. and by 2 p.m. for the afternoon ceremony. Graduates and guests who are late for the ceremony will not be permitted into the auditorium until after the singing of The National Anthem and the moment of silent reflection.
Ceremony instructions for students
Although there is not a commencement dress code policy, it is suggested men wear shirts with ties and dress pants, and women wear dress clothes. Suits can be worn, but it can get very warm in the auditorium.
Each participant must be attired in a black academic robe and matching cap with tassel (except those who chose to wear their military uniform). The robe should be pressed. Graduates may either wear your pre-purchased robe and cap with tassel, or robe upon arrival. It is inappropriate to attach flowers, signs or messages on the gown or cap. The cap should be worn flat on the top of the head with the tassel on the right side of the cap at the start of the program. Students who have received an honor cord(s) should drape the cord around the neck and down the front of the gown. There will be no caps, gowns, or tassels available for purchase in the auditorium.
The University Store is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 19.
Students must to bring the color-coded name card to graduation. If forgotten or misplaced, a card can be made at the box office in the lobby of Haas Auditorium. Graduates enter Haas through the music department entrance, across from Columbia Hall, and follow signs to meet with your college:
- Morning
- College of Liberal Arts — Room 116
- College of Science and Technology — Room 166
- Afternoon
- College of Business — Room 166
- College of Education — Room 116
Graduates will line in random order in two columns. If students want to sit next to a friend, that person should be in front of or behind them in line, not next to them, because the lines split upon entrance to the auditorium.
About 20 minutes before the start of the ceremony, a university marshal will lead each group in two lines to enter Haas through the main lobby. The top honor graduate(s) begins the procession for the college, followed by two faculty marshals and graduating seniors.
When entering the lobby graduates will be given a commencement program. The double lines will split and enter the auditorium through the right and left center doors, and continue down to the front of the auditorium to the reserved section for each college. Students will be shown where to sit by ushers who will "count" graduates into the rows for faster seating.
Please remain standing for the singing of The National Anthem and the moment of silent reflection (men should remove their caps prior to the singing of the national anthem). Then the audience will be requested to be seated.
As the ceremony progresses, and after the president has awarded the degrees for each college, graduates will be instructed to change their tassel from right to left. A university marshal will then lead the graduates by college to the staging area and direct them when to walk across the stage, hand their name card to the faculty reader, shake hands with the dean of the college and the president, and receive their diploma cover from a member of the Council of Trustees.
Exit through the opposite side of the stage and follow the posted arrows back into the auditorium and be seated.(Photographers from Chappell Graduation Images will take a photo of graduates as they shake hands with the trustee and also a posed photograph after leaving the stage. After the photo has been taken, proceed back to the graduate seating area.)
The graduating class and audience who leave during the ceremony distract not only other audience members, but also the people on the stage, and are discourteous to those participants who have not yet crossed the stage. The audience is expected to remain in place until the platform party and faculty leave the stage at the conclusion of the ceremony.
There will be university marshals and commencement staff available who will be directing students and assisting throughout the exercises. If a problem arises, speak with a marshal, staff member, or university police for assistance. Photographs may be taken in front of the stage after the ceremony.