the Informer

Spring Commencement will be in full swing starting in May of 2012.

One of the largest adjustments to this ceremony is that the University will now host the event for a two-day period. The ceremony on Saturday will honor the Graduate students who have worked the past few years and will receive their diplomas, and the Undergraduates will receive their diplomas the following day on Sunday.

Faculty, staff, graduate students, undergraduate seniors, and Hillyer College sophomores were emailed by Sharon L. Vasquez announcing that the ceremony will be awarding graduate degrees on Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. and the ceremony honoring the undergraduates will be held as it was originally planned on Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. as well.

These ceremonies will both take place on the main lawn on the academic side of campus. Another beneficial improvement that has been added to the festivities is a much larger tent that has the capacity to hold up to 3,000 people in all. This tent will allow for faculty, staff, students, guests, and the stage to all be under one place, thus the events will take place rain or shine.

If the weather does indeed become an issue, the main undergraduate ceremony will have a live broadcast in a number of indoor locations of campus. Those who do not fit under the tent or wish to remain outside will be ushered to classrooms in Hillyer, Auerbach, and Dana lecture halls including Mali 1 and 2 lecture halls, Millard Auditorium, Suisman Lounge, the Auerbach tent, and the new Shaw Center space, as well as the Sports Center Arena.

In addition to the growing weather challenges, the number of students is also growing, which may lead to vehicle traffic that the University’s parking may not handle. Due to awarding all the degrees on the same day, there is an increased danger in overcrowding of campus roads, creating potential danger, if by some chance, the blocked roads are needed for emergency exit, or if vehicles deny or block building access. Over the two-day Spring Commencement, these issues will likely be addressed.

The University’s Unotes Daily stated Vasquez saying, “This new two-day Commencement format allows for consistency in scheduling the two main ceremonies regardless of weather and reduces the number of cars and people on campus each day.”

The ceremony taking place on Saturday is designated specifically for graduate students, and will allow the University to better accommodate the growing number of graduates in programs such as Master’s and Doctoral. The new type of ceremony will include the awarding of such degrees and all of the graduates will be given the opportunity to walk across the main stage as their names are called, and shake the hands of not only the President, but the provost and the dean of their given school or college.

The Diploma presentation for each individual school and college will follow the main undergraduate Commencement Ceremony. The one exception to inclement weather conditions is the Hartford Art School Ceremony, which will be held at the usual outdoor site in fair weather and in the University Commons in the event of rain.

For additional details regarding the University of Hartford’s Spring Commencement go online to www.hartford.edu/commencement, specifically beginning with the spring semester. Also if there are any questions regarding the changes that have taken place, do not hesitate to contact Associate Provost Chuck Colarulli at colarulli@hartford.edu.