Spring 2009 Commencement 

Spring 2009 Commencement will take place at Reliant Arena on Saturday, May 16, at 7:00 pm.  All degree candidates will assemble in Hall C of Reliant Arena at 5:00 pm on May 16.  Guests will not be admitted in the staging area.  Therefore, all family members and guests must enter Reliant Arena and take their seats.  The doors to Reliant Arena will open at 5:00 pm for degree candidates and guests.

Caps and gowns may be purchased in the University Bookstore while supplies last.  The last day to purchase your cap and gown is Friday, May 15, at 12:00 noon.  These items will not be available at Reliant Arena.  We strongly encourage purchasing your regalia early.  Bookstore hours are:

Monday – Thursday          8:15am to 7:15 pm

Friday                                    8:15am to 12:00 noon

FLASH Photography will be photographing each graduate during the commencement ceremony.  Each candidate will be photographed receiving his/her certificate. Complimentary proofs will be mailed to the graduates within one week of the ceremony.  If you have any questions, please contact Flash Photography via their website at www.FLASHphotography.com. Other photography companies may contact you also, but they do not have an official relationship with the university.

Please read the following information carefully;

Contact the Office of Academic Records if you have any questions.

Human Science and Humanities             281-283-2529

School of Business                                    281-283-2479

School of Education                                  281-283-2539

Science and Computer Engineering       281-283-2545

PARKING

·          The cost for parking will be $8 per vehicle.  Take the Fannin exit to Reliant Park, enter at the Naomi entrance and park in the South Fannin lots in front of Reliant Arena (see map for details).

GUEST SEATING

·         To ensure adequate seating, each participating graduate is asked to limit the number of guests to 5.

·         The Reliant Arena accommodates a limited number of guests, and historically we have had to turn guests away in order to avoid overcrowding and to comply with fire code.

Please inform members of your party, that:

·         The ceremony will last approximately 2 hours.

·         Seating is unassigned and doors open at 5:00 p.m. 

·         Seats are available on a first come first serve basis. Guests are not permitted to save seats for others who have not arrived.

·         Guests are not allowed to stand or sit in the aisles nor on or by the railings (or in any location other than a seat), as these are fire code violations and will not be permitted.

·         If you are a person with a disability, or have a guest with a disability that will need special accommodations, please notify the Office of Academic Records by May 5^th.  Special needs guests and those with a disability may sit in a reserved area. 

·         Once capacity is reached inside the arena, arriving guests will be redirected into an overflow room with TV monitors, which will air the live ceremony.

·            Once capacity is reach inside both the Arena and overflow room, no more guests will be permitted to enter the Arena.  Arriving guests will be stopped and informed at the car entry gate when maximum capacity for the Arena has been reached, at that time no more vehicles will be allowed to enter.

·            Candidates, in respect for their fellow classmates, are expected to remain for the entire ceremony.

ASSEMBLY

·          Begins at 5:00 pm in Reliant Arena.  Each candidate will stop at a table inside the building, pick up his or her name card and proceed to line up in school order.  Undergraduates will line up in front of graduates in each school.  Signs will be posted, and staff will be available for assistance in robing and lining up.  Please plan to arrive on time.  Candidates who are not in proper seating order will not be able to enter the stadium during the processional, and will have to be seated later.  Doors will open for candidates and guests at 5:00 pm.

·          Get name card - please keep this card in your hand - don't leave on seat or fold, bend, or spindle. The commencement reader uses this card to announce your name as you cross the platform.

·          Bring your cap and gown.  Staff will assist you in robing.  Press gowns or steam wrinkles out before ceremony.  High heels and cowboy boots may catch on the long gowns.  Flat-heeled shoes are recommended.

·          Leave any items of value in your car or with your guests.  Possessions can also be left at the Coat Check Table, which will be staffed by the UHCL Alumni Association and a Police Officer.

·          Family and guests will not have access to the floor, but may take photographs from their seating areas.  The University is providing a professional photographer who will take a picture as each candidate crosses the stage.

CAPS AND GOWNS

·          The Bookstore will be open on Friday, May 15 until 12:00 noon.  If you have not picked up your cap and gown, you will not be able to participate!

·          Students participating in the commencement ceremony may wear only academic regalia on the caps and gowns.  Honor cords are acceptable; other ribbons, shawls, colors, etc., are not acceptable.  Tassels are to be worn on the caps; signs, lights, balloons, etc., are not acceptable.

·          Traditionally, female undergraduates wear a white collar with the gown; men wear a white shirt with tie.  However, it is not mandatory to wear the white collar that comes with your graduation gown.  All master's candidates wear the master’s hood.  Bring extra safety pins and bobby pins to pin hood and secure caps.

·          Academic caps will be worn at all times during the ceremony by women; men will remove their caps for the Invocation and Benediction only.

·          Master's candidates will wear the tassel on the left side; Bachelor's candidates will wear the tassel on the right   side.  When degrees are conferred by the President, bachelor's candidates should move their tassels to the left side of the cap.

ORDER OF COMMENCEMENT

·          All candidates will be led from the staging area at 6:30 pm in preparation for the processional.

·          Processional will be formed in two lines, led by the Student Marshals. 

·          The faculty will precede you; the President's party will follow you onto the stadium floor.

·          The official ceremony begins at 7:00 pm sharp!

STUDENT ENTRY (DOUBLE FILE)

·          Order of March:
                                                        Platform
                                                             / \
                                                              |
                                                     Grand Marshal
                                                    Deans' Marshals
                                                         Faculty

                                          EDUC                                                  BUS           

            Student Marshal                              Student Marshal

                                    Bachelor's                                         Bachelor's

Master's                                             Master's

                                           HSH                                                     SCE             

                                 Student Marshal                                 Student Marshal

 Bachelor's                                        Bachelor's

 Master's                                            Master's
                                                       President's Marshal
                                                         President's Party

·          The two lines of candidates, led by their student marshals, will file into the arena from the back entrance.  The lines will rejoin to go up the center aisle of candidate seats.  Student Marshals for the Schools of Business and Education will stop at the front row of seats and begin seating undergraduate and then graduate candidates row by row.  When all candidates for BUS and EDUC are standing in front of their seats, Student Marshals for Science and Computer Engineering and Human Sciences and Humanities will stop at the first row of empty chairs behind BUS and EDUC and fill in the remaining rows.  All candidates remain standing.  The Student Marshals will walk back up the center aisle to the stage.

·          If you are a row leader (you will have a small ribbon pinned to the shoulder of your gown), you will begin a new row and will walk to the far chair of your row (BUS and SCE on the right, EDUC and HSH on the left as you face the podium) - THAT IS YOUR SEAT - do not fill in the last chair of the row in front of yours, even if there is an empty chair there.  Row leaders begin new rows, always.

·          Commencement programs will be placed on your seats prior to the ceremony; do not carry one in with you.

·          Remain standing through the invocation and until the President signals for you to be seated.

·          During the ceremony, stand when you're asked to stand, sit when you're asked to sit and the rest of the ceremony will go smoothly.

 ·          All candidates are expected to remain on the Arena floor for the entire ceremony.  Show respect to your fellow classmates and do not attempt to leave prior to the closing of the ceremony.

 RECESSIONAL

·          President will say:  "Will the audience please remain seated until all those in cap and gown have cleared the arena.  Let the Recessional begin!"

·          President's Party will exit first, then Faculty will pass and both groups will form a gauntlet at the back of the arena.

·          At the signal of the Grand Marshal, the graduation recessional will begin.  LAST SCHOOLS IN ARE FIRST SCHOOLS OUT; LAST STUDENTS IN ARE FIRST STUDENTS OUT.  The Grand Marshal will signal the candidate on the center aisle of the back row in SCE.  The Student Marshal for HSH will signal to the candidate on the center aisle of the back row of the HSH seating block.  Both candidates will rise and lead their row out of the seating area and will follow the Grand Marshal double file down the center aisle through the gauntlet.  The Student Marshals in SCE and HSH will direct each row of candidates in their respective schools, and will then follow the final candidates in their schools through the gauntlet.  Then the BUS Student Marshal and the EDUC Student Marshal will signal the candidates on the center aisle of the back row of their school's seating.  These candidates will rise and lead their row out of the seating and follow the other two schools through the gauntlet.  The Student Marshals will direct the exit of each row of candidates and will then follow the last candidate through the gauntlet.  All candidates will exit the lobby doors and go out of the building.

·          All candidates can meet their family and guests outside the building.

ADMINISTRATIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS

·          Office of Academic Records Hours:

        Monday - Thursday, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm; Friday, 8:00 am - Noon. 

·          Grades will be available online beginning May 27. To view grades visit

     E-Services online at www.uhcl.edu/records/eservices.

·          The Office of Academic Records will start mailing requested transcripts on May 29.  Written transcript requests can be submitted at any time before the semester ends and should be marked, "Hold for Grades" or "Hold for Degree".  The Transcript Request Form can be found at www.uhcl.edu/records/forms.  Online requests can be submitted through E-Services at www.uhcl.edu/eservices and coded with a processing option of "Degree Conferral" or "Grade Posting".

·          Encumbrances (Library, Security, Cashier, Financial Aid, etc.) must be cleared before diplomas can be mailed or transcripts can be released.

·          Diplomas will be ordered by the end of June.  Processing usually takes approximately 2-3 weeks from the date of the order.  Diplomas will be mailed to the address shown on the student record.

·          Honors - Undergraduates only.

Candidates for honors will be identified in the Commencement Program with an asterisk (*) and "Honors Candidate" announced.  Final decisions regarding honors will be made after semester grades are posted.  Students will be notified of the honor after degree audits are completed, and diplomas will be mailed after honors are imprinted.

·          Continuing at UHCL?  If you plan to continue on to graduate school at UHCL, you need to complete an admission application form in the Office of Admissions prior to registering for the next semester.  Students who apply for graduation in the current semester are not considered to be continuing students for future semesters and must submit a new admissions application to continue enrollment.

·          If you are attending another college or university this semester, your grades must be received by noon, Wednesday, May 20.  If an official transcript cannot be delivered by that date, you should ask the registrar's office to contact UHCL at 281-283-2484 to report the grade by phone.  We will not accept grades reported by faculty.  Grades reported by phone will be used to clear you for graduation, but a hold will be placed on your transcript and diploma until we receive an official transcript.