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College of Arts and Humanities

Commencement 2020 | Instructions for Graduates

Be sure you have applied for graduation. 

Deadlines to apply for graduation are as follows:

  • Friday, Jan. 31 – Last day to file for a Master’s Degree for May 2020
  • Friday, Feb. 14 – Last day to file for a Bachelor’s Degree for May 2020.

For more information about applying for your degree, click here:

Make sure you then register to attend the College of Arts and Humanities Commencement 2020.  This registration will let the Dean’s Office know that you plan to attend the commencement.  Use this link to register:

On the day of the Commencement, it is important that you arrive to line up no later than 11:45 a.m.  You will walk down the ramp on the east side of the Save Mart Center and proceed to the staging area. Go to the tables in the staging area and complete a card for the photographer. There will be someone there to help direct you to your department’s meeting location. You will then line up with your department’s graduates. 

When the processional begins, you will enter the arena behind your department’s Standard Bearer, who will lead you to your seats.  When the time comes for the students to go on stage to be recognized, your department’s Standard Bearer will prompt you to rise and follow them.  The Standard Bearer will hand a colored card to the first student from each department that goes up on stage.  That student will give the colored card to the reader along with their own photographer’s card.  The reader will read the name of the department first, then the student’s name.  Once the reader reads your name, you will walk across the stage to meet your department chair.  You will shake their hand while the photographer takes your photo with the chair, then proceed across the stage to the be congratulated by the Interim Dean and Interim Associate Dean. 

There will be ushers to help you up the steps that lead you to the stage and then down again at the end of the stage.  There will also be ushers who will also guide you to your row of seats. 

There will be a recessional at the end of the ceremony.  The platform party will leave first, then the faculty and the graduates, beginning with the front rows.  You will walk to the center aisle, and follow your Standard Bearer to the back of the Save Mart Center.  Your Standard Bearers will peel off and turn right, however, all students will exit the arena by walking up the stairs to the main level, and you will be escorted out of the building to the lawn on the south side of the Save Mart Center.  You may meet your guests there.  The south side of the building is the side that faces Shaw Avenue.  Guests will be dismissed after students have exited the building. 

Provisions for both parking and seating for disabled students are available.  Please contact the Dean’s Office (559.278.3056) for further assistance with disabilities requiring special accommodations. 

Photography: A photographer will be present to take pictures of each student with their department chair on stage and an individual shot after they leave the stage. The company will send you proofs within 10 days after the ceremony, but you are under no obligation to purchase these photographs. When you receive the proofs, any questions regarding these pictures should be directed to the company.