More than 7,700 students expect to graduate from the University of Central Florida during six ceremonies May 1–3 at the CFE Arena.
On each day the morning ceremony begins at 9 a.m. and the afternoon program begins at 2:30 p.m. Doors open to the public about 90 minutes before each event.
Guests must have tickets to enter the arena, and guest parking will be available in garages C, D and H. Those without tickets are invited to watch live telecasts of the ceremonies at the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center across the street from the arena and on campus on cable channel 21. The ceremonies will also be available via live Internet broadcast at http://webcast.oir.ucf.edu [1].
Those intending to walk for commencement should be lined up at least one hour prior to the start of the event. The processional begins about 20 minutes before the listed start time, and the ceremonies are expected to last at least two hours.
Thursday’s morning ceremony is for students in the College of Arts & Humanities and the College of Engineering & Computer Science. The speaker will be Orlando attorney and UCF Trustee Marcos Marchena.
The afternoon ceremony is for students in the College of Health and Public Affairs, and Thaddeus “Thad” Seymour, Jr., a senior vice president at the Tavistock Development Co. and the president of the Lake Nona Institute, will speak.
Friday’s morning’s ceremony is for those from the College of Business Administration, and the speaker will be U.S. Rep. John L. Mica, whose congressional district includes parts of Orange, Seminole and Volusia counties.
The afternoon ceremony is for students from the College of Education and Human Performance and the College of Nursing. The speaker will be Lars Houmann, president and chief executive officer of Florida Hospital and the Florida Division of Adventist Health System.
Saturday morning’s ceremony is for the anticipated 1,586 graduates in the College of Sciences – the college with the most graduates this term. The speaker will be Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The afternoon ceremony is for students in the College of Graduate Studies, Burnett School of Biomedical Science (College of Medicine), College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL), Office of Undergraduate Students and the Rosen College of Hospitality Management. Saturday afternoon’s speaker will be Dr. Gideon J. Lewis, a board-certified reconstructive foot and ankle surgeon, UCF graduate, and a volunteer College of Medicine faculty member.
The anticipated graduates include 6,488 students who filed intents to receive bachelor’s degrees, 1,161 for master’s degrees, 18 for education specialist degrees and 89 for doctoral degrees.
With next week’s expected graduations, UCF will have awarded more than 260,000 degrees since classes began in 1968.
For more information about commencement, visit http://commencement.ucf.edu/2014/spring [2].