THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
SUMMER COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS — August 9th, 2008

Saturday, August 9th
REPORT TO CIVIC CENTER BY 8:00 A.M.
CEREMONY BEGINS AT 9:00 A.M.

DOCTORAL STUDENTS: REPORT TO MEETING ROOM A

  1. CEREMONY ETIQUETTE
    2. The Commencement Ceremony is a most dignified ceremony. Decorum and courtesy are very important.
    1. You will not be allowed to walk around once you have entered the arena and have found your seat.
    2. Food and beverages are not permitted in the arena during the Ceremony.
    3. Improper attire, signs and insignia will be removed by marshals. ANY DAMAGE TO MORTARBOARDS WILL RESULT IN A $20 FEE FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE CAPS. SECURITY PERSONNEL WILL REMOVE STUDENTS DISRUPTING THE CEREMONY.
    4. The Ceremony will last approximately two and a half hours.
    5. YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE UNTIL THE ENTIRE CEREMONY IS OVER. If you need to use the restroom, you must leave your cap on your chair before you will be permitted to leave the arena.
    6. DOORS FOR STUDENT ENTRY WILL BE LOCKED AT 8:45 A.M. SATURDAY MORNING
  2. SATURDAY MORNING
    1. BACHELORS, MASTERS, SPECIALISTS CANDIDATES
      1. Enter the Civic Center from the main entrance on the plaza and take the escalator down to the Exhibit Hall on the lower level. There will be ushers there to assist you.
        1. Find the sign identifying your school or college.
        2. Pick up your blue card. Your "blue card" is the key to the Commencement Ceremony. It serves the following purposes:
          1. Assigns your seat;
          2. Provides your name to announcer for individual recognition on stage;
          3. Gives your name and home address to photographer so you receive proofs of your photos.
      2. Leave the Exhibit Hall and enter the Main Arena floor through the elephant doors.
        1. Using the floor plan of the Arena (click here), find the approximate location of your school or college.
        2. Find your assigned seat using the chalk marks on the floor; sit down.
    2. MASTER AND SPECIALIST CANDIDATES -- SPECIAL INFORMATION
      1. Look for Masters/Specialist sign in Exhibit Hall for blue card. All candidates for master & specialist degrees from all schools and colleges will sit together as a group in designated "master’s" section.
      2. Candidates should be wearing hoods before the Ceremony begins. Master's marshals will help with hoods, if necessary.
    3. DOCTORAL CANDIDATES -- SPECIAL INFORMATION
      1. Be sure to make all necessary arrangements for your major professor (or proxy) to hood you at the Ceremony.
      2. Report to "Meeting Room A" at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Meeting Room A is located on the lower level of the Civic Center near the escalators. DO NOT GO TO MAIN ARENA.
      3. Find a doctoral marshal in that area and pick up your "blue card".
      4. Marshals will supervise formation of academic procession according to assigned seating on blue cards.
      5. Major professors will be placed behind the candidates they are hooding.
    Details of Ceremony Procedure: Doctoral marshals will lead rows of major professors and candidates to platform. As candidate's name is announced he/she will walk onto stage and stand directly in front of major professor, hand hood to professor, turn to face audience, and bend her/his knees, keeping the back vertical. After hooding, major professors will proceed to opposite side of stage, walking behind the podium, while candidate shakes hands with the Dean of Graduate Studies and the President.
  3. ATTIRE AND REGALIA

    FULL ACADEMIC REGALIA IS REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CEREMONY.
    ONLY APPROVED CORDS DENOTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT WILL BE ALLOWED TO BE WORN WITH REGALIA. NO MEDALLIONS, STOLES, ETC. WILL BE PERMITTED
  4. GUESTS
    1. All Civic Center entrances open at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning.
    2. Enter ONLY on Concourse Level of Civic Center.
    3. No guests are permitted on Arena floor at any time.
    4. Seating for the disabled is available on Concourse Level; approach the Civic Center on the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Madison Street. Parking is available at that entrance.
    5. GUESTS SHOULD NOT LEAVE UNTIL THE ENTIRE CEREMONY IS COMPLETED.
      Leaving causes disruption and noise which disturbs those families whose graduate has not yet been recognized.
    6. Please arrange to meet your families at designated areas outside the civic center (i.e., flagpoles, plaza, gates) not in the arena.
  5. PARKING
    1. Civic Center lot has only 750 spaces.
    2. State lots have 1300 spaces available. Entrances on Madison, Pensacola & Duval Streets. The Civic Center charges a $6.00 per car parking fee for the Civic Center and state parking lots.
    3. Also available: Diffenbaugh, Law School, Brinkley, Mecca parking lots on campus.
    4. Parking for the disabled is available in the main parking lot and on the Pensacola Street and Martin Luther King Blvd. sides of the Civic Center
    5. ILLEGALLY PARKED CARS WILL BE TOWED BY CITY POLICE.
  6. CAP AND GOWN RETURN
    The Florida State Bookstore will be set up in the Exhibit Hall for a short period of time for cap and gown turn-in. All caps and gowns must be returned before your diploma will be mailed out.

DISABLED STUDENTS AND GUESTS INFORMATION

Parking is available on the Martin Luther King Boulevard and the Pensacola Street sides of the Civic Center and in the main parking lot.

There are bays at each entrance into the arena on the concourse level of the Civic Center. These will be held for the disabled and their families. We do not reserve these areas for guests; they are available on a first come-first served basis. We ask that the families sit in front of or to the sides of the bays if there are a large number of disabled guests attending the ceremony.

Guests with disabilities who require assistance (i.e., interpreter, hearing devices, etc.) to attend the ceremony are requested to notify Ms. Dianne Skinner in the Office of the Registrar, 644-7128, at least 5 days in advance, so that their needs can be accommodated.

STUDENTS GRADUATING WITH A DEGREE OF DISTINCTION
(Undergraduates only)

Congratulations to those of you graduating from Florida State University with a “degree of distinction”. The University is providing honor cords for all undergraduate students graduating with both a 3.5 (or higher) grade point average at Florida State and a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher on all college work attempted including transfer credit.* Please look for the “Honor Cords table” when you pick up your blue card in the Exhibit Hall at the Civic Center prior to the ceremony. Your card should be marked with the proper honors designation. If you have questions concerning your honors status, please call Dianne Skinner at 644-7128.

*Transfer credit cannot raise a student’s Florida State University grade point average. (See: FSU General Bulletin, Undergraduate Degree Requirements, subsection Degrees of Distinction.)