More than 4,700 students are expected to graduate from the University of Central Florida on Friday, Dec. 14, and Saturday, Dec. 15, during three commencement ceremonies that will be held at the UCF Arena.
Friday’s 9 a.m. ceremony will be for anticipated graduates from the College of Business Administration, College of Engineering & Computer Science, College of Medicine, and the College of Optics and Photonics.
A 2:30 p.m. Friday ceremony will be held for anticipated graduates from the College of Arts & Humanities, College of Graduate Studies, College of Sciences, College of Undergraduate Studies, and the College of Nursing.
Saturday’s 9 a.m. ceremony will be held for anticipated graduates from the College of Education, College of Health & Public Affairs, and the Rosen College of Hospitality Management.
Doors to the Arena will open about 90 minutes before each ceremony, which are expected to last about two hours. Graduates will begin processing about 20 minutes before each ceremony.
The speaker for the Friday morning ceremony will be Dean Cannon, former State Rep. and Speaker of the House. As the former representative for House District 35, which includes UCF’s main campus, he championed the UCF College of Medicine and Central Florida’s modeling and simulation industry.
Valencia College President Sanford C. Shugart will be the guest speaker for the Friday afternoon ceremony. Shugart previously served as president of North Harris College in Houston and as vice president and chief academic officer of the North Carolina Community College System.
During the ceremony, Shugart will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for his work with UCF and area state colleges on the college access program DirectConnect to UCF and for his contributions to the community.
Barbara Jenkins, the superintendent for Orange County Public Schools, will speak at Saturday’s ceremony. Jenkins, the superintendent of the 11th largest school district in the nation, earned three degrees from UCF’s College of Education before becoming a classroom teacher and principal.
Those expected to walk across the stage this weekend include 3,955 students who filed intents to receive bachelor’s degrees, 734 for master’s degrees, 3 for an education specialist degree, and 89 for doctoral degrees.
With this week’s expected graduations, UCF will have awarded 239,565 degrees since classes began in 1968.
Tickets are required for guests to attend the ceremonies and are available from graduates. Guests without tickets are welcome to view closed-circuit telecasts of the ceremonies from the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center across the street from the UCF Arena, and on Campus Cable Channel 21.
Parking for guests will be available in garages C, D and H.
For more information, visit the commencement web page.