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Graduate Attendance Information


Graduating students should arrive to Kolf Sports Center 45 minutes prior to the ceremony to register and receive their name card and honor cords. Maps of registration areas (by college) will be posted on the doors and in the entry ways.

Tickets

  • Tickets are required for ALL GUESTS. All graduates are allowed up to eight guests and will receive an email from our ticketing partner, Eventbrite, where they can claim and download their tickets. Graduates will not need a ticket to enter.
  • Graduates will need to connect with their guests to send them the tickets. Please print these tickets ahead of the event.
  • Upon entering the venue, all guests will be checked in via their printed ticket. Guests should have their physical ticket ready at the door to ensure a quick ticket scan by our event staff.
  • Remember which ceremony you will be attending.

Student Registration Area

Doors will open two hours prior to the ceremony. All graduating students are asked to arrive at least 45 before ceremony start time and report to the appropriate registration area in the lower level of Kolf Sports Center.

FIND YOUR REGISTRATION AREA

  • College of Business – Gym B
  • College of Education and Human Services – Gym B
  • College of Letters and Science – Gym A
  • College of Nursing – Room 164
  • Doctoral Candidates – Room 158
  • Graduate Studies – Room 161

Ceremony details

  • The ceremony will last approximately two hours and will feature a variety of live speakers which will be followed by the conferral of degrees when the graduates will cross the stage.
  • The commencement ceremony will also be available via a live webcast. The webcast will begin promptly at the start of the ceremony.
  • Staff will guide you to the stage at the appropriate time to receive your degree. A photo will be taken of you as you enter the stage, as you receive the diploma cover and after you receive the diploma cover.
  • Once the conferral of degrees has finished, the ceremony will conclude and all graduates and guests will be guided out of the building.
  • Note: Upon ceremony conclusion, all graduates and guests need to leave the venue immediately.
    Please make prior arrangements to meet your guests somewhere outside of the building.

Photography

  • A professional photographer will photograph each graduate. Graduates will receive an email from GradImages within a few weeks following the ceremony, and pictures will be available for purchase.

Entering Kolf Sports Center

 

  • Everyone can enter the building on Pearl or High Ave side of the building.
  • Please leave your personal items (including coats and purses) with your family and friends. Family and friends should then go to the upper level of Kolf.
  • Bring your academic attire with you to your college’s (COB, COEHS, COLS, CON and Graduate Studies) registration area in the lower level of Kolf.
  • Check-in and receive your name card. Students may make phonetic markings on their cards (for our announcers). If you are receiving University Undergraduate Honors (cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude) or College Honors you will receive your FREE honor cord while registering.
  • All graduates will be escorted as a group into the upper gym for the beginning of the ceremony.
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Bag Check

All guests will be subject to bag checks and security screenings. All bags (to include but not limited to, handbags, briefcases, cameras bags, diaper bags, clutches, and purses) and strollers are subject to search prior to entry into the venue. Here's a list of items that we DO NOT allow inside our venues:

  • Illegal Drugs or Other Substances
  • Closed packages
  • Drones
  • Laser Pointers
  • Firearms (either real or simulated) 
  • Knives, blades, sharp objects of any length (unless required for medical purposes)
  • Poles, sticks or banners, flags and signs
  • Noisemakers
  • Inflatables
  • Animals (other than service animals)
  • Any item deemed dangerous or inappropriate as determined by bag check personnel
Items cannot be left at the entrance unattended - if they are, they will be inspected and discarded. 
 

Accessible Seating

  • A limited number of spaces are available for wheelchairs and guests who are unable to climb or sit in the bleachers. A number of chairs can also be reserved for guests who would benefit from the services of our hearing impaired interpreter. Accessible seating tickets must be reserved in advance.
  • Anyone needing a wheelchair or walking aid should bring their own as they will not be available due to sanitation concerns.
  • An elevator is available for those who need help entering the upper gym.

If you or someone in your party are unable to climb the bleachers, please contact our office at commencement@uwosh.edu to request special seating arrangements.

Parking and Directions

Kolf Sports Center | 785 High Ave. | Oshkosh, WI  54901

  • Free parking is available in all university lots. Please do not park in reserved areas or in spaces for people with disabilities unless you have a disability permit.
  • Learn more about parking and directions.

UW Oshkosh Special Events Office
(920) 424-0125
  commencement@uwosh.edu

Culver Family Welcome Center
625 Pearl Ave.
Oshkosh, WI 54901