WMU to confer some 2,700 degrees during spring commencement

KALAMAZOO—Western Michigan University will grant degrees to more than 2,700 students during three commencement ceremonies Saturday, April 27, in University Arena.

This is a venue change for the ceremonies, which are usually held in Miller Auditorium. Commencement ceremonies will return to Miller with the Saturday, June 29, graduation exercises.

For the April event, WMU President John M. Dunn will preside over three ceremonies as the University confers 2,727 degrees: 2,116 at the bachelor's level, 587 at the master's level and 24 at the doctoral level.

Schedule

Each of the three spring 2013 ceremonies is geared toward students who are graduating from a particular set of degree-granting academic units.

• The 9 a.m. ceremony is for graduates of the colleges of Aviation, Education and Human Development, and Health and Human Services.
• The 1 p.m. ceremony is for graduates of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, College of Fine Arts and Haworth College of Business.
• The 5 p.m. ceremony is for graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences and Extended University Programs.

April's graduation exercises will feature music by the Western Brass Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Steve M. Wolfinbarger. The WMU chapter of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia professional music fraternity, conducted by Michael Miller, will sing the national anthem and alma mater. Graduates will be welcomed as new University alumni by Philip Chludzinski, president of the WMU Alumni Association.

Tickets

Tickets are required for guests to attend commencement, and each participating student is eligible to reserve up to five guest tickets. Should there be extra tickets, students who are participating in one of the exercises may request up to two more tickets on a first-come, first-served basis from the University Arena ticket office beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, April 26.

After all ticketed guests have been seated in University Arena, any remaining open seats will be offered to those without tickets. All seats are general admission, and there will be some areas for those who require wheelchair or disabled seating.

Guests attending the ceremony who have special needs should plan to arrive at least 45 minutes prior to the ceremony they wish to view. Guests without tickets may view the commencement ceremonies live on a large screen in rooms 3012-13 of the Student Recreation Center, which is adjacent to University Arena.

Live coverage and photos

All of the April ceremonies will be broadcast live on Channel 5 of EduCABLE, the University's cable television system, and throughout the Kalamazoo area on Public Media Network Channel 99, a public access channel on the Charter Communications commercial cable television system.

A live webcast of the ceremonies will be available online to a limited number of people the day of graduation. Those planning to view the webcast will need to install Windows Media Player on their computers.

A professional photographer will take pictures of each graduating student. Color proofs will be sent to the students, but purchase of prints is optional.

Parking

Commencement guests should plan to arrive at least 30 minutes before each ceremony. Free parking will be available in all of the lots within walking distance to University Arena. Shuttle bus parking will be provided off of Oliver Street in lot 10 and on the corner of Oliver Street and Stadium Drive in lot 102.

More information

For complete graduation information, including how to view the live Webcast or obtain tickets or student photos, visit wmich.edu/commencement.

The University conducts formal graduation exercises in December, April and June, although WMU students also may graduate in August. A final list of April 2013 graduates is expected to be distributed to hometown newspapers in June.