WMU to confer nearly 1,900 degrees during fall commencement

Contact: Jeanne Baron
Photo of WMU President John M. Dunn at commencement.

President Dunn will preside over the ceremonies.

KALAMAZOO—Western Michigan University will grant degrees to nearly 1,900 students during three commencement ceremonies Saturday, Dec. 14, in Miller Auditorium.

WMU President John M. Dunn will preside over the fall 2013 ceremonies. In all, the University will confer 1,883 degrees: 1,411 at the bachelor's level, 435 at the master's level, one at the specialist level and 36 at the doctoral level.

Schedule

All three fall ceremonies last about two hours and are 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 Education and Human Development and Health and Human Services.
  • The noon ceremony is for graduates of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Extended University Programs, and the Haworth College of Business.
  • The 3 p.m. ceremony is for graduates of the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, and Fine Arts.

December's graduation exercises will feature music by the Western Brass Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Stephen M. Wolfinbarger. The national anthem and the alma mater will be sung by the University's chapter of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia professional music fraternity, conducted by Michael Miller. Graduates will be welcomed as new alumni of the University by Philip Chludzinski, immediate past 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 four guest tickets. All seats are general admission. Guests who need accessible seating, sign language interpretation or other accessibility services should call (269) 387-2320 to make arrangements.

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 Miller Auditorium Ticket Office beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, Dec. 13.

After all ticketed guests have been seated in Miller, any remaining open seats will be offered to those without tickets. Guests without tickets may view the commencement ceremonies live on a large screen in Rooms 1025 and 1028 in Brown Hall, which is near Miller.

Live coverage and photos

All of the December 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 local 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.

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 parking areas adjacent to Miller Auditorium.

More information and newspaper notifications

For complete graduation information, including how to obtain tickets or view the live webcast, visit wmich.edu/commencement. Direct questions to the Registrar's Office at (269) 387-4300.

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