There will be two graduation ceremonies. Please follow event signage to find graduate check-in location. Check-in and run-of-show times are listed below.

Morning Ceremony
Doors open at 8 a.m. Please allow time for travel and to find parking.
9:30 – 11:30 a.m. 

• College of Arts & Media
• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• School of Education & Human Development
• School of Public Affairs

Afternoon Ceremony
Doors open at 1 p.m. Please allow time for travel and to find parking.
2:30 – 4:30 p.m.

• Business School
• College of Architecture and Planning
• College of Engineering, Design and Computing 

Come dressed in your regalia. Undergraduates wear tassels on the right side of the cap until instructed during the ceremony to move it to the left side. Master's degree candidates wear hoods. Doctoral candidates drape hoods over their left arms until they are hooded in the ceremony. 

Bachelor’s and master’s degree candidates should locate the flag with your school or college's name on it and check in. If you didn’t bring your reader card (the card is what you present to have your name read as you cross the stage) that was included in your regalia packet, your school or college will have extras for you to fill out. Please check all the information on the card.

Doctoral students will check in at the Doctoral Candidates table. All other students should check in with their respective school or college. If you don't know which school or college your major falls under, you must find out before you register for the ceremony.

If you are interested in purchasing professional photographs, confirm that your contact information is correct on the back side of the reader card.

 

All graduates must line up in the lower-level graduate staging area for the procession. Follow the instructions provided by the faculty marshals, who will guide you to line up on colored lines taped to the floor. You will line up in pairs of two and you will be seated with the person you are in front of or behind. If you and your friends are standing on different colored lines, you will be seated in different sections.

Please note: We do not line up graduates in alphabetical order. Your reader card is handed to the announcer, who will read it in the order in which you cross the stage. Don't lose the card!

Doctoral graduates process behind the Doctoral Candidates banner and lead all graduates onto the floor. Behind them, banners are carried by designated graduates at the front of each of the schools/colleges. Master's graduates line up behind the banners and bachelor's degree recipients line up behind master's graduates. 

 

Graduates should follow faculty marshals. Upon reaching your seating row, faculty marshals will direct you into your seats. Please fill every seat in the row. You will remain standing until the commencement marshal invites you to sit.

The following items are prohibited in the event floor: bags of any sort, alcohol, illegal drugs, artificial noise makers, banners, large signs, bottles, cans, coolers, fireworks, helium balloons, aerosol cans, defensive weapons, and pets (service animals are permitted, please contact the Commencement Office). 

Degrees are conferred in the following order: Doctoral and educational specialist degrees, and then master's and bachelor's degrees for each college and school. 

Doctoral graduates are called to the stage first, followed by educational specialists. Then each college or school will ask their master’s degree graduates to come to the stage, followed by their bachelor’s degree graduates.

Master's degree and bachelor's degree graduates will be directed to both sides of the stage. Each side has a podium with an announcer who will read your name as it is printed on your reader card. Names are read alternatively from each podium. Photos are taken by professional photographers at the bottom of each ramp and as you receive your diploma cover and shake the CU Denver Chancellor's or CU System President's hand on stage. You will reach out with your left hand to accept the diploma cover from the Chancellor or President and shake hands with your right hand (if shaking hands with a male is not culturally acceptable, you may simply accept the diploma cover from the President with your left hand).

For safety and consideration for the significance of the ceremony, graduates with children are not allowed to bring their children to the stage with them. 

 

After crossing the stage, you will exit down the center stairs and return to the same seat. You'll be excited, so a faculty marshal will be there to help you find it again. As a courtesy to your fellow graduates, no one is permitted to leave until the ceremony has concluded.

At the end of the ceremony, graduates recess out of the main stage area in the order that they processed in: first in, first out. Gowns and hoods (if applicable) are returned after the ceremony. Caps and tassels are yours to keep!