letter for Parents & Families

February 15, 2012

To The Family of Undergraduate Graduation Candidates,

One of the most important days in your child's life is fast approaching. The 2012 Undergraduate Commencement Exercises will be held in the Alumni Arena on the Amherst Campus of the University at Buffalo on Saturday, May 19, 2012. The Academic Procession will begin at 10:45 AM and the Commencement exercises will begin at 11:00 AM. The length of the commencement exercises varies but usually will last approximately 2 hours.

The Baccalaureate Mass in Celebration of the Class of 2012 will be held on Friday, May 18th in the Koessler Athletic Center on campus with Mass beginning at 5:00 PM.

Due to state insurance regulations and security measures, it has become necessary for us to track, monitor and limit the number of guests at the Commencement ceremony.

  • In order to accomplish this task it has become necessary to institute a ticket system.
  • Each undergraduate degree recipient may pick-up a maximum of 6 tickets at this office when they check-out for Commencement beginning on April 4th.
  • Students who do not need all of their tickets will be encouraged to take the tickets that they will not need to the Campus Programming and Leadership Office, lower level of the Student Center. Students will be able to check at that office to see if additional tickets are available for distribution.
  • Each student will have to sign for the number of tickets they receive at check-out. Tickets will not be mailed. The graduating student must appear in person at the Student Records Office to pick-up and sign for the Commencement tickets.
  • Lost or forgotten tickets cannot be replaced.
  • Announcements if needed can be purchased at the bookstore. A link to order announcements, as well as many other graduation details and the answers to frequently asked questions, can be found on the commencement website.

Your son or daughter will receive an information packet the second week in March containing a checkout instruction sheet and a checkout form to indicate to us whether or not they will be attending the graduation ceremonies.

If you have any questions at all regarding Commencement or the Baccalaureate Mass, please do not hesitate to contact this office.

Sincerely,


Blair W. Foster
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs