UMass Graduate School Commencement Plan

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Jacqueline Urla, dean of the Graduate School, emailed the campus community today with details of the Graduate Commencement plan.

That email is as follows:

Dear UMass Community,

The Graduate School is pleased to share with you plans for the Graduate Commencement ceremonies this coming May. While we cannot do everything we would have liked, this year’s ceremony is aimed at celebrating graduate students who have completed this important and long-awaited milestone in their careers and still preserve public health and safety. Here is what we are planning.

An outdoor in-person ceremony will be held in McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Thursday, May 13, at 4 p.m.

The ceremony is open to graduate students earning degrees this academic year (September, February and May). To abide by public health guidelines set by the Governor’s office, attendance is limited to graduating masters and doctoral students only. Attendees must follow public health protocols including mask-wearing and social distancing. No guests will be permitted.

We will have addresses by Chancellor Subbaswamy, myself and two outstanding student speakers, and a photo tribute. And, of course, we will officially confer the degrees. To protect everyone’s health, we will not be calling doctoral graduates onto the platform to shake their hand and bestow their hood as we normally do.

Although this is very different from our usual ceremonies, we look forward to this occasion to come together and celebrate the achievements of our graduate students.

Additional details about registration, including specific COVID-19 testing requirements for attendees to gain access to the ceremony will be posted on our website.

I look forward to celebrating with you!

Jacqueline Urla

Dean of the Graduate School