About the event
December commencement is the day after finals end. Chancellor Dr. Elaine Vandehey confers degrees at both ceremonies. The address is given by Provost Dr. Bjorn Halvorsen less than two weeks before he hands the office to his successor. He has promised to keep it under ten minutes and has been told it will be timed. Master’s graduates cross the stage in their college’s ceremony and are hooded there.
Everything a graduate needs is on December Commencement 2026. This page is the calendar listing.
Schedule
| Ceremony | Colleges | Graduates check in / guest doors |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 a.m. | Engineering & Technology; Computing & Information Sciences; Science & Mathematics; Business | 8:45 a.m., fieldhouse annex / 8:30 a.m. |
| 2:00 p.m. | Health Sciences; Education; Arts, Design & Communication; Applied & Technical Studies | 12:45 p.m., fieldhouse annex / 12:30 p.m. |
The Forge serves a graduates’ brunch from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location and access
All campus lots are free on December 19. The Porter Loop runs a ceremony route every 8 minutes from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Accessible parking is in Lot F next to Ironclad Fieldhouse. ASL interpretation, live captioning and assistive listening are provided. Request interpretation or a reserved accessible section by December 4. If campus closes for snow, the ceremonies move to Sunday, December 20, at the same times.
Tickets and deadlines
No tickets are needed. Seating is general admission, with about 3,200 seats per ceremony and an overflow room in the Forge Recreation Center. Graduates: the regalia order deadline is November 7, and pickup is at the campus store December 14–18 (see commencement regalia). The phonetic name card is due December 4. Both ceremonies stream on the commencement livestream.
Contact and related events
Before the ceremony comes the final exam week, December 14–18. See the final exam schedule. Campus closes for the winter, December 24 – January 1.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. This ceremony, its speaker and its schedule are invented. There is no fieldhouse to drive to on December 19, and no diploma, empty or otherwise.