More Than 3,400 UCF Students Plan to Graduate During Four Fall Ceremonies

ORLANDO, Dec. 6, 2005 -- More than 3,400 University of Central Florida students plan to graduate Monday, Dec. 12, and Tuesday, Dec. 13, during four commencement ceremonies at the UCF Arena.

The fall graduates include 2,766 who filed intents for bachelor's degrees, 597 for master's degrees, one for an education specialist degree and 89 for doctoral degrees.

The first ceremony, at 10 a.m. Monday, will include graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences. The speaker will be state Rep. Bruce Antone, D-Orlando.

The 2 p.m. ceremony on Monday will feature graduates of the College of Health and Public Affairs, College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Optics and Photonics and Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences. The speaker will be Susan Story, president and chief executive officer of Gulf Power Co., a subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the largest producers of electricity in the United States.

At 10 a.m. Dec. 13, students in the College of Business Administration will graduate. The speaker will be state Rep. John Quiñones, R-Kissimmee. Tom Ackert, executive director of the Orange County Convention Center, will address graduates of the College of Education and Rosen College of Hospitality Management at 2 p.m. Dec. 13.

The degrees awarded next week will increase the total number awarded by UCF to nearly 154,000 since classes were first offered in 1968. UCF President John Hitt will have presided over the awarding of more than 98,000 of those degrees after the fall ceremonies.

Guests must have tickets to attend the ceremonies. Guests without tickets can watch a live simulcast of each ceremony in the Fairwinds Alumni Center or in Room 121 of the Classroom I building The ceremonies also will be shown on a Web cast at http://webcast.oir.ucf.edu.

For more information, go to www.registrar.ucf.edu/Comsked.html.

Note to reporters and assignment editors:
Due to the construction of the new convocation center in front of the UCF Arena, the setup for commencement ceremonies has changed. Media can park behind the Arena and use the rear entrances. The access road from Gemini Boulevard to the Arena is just west of the Arena.

DATE
December 7, 2005

CONTACT
Tom Evelyn
News & Information
407-823-5988 (office)
407-928-0524 (cell)
tevelyn@mail.ucf.edu

Chad Binette
News & Information
407-823-6312 (office)
407-247-8777 (cell)
cbinette@mail.ucf.edu

LINKS
Commencement Webcast
Commencement Info