2012 Commencement Information
General Information
Guest Tickets to Morning Ceremony in Harvard Yard
Degree candidates will receive two tickets to the morning Commencement exercises in Harvard Yard. Parents and guests of degree candidates must have tickets, which they will be required to show at the gates in order to enter Tercentenary Theatre.
A ticket allows admission into Tercentenary Theatre, but does not guarantee a seat. The sale of Commencement tickets is prohibited. For the diploma ceremony in Gund Hall, each graduate will receive four tickets. The sale of GSD diploma tickets is also prohibited.
For more information regarding tickets for the 2012 University Commencement Morning Exercises, please visit the Harvard University Commencement Office.
2012 Graduation week schedule
Monday, May 21, 2012
Pick up tickets!
2:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
Starting Monday at 2:00 p.m., tickets will be made available for pick up in Student Services. If you have any oustanding balance on your term bill or have other types of holds, you will not be eligible to pick up tickets. For those that did not fill out the Graduating Student Survey, we will have laptops in our office where you can fill out the survey (see information below).
Tickets will be made available Monday to Wednesday afternoon from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. You can also pick up your tickets at the reception on Wednesday night and Thursday morning starting at 7:00 a.m.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
CLASS DAY
Class Photos
Class graduation photographs will be held in Piper followed by a rehearsal of the GSD ceremony in the studio trays. Schedule as follows:
1:15 p.m. Architecture
2:00 p.m. Landscape Architecture
2:30 p.m. Urban Planning and Design
3:00 p.m. Master in Design Studies/Doctor of Design
Class Day Speaker
Bruce Mau, Co-Founder, Massive Change Network
4:00 p.m.– 5:00 p.m. in Piper Auditorium
Graduating students, their families and friends and invited guests are welcomed.
Reception honoring the Class of 2012
Gund Hall Porticos, porch and lobby. Graduating students, their families and friends, faculty and staff, alumni and guests are invited. Dress: Business Casual
5:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Commencement Day
2012 Class Day and Commencement Schedule
Regalia
To receive your regalia in time for Commencement, place your order at the Harvard COOP, 3rd floor. Please see the link below:
Guests with Disabilities
Seating in the reserved and accessible section for individuals with disabilities in Tercentenary Theatre on Commencement Day is by confirmed reservation and ticket only. The University Disability Service office is responsible for all central services as they relate to accessibility for Commencement Week. Please send all inquiries to disabilityservices@harvard.edu.
For GSD students, if you will require special accommodations for your guest at the Yard exercises, please email Carlos Reyes (creyes@gsd.harvard.edu). There is a limited number of tickets available for this section, so please make your inquiry as soon as possible. You will need to exchange your morning yard tickets for these tickets in the disabilities section.
For the diploma ceremony, please email Carlos as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made for your families and guests.
Parking
Parking at Harvard University during Commencement Week is extremely limited. Please view updated information regarding Commencement Parking on the Commencement site.
Televised and Webcast Viewing
Services will be provided for both televised and webcast viewing of the Commencement Morning Exercises and the afternoon Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association for those guests who are unable to attend the events. For more info, visit the Commencement website. To purchase a video/dvd of the morning Commencement exercises and the HAA meeting where the Commencement speaker will be featured, please fill out the order form here when it is available or feel free to contact Commencement Video (617-884-6000 or email bobbydm@comcast.net). The Commencement Morning Exercises and the Harvard Alumni Association meeting will be broadcast live in Piper auditorium.
For those who may be unable to attend any of the ceremonies in person, please note the following:
Harvard University events will be webcast.
The ceremonies will also be web-cast live and may be viewed via computer/laptop from various Harvard websites including Harvard University Information Technology and Harvard University Commencement Office. GSD Commencement events, from inside Gund Hall, will be webcast.
For those in the Greater Boston Area, the Morning and Afternoon exercises will be broadcast live over Comcast Cable (Cambridge/Greater Boston area—channel 283; Boston/Brookline—channel 12).
Strollers
Because of the increasing number of baby strollers being admitted into the Yard on Commencement Morning, there is a concern for safety with the strollers being folded and stored in rows and aisles during the Morning Exercises. Harvard security, Marshal's Aides, and Alumni Top Hats are instructed to inform guests that no strollers will be allowed beyond these sections. This is being done to ensure the safety of small children in preparation for the anticipated large crowds, and in the event of an emergency. Therefore, Harvard will be limiting the areas which will allow strollers to the following areas:
Sections D5, D6, D7 and D8 (behind the Graduate and Professional School seating sections)
Graduation Dates
There are three graduation dates each academic year where degrees are voted on that all schools within the University observe: November, March and May. That is the date that will appear on your diploma. Students who finish up over the summer do not register in the fall and have their degrees voted on in November; students who finish up during the fall semester have their degrees voted on in March; and, those who finish their studies in May are May degree candidates. Students who have had their degrees voted on during one of those times are eligible to participate in Commencement in May.
Meeting Degree Requirements
Degrees will not be voted on unless students have completed all of their academic requirements and owe the University less than $500. If their term bills exceed $500 their degrees are withheld and are voted on retroactively once their balance is clear. In other words, they will not be allowed to participate in Commencement. Questions about meeting degree requirements should be directed to your academic program am director or coordinator; and questions about your term bill should be directed to the Registrar's Office in the Office of Student Services, Gund 422. Finally, be sure to return all of your library books and pay any overdue fines.
Health Insurance
If your graduation date is May, your health insurance will remain in effect until July 31st. If your graduation date is November or March, your insurance will extend until the end of January. Please take a few minutes to read the 2012 Graduating Student Letter from Harvard University Health services.
Application for Degree
At some point prior to completion of your studies, the Registrar's office will distribute an Application for Degree form. It is extremely important that you fill it out carefully because that is how we will know how to print your name on your diploma.
Invitation Letters
For international students who would like to invite relatives, extended family and friends to visit the US for the graduation exercises, they will most likely need to apply for a Visitor's Visa. The Graduate School of Design will provide a Commencement invitation. Please email the Commencement Coordinator, Carlos Reyes, with the following information:
- First Name, Last Name
- Home address of the invited guests (and their relation to the student)
- Program currently enrolled
A notification via email will be sent when the letter is ready.
Graduating Student Survey
All graduating students are strongly encouraged to complete the 2012 GSD Graduating Student Survey. Career Services gathers this data to assist fellow students and alumni. Your individual information is confidential. Salary data is always reported in aggregate form to protect student privacy. Please see the link to the 2012 survey below:
2012 Graduating Student Survey
As a friendly reminder, if we do not receive confirmation that you have completed the survey, you will not receive your graduation tickets
