As December Graduations approach, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide of everything you might need to know for your day. If you have any questions or concerns, we’re happy to help so please do give us a call on 02 6773 2000 or reach out through Email or Live Chat.
Ceremony Dates
Thursday 12th December 10:30am – Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education Awards
Friday 13th December 10:30am – Faculty of Medicine and Health Awards
Saturday 14th December 10:30am – Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law Awards
Schedule
Your first stop as a graduand is Registration. This is where you’ll let the team know you’re here and be assigned your seat number for the ceremony. Registration tables will be in the northern courtyard (just past the Campus Essentials arcade) and will be clearly marked.
Registration is open: 8:00 am to 9:45 am
You must not leave the campus once you have registered – not even to go home or back to your hotel to change, so make sure to come prepared and ready for your ceremony.
Please note – If you are attending another event on the day, hosted by your school, a support group or a club, the same registration times still apply.
Ceremonies will begin at 10:30am sharp.
So that our ceremonies remain on time, you must ensure that you are seated in your assigned seat by no later than 10:15am.
If you’re graduating, you must remain seated for the entire Ceremony which will last roughly two hours. We are unable to provide an exact completion time due to the variety of factors which can influence ceremony length, but would advise that you allow roughly two hours.
Parking & Transport
Event parking will be in place for the weekend to assist you in finding a space easily. The following locations are available for event parking;
- Eastern carpark – access and mobility shuttle pickup/set down
- Southern carpark
- Western carpark
Shuttle buses will be making regular rounds to all event carparks, taking you to and from the Northern carpark, near your Registration tent. For graduands and guests with special needs, the shuttle bus is best able to collect you from the Eastern carpark, but will be making stops at our other event parking locations.
Elderly guests, or those with access needs, may be dropped off (and collected) behind Lazenby Hall. Safety & Security personnel will be available to assist with directions to this location on the day.
As a graduand, please contact the Graduation Team via AskUNE to register your elderly guests or guests with access needs so that they may make use of the drop off service. This allows us to provide your name (i.e. the graduand’s name) to Safety & Security personnel. Your guests will just need to mention your name to Security to be permitted to drive closer to Lazenby Hall for drop off. Please note that this is a drop-off point only and that parking locations remain as above.
You are also welcome to make use of purple visitor parking bays, however, on weekdays you will need to purchase a parking coupon. There is no need to pay for parking on weekends. You can find further information about visitor parking on the Campus Information parking webpage.
Academic Dress
Academic dress must be worn by every graduand, and can be ordered through UNE Life Graduation Services.
The Graduation Ceremony is a formal event. Men should wear long sleeves and tie, trousers and shoes. The tie will assist in securing the graduation hood. A jacket is optional according to your preferences and the weather. Women should wear appropriate day wear sufficient to allow the hood to be secured comfortably around the neck, and to avoid clothing ‘riding up’ due to the weight of the hood hanging behind you. Although the ceremony is now indoors, there are stairs that graduands will use leading up to the stage and we suggest choosing footwear accordingly.
Food/Drinks & Booked Meals
Cafe Life in the top courtyard will be open 7:30am-4:00pm on Thursday and Friday and between 8am-2pm on Saturday.
Booloominbah will be open 7:30am-3:00pm on Thursday, Friday and 7:30am-10:00am on Saturday, as well as for the private Booloominbah Lunch from 12:00-2:00pm.
There will also be a coffee cart available all three ceremony days, operating between 8:30am-2:00pm near the entrance to The Shop.
After your ceremony, UNELife will be hosting both a sit down lunch at Booloominbah, or a Gourmet BBQ for graduands and their guests. You can find more information and book yourself and guests in for either of these through UNE Life Graduation Services.
Both of these lunch offerings will run from 12:00-2:00pm. If you have any queries about a booked lunch program, please make sure to call 02 6773 5058.
Due to the likelihood of poor air quality and inclement weather, the Gourmet BBQ Lunch will take place inside The Bistro, directly opposite Lazenby Hall.
Guests
Although your Ceremony takes place indoors, there are no limits on guests. Guest seating is not reserved. In the event of Lazenby Hall reaching full capacity, Somerville Lecture Theatre is prepared as a live stream site and guests may be seated there for comfort to watch the ceremony.
If you have a guest with mobility requirements or specific access needs, please make sure to get in touch with our Graduation Team as soon as possible by calling 02 6773 2000 or emailing through AskUNE (topic: Graduation and Beyond > Graduations). On the day, for those who have registered there will be a table labelled ‘Access Needs & VIP Seating’, where graduation staff can assist you to your allocated seats in accordance with your needs.
Live Stream
For anyone interested in watching along with the ceremonies, you can find the live stream on our Main University Facebook page at – https://www.facebook.com/UniNewEngland
If you’re keen to see friends or family members graduate, or you’re just after a bit of inspiration for your own studies, then make sure to tune in from our ceremony start times!
Social Media & Photography
If you’re taking photos or videos on the day or have any kind of posts going on social media, we’d really love to see them and celebrate with you!
Make sure to tag #UniNewEngland and #ProudtobeUNE so that we can follow you.
If you’ve booked portrait photography through the ‘Book a Sitting’ option in our Graduation Portal at:https://portal.unelife.com.au/graduation-order-form/auth, then the external photography team will be in touch with you shortly to arrange a time. The photography team is generally quite flexible on the day and able to facilitate walk-ins as well.
Support on the day
If you have any questions on your special day, our Student Success Team are here to help, available on 02 6773 2000 between 8:00am-6:00pm on Friday and from 8:00am-11:00am on Saturday.
From all of the team here at UNE, we hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy celebrating your achievements!
After your Graduation
Make sure to check out our UNE Alumni website and join our UNE Alumni Facebook page!
If you and/or your family or guests are visiting Armidale and would like to make the most of your time, we’d encourage you to check out the Visitor’s Guide to UNE Graduation Weekend.
