Commencement 2024

Sunset reception will be on Thursday, May 16th at Robertson Park and all faculty, staff, and students will be invited to celebrate your accomplishments with you and your family. The reception will be held from 4 – 8 p.m.

Commencement is planned for the beautiful Bayfront Lawn of Historic Ringling Mansion | College Hall on Friday, May 17th.  Rehearsal will be in the morning and the ceremony will begin at 7 pm.  (Rain date will be Saturday,  May 18th at 10 am).  The ceremony will be live-streamed for anyone who is not able to be in person at the ceremony on our New College of Florida YouTube channel.

The ceremony is a ticketed (free) event. There are a limited number of tickets available for this event and these are reserved for graduating students and their families, faculty and staff only. If you are alumni or current students please reach out to [email protected] for ticket availability.

Tickets are available now at the START Center for graduates, faculty and staff. You must present your NCF ID when picking up your ticket(s). The tickets are available to pick up until Noon on May 16. The following ticket request procedures are in place:

GRADUATES: May request up to 12 tickets for family and friends. Requests for more than 12 tickets should be emailed to [email protected] and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

FACULTY AND STAFF: May request a single ticket for personal use to attend the ceremony.

Following the ceremony there will be a reception on the Cook Hall lawn for everyone to celebrate with you.

We are conscientious of accessibility needs for the event and will have golf cart transportation from several parking lot locations, as well as a ramp to the platform along with interpreters for the ceremony.

Hopefully, this is helpful information to you, but as always, if you have any additional questions or need any clarification, please feel free to email: [email protected].

COMMENCEMENT SECURITY PROTOCOLS

In order to keep the focus on the achievements of our graduates, the following security measures and etiquette protocols will be in place. The State University System recently released a memo (please read) instructing all universities to take any steps necessary to ensure the safety of all attendees at commencement ceremonies. This is a ticketed event. All guests must have a ticket to enter and attend the ceremony. Please share the following information with your guests.

Etiquette

Cell phones should be turned off or silenced during the ceremony. Do not speak on a cell phone or carry on side conversations during the ceremony as it may prevent others from hearing and enjoying the ceremony.

Graduates are asked to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner, demonstrating respect for fellow graduates, guests, and speakers.

Please do not leave the ceremony until it has concluded and all graduates have been recognized.

Prohibited Items Include

·         Alcohol

·         Flash photography

·         Noisemakers

·         Balloons of any kind

·         Silly String

·         Confetti

·         Glitter

·         Drones

·         Signs/ Posters

·         Flags

·         Laser pointers

·         Weapons

·         Coolers

·         Smoking of any kind

·         Illegal drugs or substances

Any of the items listed above should remain in a vehicle and not be brought to the event entrance. No personal belongings will be held for participants or guests.

Guest Parking

Parking for the ceremony will open at 5 p.m. Complimentary valet parking will be offered on College Drive beginning near the Pritzker Marine Biology Research Center. Accommodations for disabled parking are also available.

Guests who wish to self-park should park on the East (Pei) Campus near Sudakoff Conference Center located at 5845 General Dougher Pl, Sarasota, FL 34243 and use the pedestrian bridge over U.S. 41 to access the Bayfront Campus.

Please note that 58^th Street will be closed to everyone except to local traffic on Friday afternoon starting at 4:00 p.m. to facilitate moving all incoming traffic to the College Drive entrance of campus. 58^th Street will reopen as an egress route following the ceremony.

New College Employees

To ensure adequate parking is available for this event, New College employees who are not participating in or volunteering at Commencement who park on the Bayfront campus should plan to leave campus at 3 p.m. on May 17. All parking spots on the Bayfront Campus must be vacated at that time. Staff who are volunteering at Commencement will be notified of the volunteer parking lot in a separate email.

If you have any questions please reach out to [email protected].