Commencement Information

Graduation ceremonies will be held in Rome on May 14, 2010, at 7:00 P.M. in the Floyd County Forum Facility in downtown Rome, #2 Government Plaza (turn west on 3rd Avenue off Broad Street). This site is centrally located in downtown Rome and will allow unlimited seating.

         You will not be awarded a degree unless you successfully complete all requirements.

         Honors status is determined at the end of your last term of attendance prior to graduation. Honors are calculated on all credit hours earned at Georgia Highlands College.

         Because we send lists of candidates to the printer to publish the graduation program and to various media before the final graduation status is determined, it is important that you remember that the publication of your name in the paper or in the graduation program does not obligate the college to award your degree if requirements are not successfully completed. We make every effort to insure that name and statuses are listed accurately, but mistakes may happen.

         Caps, gowns and announcements may be purchased in the Bookstore on the Rome Campus only. We expect these items to be available April 1.

Prior to May 1:

o    Pay library fines, parking tickets, and other outstanding fees.

o    Email registrar@highlands.edu if you do NOT plan to attend the ceremony.

o    If you have had a student loan, check with the Financial Aid Office regarding your exit interview.

GRADUATION PROCEDURES

         Report to the Rome/Floyd County Forum no later than 6:00 P.M. Friday, May 14 , 2010.

         Dress: Coat and tie not required, but please wear dark colors with your cap and gown. Also wear comfortable shoes (no tennis shoes, please, unless absolutely necessary).

         Pick up your processional card from the registrar's table in the large meeting room on the left side of the Forum, opposite the entrance to the lower level of the Forum arena. Instructions will be given for line-up according to your degree program.

         Graduates will be lined up in alphabetical order according to degree programs as follows:

o    Associate of Arts

o    Associate of Science

o    Associate of Applied Science
(this includes joint programs with technical colleges and Human Services)

o    Associate of Science in Dental Hygiene

o    Associate of Science in Nursing

o    Certificates

         Graduates will process in following the faculty in alphabetical order, according to degree programs.

         Presentation of Candidates for degrees: When it is time to confer the degrees, the Vice
President for Academic Affairs will say: "Will the candidates for the Associate of *......*
degree please stand. Degree status will be conferred. Then the Vice President will say: "Will the candidates for the Associate of *......* degree please come forward to receive your diplomas." This will be done for each degree program. Please do not stand until your degree program is announced.

         When arriving on the speaker's platform, please give your processional card to the reader at the first podium. Your name will be announced. Walk toward the President, shake hands with your right hand, and take your diploma in your left. Your may also shake hands with the guest speaker and the Vice President. When you leave the stage platform, switch your tassel from right to left side.

         During the recessional, those on the stage platform leave first, then faculty, then graduates recess in the same order in which you entered.

         Cameras: Taping of the Georgia Highlands College graduation ceremony for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited without prior consent of the Office of the President of Georgia Highlands College.