For faculty and staff awareness regarding the 2026 Commencement Ceremonies, the following information was sent to UIS students' email addresses.

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Dear students,

Planning is underway for the 2026 Commencement Ceremonies! All critical commencement information will arrive via your uis.edu email, so check your inbox frequently. You can also check the Commencement website for updates.

Commencement Ceremonies

Two commencement ceremonies (divided by college) will be held in downtown Springfield at the Bank of Springfield Center: 

• Saturday, May 9 at 12:30 p.m. - College of Health, Science and Technology AND College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
• Saturday, May 9 at 5:30 p.m. - College of Business and Management AND College of Public Affairs and Education

Eligibility

Students planning to participate in commencement must indicate their intent to graduate to the Office of Records and Registration by submitting a graduation application. No late applications will be accepted. Students can only participate in the commencement ceremony in which they are FIRST eligible (based upon the term for which the student submitted a graduation application). Students cannot participate in more than one ceremony for the same degree program. 

The following groups may be eligible to participate in commencement if they meet all listed guidelines. There are NO exceptions.

• Summer 2025 and Fall 2025 Graduates: Automatically eligible to participate.
• Spring 2026 Candidates: A Spring 2026 graduation application must be submitted by Feb. 20.*
• Summer 2026 Candidates: A Summer 2026 graduation application must be submitted by Feb. 20*, and an approved Student Petition Form requesting to participate must be on file in the Office of Records and Registration by Feb. 20. Generally, a student cannot have any incomplete courses or more than 8 hours (undergraduate) or 4 hours (graduate) still to be taken during the summer term.
• DPA students must be deemed eligible to participate by April 1.               

* Students planning to earn a degree must submit a graduation application regardless of whether they plan to participate in commencement.  Instructions pertaining to the graduation application can be found on the Records and Registration website.

Participation

The following steps are required to participate in commencement:

1. Confirm participation: Graduates must confirm participation by submitting an online intent to participate form on the Commencement website between March 6 and 23. Only students who are eligible will be able to submit their intent to participate. This step is required, even for students who are making special cap and gown arrangements (e.g., borrowing a black cap and gown). 
2. Purchase a cap and gown online: After clicking submit on the online intent to participate, a screen will appear with information about purchasing your cap and gown. Screen grab this information or be prepared to immediately follow the prompts to purchase your regalia. Orders can be mailed to your home or to the UIS Bookstore for pick up. Note: The UIS Bookstore has temporarily moved into Founder’s Hall and because of their reduced space, they do not have any caps or gowns on site for purchase; therefore, participating graduates who need to purchase regalia MUST do so online.

Alternative Cap and Gown Arrangements: Students making special cap and gown arrangements (e.g., borrowing a black cap and gown) MUST still confirm their participation by submitting an online intent to participate. 

Guest Tickets

Guest tickets will be required for admission into the commencement ceremonies. There will be a ticketing system for guests. The number of tickets per graduate will be established once we have a clearer picture of the number of students who register to participate. We also will provide overflow seating featuring a livestream of each ceremony.

Student Speaker 

The student commencement speaker is an important tradition at UIS. All graduating students are eligible to audition; representatives of the faculty and the student body will select the speaker. Audition information will be provided when the application form goes live in the coming weeks on the Commencement website.  Additional information will be provided soon. 

UI WebStore

Leaving UIS means you will no longer have access to the UI WebStore, including your order history. Before you go, visit the WebStore, and save backups of all your software purchases and access keys/codes, and purchase discounted software you’ll need to succeed in your career.

Let’s celebrate!

Commencement is an important time to celebrate your well-deserved accomplishment! We hope that if you are eligible, you will choose to participate. If you have any questions about the ceremonies, eligibility to graduate, or special assistance (students or guests), please visit the “Contact” page on the Commencement website.  Check the Commencement website frequently for the most up-to-date information.

Sincerely,

UIS Commencement Committee