On Saturday, August 14th, Tusculum will hold a commencement ceremony at 10 am.

Graduation location

All ceremonies are scheduled for Pioneer Park (the baseball stadium), but if we discover the week of graduation that inclement weather is expected for May 8, we will move all of them into Pioneer Arena (the basketball facility). We will provide as much notice as possible if we need to change the location based on weather forecasts.

Parking

The main parking lots that have been set aside for graduates and their guests are at the Meen Center, the Indoor Practice Facility and the Scott M. Niswonger Commons. Spaces will be available in other lots on campus, if necessary. You do not have to worry about parking in spaces that are marked “reserved,” as that status is only applicable on weekdays. We will have designated handicapped parking at the Meen Center.

Check-in location for graduates

If graduation takes place at Pioneer Park, you should arrive at the Meen Center. Please enter the west entrance (the set of doors everyone normally uses). For graduates unfamiliar with the campus, this is the entrance facing the parking lot between Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Center and Katherine Hall.

If graduation is held in Pioneer Arena, you will gather inside the Old Gym in the Scott M. Niswonger Commons for the check-in process. The gym is a short distance from the arena. Enter through the main doors behind the Niswonger sign.

You may arrive at the check-in location as much as an hour an in advance, but you must arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony. At the check-in location, you will receive a card with your name to present to the reader during the ceremony as well as any graduation honors cords designated for you.

Check-in location for guests

Guests should go to the main entrance of Pioneer Park if graduation is outdoors and the entrance to the lobby of Pioneer Arena if the event is inside. They will present their tickets and then be escorted to their seats.

Graduates will be allowed to bring 5 guests total due to these accommodations. We will also hold these ceremonies at Pioneer Park in another effort to allow appropriate physical distancing, weather permitting. (Otherwise to be held in the Pioneer Arena in the Niswonger Commons, in which case we must unfortunately limit each graduate to 2 guests total. The decision regarding location will be made earlier in the week based on the projected weather forecast.) All in-person ceremonies will be live streamed so any additional guests may view it from home or in their vehicles on campus. Please note that space limitations will not allow for physical distancing among your guests, only between your guests and the guests of other graduates.  Also, there will not be a rehearsal prior to the ceremony.

Tickets

• Tickets for AOS students who completed the commencement survey and confirmed they will be attending in person will be mailed on 4/27/21.
• All other tickets (traditional students who completed the survey and traditional or AOS students who did not complete the survey) will be available for pickup in the Student Affairs office on the Greeneville campus on 4/28/21.
• Students can elect to either pick up their tickets at Student Affairs, or they can have family members pick them up at the will-call table in front of Pioneer Park prior to the ceremony (up to 1-hour prior to each ceremony start). If the ceremony is moved to Pioneer Arena, the will-call table will be in the lobby of the Pioneer Arena.

Attire

Graduation is an important moment in your life and a signal that you are ready to enter the workforce or take the next step in your professional career. As such, you should dress in a manner that aligns with this moment. However, we encourage you to wear comfortable footwear. If we hold the ceremony in Pioneer Park, you will walk considerable distances, use steps and walk on gravel.

Disability

If you have a disability, please contact Dee Roby, administrative assistant to the provost and vice president of academic affairs, at 423-636-7305 or droby@tusculum.edu so we can make appropriate adjustments for you.

Practice

We will not have any practices for the graduation ceremonies.

The ceremony

We anticipate each commencement ceremony will last about one hour. If graduation is held at Pioneer Park, you will process with the piper and Dr. Peter Noll, faculty chair, who will carry the mace, from the Meen Center to the baseball stadium. If graduation is held indoors, you will process from the Old Gym to the arena with the piper and Dr. Noll. You will be lined up by college and degree, with further instructions occurring at check-in. Once you are at the graduation location, you will be directed to your seats. We will observe physical distancing during the procession and in seating.

The ceremony will consist of many traditional elements, including the roll call of names, dissemination of diplomas, an invocation, a benediction and the singing of the Star Spangled Banner and the Alma Mater. We will have one student speaker at each ceremony selected by the deans. (Double checking: So there will only be one student speaker at 10 and 4 even though two colleges will be present?) Dr. Scott Hummel, Tusculum’s president, and Dr. Tricia Hunsader, provost and vice president of academic affairs, will also deliver remarks.

Those of you who are part of the 10 a.m. ceremony will be joined by our Golden Pioneers. These are 1970 and 1971 graduates of Tusculum, who have been invited to return in honor of the 50th anniversary of their graduation. As you might suspect, we have two years of Golden Pioneers because the 2020 in-person graduation ceremony was replaced with a virtual one. If you meet one of these graduates, please extend your congratulations and best wishes. We will be privileged to have them present.

After the ceremony

At the conclusion of each ceremony, graduates and their guests should promptly exit the graduation location for everyone’s safety. You are welcome to visit different parts of the campus for photos, but due to the pandemic, we need to maintain physical distancing and the continued use of face coverings.

Graduates from 2020

Please remember that some graduates from 2020 have also accepted our invitation to be included in the in-person ceremonies.

Those who are participating in graduation virtually

Those who indicated in the survey that they preferred a virtual ceremony should plan to watch the live stream at the time their college is scheduled for the in-person ceremony. The names and photos of those who selected the virtual option will play immediately after the ceremony.

The live stream can be accessed at www.tusculum.edu/virtualgrad. The graduation ceremonies will also be posted to the Tusculum website once they have concluded.

Tusculum will require graduates and guests to wear face coverings and follow all other protocols to ensure everyone’s health and safety as much as possible.

IN-PERSON
weather permitting

Saturday, MAY 8
Pioneer Park Baseball Field

• College of Civic and Liberal Arts and College of Science, Technology and Math – 10 a.m.
• College of Education – 1 p.m.
• College of Business and College of Nursing – 4 p.m.

5 guests per graduate

IN-PERSON
unfit weather

Saturday, MAY 8
Pioneer Arena Gymnasium, Niswonger Commons

• College of Civic and Liberal Arts and College of Science, Technology and Math – 10 a.m.
• College of Education – 1 p.m.
• College of Business and College of Nursing – 4 p.m.

2 guests per graduate

Which Ceremony am I in?

Below is the list of colleges with their programs directly to the right.

Congratulations to our Class of 2020 Alumni and May 2021 Graduates!

We are proud of you for this significant achievement in your academic studies! You have worked hard to reach this milestone and should give yourself credit for attaining your degree. As a graduate of Tusculum University, we encourage you to be active in the Alumni Association and return to campus regularly for Homecoming, games and other events. We welcome your financial donations as well to support the next generation of students, just as those who graduated before you have done.

Job well done, graduates! Congratulations!

CAMPUS MAP & VISITOR’S GUIDE

• Visitor’s Guide

Hot Spots for Graduation Photos

DIPLOMAS

The Registrar’s Office will certify each candidate’s degree after all final grades have been received.

Final grades must be submitted, all academic requirements verified, and financial obligations to the university met before diplomas are issued.  If possible, we encourage you to pick-up your diploma to eliminate any damage that may occur if it is mailed.

Diplomas for spring graduates will be available for pickup starting at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, May 17, 2021 in the Registrar’s Office, Virginia Hall, Room G12.  Diplomas will be available for pickup from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. through Thursday, June 10, 2021 at 5:00 p.m.  On Friday, June 11, 2021, all remaining diplomas will be mailed to the students’ permanent address via USPS.

Should you have any questions about the status of your diploma or need to update your mailing address, you may email the Registrar’s Office at registrartu@tusculum.edu.

Congratulations on your accomplishment!