You've put in considerable effort in pursuing your graduate degree. It's time to celebrate your achievement! Don't miss out on gathering with family, faculty, and fellow graduates. Here's all you need to do to attend Graduate Commencement on December 15:

1. "Apply" to graduate. Now!

Apply online at URSA by December 1. 

Why do you have to apply? This is how IUP verifies you've done all the academic work needed.

2. Then RSVP to attend the ceremony.

On URSA, click on "Student Services and Financial Aid," then click "Academic Records," then click "RSVP for the University Commencement Ceremony."

Why RSVP? If you don't, there won't be a line-up card printed for you.

3. Buy your regalia.

Call the Co-op Store at 1-800-537-7916, or go to the Co-op Store web site.

4. Arrive at Fisher Auditorium at 8:30 a.m. on December 15.

Doctoral and MFA students: Report to Dressing Room A.

Master's students: Report to large rehearsal hall.

5. If you have any questions, call the Graduate School at (724) 357-2222 during normal business hours.

We can answer questions you may have about your degree or diploma, the ceremony, parking for guests with special needs, or any other concerns.  

Congratulations, Graduate!

Find more Graduate Commencement information.

Commencement. The good feeling that comes from gathering with family, faculty, and fellow graduates will become a wonderful lifetime memory. Seniors, you've earned this moment. Don't miss it. Make sure you've completed the brief process required to attend Commencement on December 15.

1. "Apply" to graduate. Now!

Go to the assistant dean's office of your college and complete a paper application form. (Online forms were due in April.)

Exception: Eberly College of Business students, go to your department offices for this form.

Why do you have to apply? This is how IUP verifies you've done all the academic work needed.

2. Then RSVP to attend the ceremony.

Go to URSA, click on "Student Services and Financial Aid," then click "Academic Records," then click "RSVP for the University Commencement Ceremony."

Why RSVP? If you don't, there won't be a line-up card printed for you.

3. Buy your cap and gown.

Call the Co-op Store at 1-800-537-7916, or go to the Co-op Store web site.

4. Wearing an honors medallion?

Stop by the Registrar’s Office in Clark Hall during regular business hours to pick up your medallion. Bring your I-Card. Students who've earned a 3.25 cumulative GPA by the end of spring 2012 semester may wear an honors medallion.

5. Know where to park on Commencement Day.

Find parking, hotel accommodations, and more information at Frequently Asked Questions.

6. Be at Kovalchick at noon on December 15. Congratulations, Graduate!

Find more Commencement information.

This event provides a central location for graduates to take care of all graduation needs, such as ordering graduation announcements, purchasing caps and gowns, and checking degree information with the Registrar’s Office and School of Graduate Studies.

Undergraduates students who have earned academic honors can pick up their honors medallions.

Graduating students receive an invitation to this event via e-mail.

Commencement takes place December 15, 2012.

IUP offers live webcasts of the two Commencement 2012 ceremonies on Saturday, May 12.

Watch the webcasts at NMTV Live.

9:00 a.m.—College of Natural Science and Mathematics, College of Fine Arts, and College of Health and Human Services

1:30 p.m.—College of Education, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Eberly College of Business 

The webcasts are available only on May 12.

For best viewing, we recommend high-speed Internet access and keeping other applications closed.

More information on the ceremonies: Commencement web site.

At this event, students may order/purchase commencement ceremony robes/regalia and order graduation announcements and memorabilia. Undergraduate students who have earned academic honors can pick up their honors medallions and verify their diploma name and mailing address.

Ambassadors from the IUP Alumni Association will be on hand to introduce graduating students to the association, while the Annual Giving Office will be available to talk about the Senior Class Gift. 

Don’t miss this event. For more information, contact the Registrar’s Office at 724-357-2217.

This event provides a central location for graduates to take care of all graduation needs, such as ordering graduation announcements, purchasing caps and gowns, and checking degree information with the Registrar’s Office and School of Graduate Studies.

Graduating students receive an invitation to this event via e-mail.

Commencement takes place December 17, 2011.

Commencement will be held Saturday, May 7, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex.

This year’s speaker and honorary degree recipient is Dr. Karlin Roth Toner, a 1983 IUP graduate and aviation and aeronautics expert.

Toner is currently employed by the Federal Aviation Administration and serves as director of the Joint Planning and Development Office, where she oversees an interagency initiative that is developing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). She also serves as senior advisor to the secretary for NextGen Coordination within the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In 1983, Toner earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science from IUP. She also holds a Master of Science degree and a doctorate, both in aerospace engineering, from the University of Florida.

Toner has more than twenty years’ experience with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. From 1988 to 2006, she held a variety of leadership positions at the NASA Ames Research Center, ultimately serving as associate director for Aeronautics. Toner became director of the Airspace Systems Program at NASA Headquarters in 2006.

A much-sought-after researcher and lecturer, Toner has written technical papers on aircraft aerodynamics and design, computational physics, and the analysis of air traffic systems.

She earned a NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal and is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In April, she was honored by the IUP Alumni Association with a Distinguished Alumni Award.

Toner lives with her husband, Richard, outside Washington, D.C.

Student speaker for the Spring Commencement ceremony will be Natalie Mae Schaefer, of Gibsonia, a student in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Also offering remarks will be Father William J. Lechnar of St. Thomas More University Parish.

The IUP Wind Ensemble will provide music, and singing the national anthem will be Jacqueline Rose, of Honesdale, a Music Education major.

Presentation of the senior class gift will be made by Kierra Williams, and remarks on behalf of the Alumni Association will be made by Sandra Barsotti, secretary.

Find more information on the Commencement website. 

Ben Rafoth, English professor and IUP’s 2010–2011 University Professor, is taking a different approach with his keynote speech at the upcoming undergraduate Commencement ceremony.

His address—part of the ceremony Sunday, December 19, 2010, at 1:30 p.m. in Memorial Field House—will focus on the stories of IUP’s graduating seniors.

For the past several weeks, Rafoth has been interviewing seniors about the years they’ve spent as IUP students. He has met one-on-one with twenty seniors, he said, and listened as they talked about the friends they’ve made and sometimes lost; the challenges they’ve had to overcome to stay in, and pay for, school; and their relationships, jobs, and favorite activities.

“I’ve learned some amazing things as I’ve listened to these graduating seniors,” Rafoth said. “Their stories are silly, sad, strong, and inspiring.”

Rafoth said he considered writing a traditional, follow-your-dream type of speech. “I’ve heard that kind of speech many times,” he said, “and it often sounds the same from one graduation to the next.”

Instead, he decided to focus the address on the members of the Class of 2010, using their own words and stories about college life, the future, and what they will take with them or remember when they leave IUP.

“After hearing what the seniors have shared with me, I think everyone will agree that, despite the obstacles life throws in your path, our graduates can look forward to a bright and promising future.”

The undergraduate Commencement ceremony will also feature student speaker Amy Raabe, a Food and Nutrition major from Butler.

Speaking at the graduate ceremony will be Jack Wagner, Pennsylvania auditor general and a 1974 graduate of IUP, and student speaker Dawn Fels, an August graduate of the doctoral program in Composition and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

The graduate ceremony will take place December 19 at 10:30 a.m. in Fisher Auditorium.

For more information about the midyear Commencement ceremonies, see “Commencement Ceremonies to Feature Auditor General Wagner, Professor Rafoth as Keynote Speakers” or the Commencement website.

Plans for May's commencement ceremony are being finalized with the selection of two speakers.

Glenn Cannon '71 will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree and serve as keynote speaker, while Jessica Sabol, a Theater and English major, will serve as the student speaker.

Cannon currently serves as a senior vice president with Hilliard and Heintze, a security, safety, and emergency management firm. He is the former director of disaster operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is often tapped by Congress to testify on key emergency planning and response matters. Prior to his work with FEMA, he served as Allegheny County's chief operating officer and earlier as director of the Allegheny County Emergency Management and Public Safety departments. He holds a law degree from Duquesne University and a master's degree in Public Management from Carnegie Mellon University. He received IUP’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1985 and served as a member of the IUP Alumni Association Board of Directors. He recently received the IUP Presidential Legacy Award for Civic Service.

A student in the Robert E. Cook Honors College, Sabol is a member of Phi Kappa Phi honors fraternity, Alpha Psi Omega honorary theater fraternity, and Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America, among numerous other organizations. She served as an administrative assistant for the regional Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, which IUP hosted this year. She has received many scholarships and awards during her tenure at IUP. A resident of Morrisdale, Pennsylvania, Sabol plans to pursue her Master of Education degree at Penn State University.

The main ceremony will take place at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 9, 2010, at Miller Stadium.

At this event, students may order/purchase commencement ceremony robes/regalia and order graduation announcements and memorabilia. Undergraduate students who have earned academic honors can pick up their honors medallions and verify their diploma name and mailing address.

Don’t miss this event. For more information, contact the Registrar’s Office at 724-357-2217.

Find out how to apply for graduation and the details surrounding commencement.

A gallery of photos from the Midyear Commencement ceremonies December 20, 2009, is available on the Commencement website.

The undergraduate ceremony was held at Memorial Field House, and the ceremony for graduate students at Fisher Auditorium, IUP Performing Arts Center.

Keynote speaker was Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak, an IUP graduate. Zahorchak was also presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

Photos were taken by Keith Boyer, university photographer.

Details about both ceremonies may be found on the Commencement website.

The African American Cultural Center’s Pre-Commencement Reception and Awards Program will also take place as scheduled.

Zahorchak, formerly of Johnstown, received a Master of Education degree from IUP in 1988.

IUP has granted only fifty honorary degrees in its history. Others receiving this honor include U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Andre Previn, James “Jimmy” Stewart, Art Rooney, Fred Rogers, former governor Richard Thornburg, and retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Zahorchak was nominated by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell to serve as secretary of education in October 2005 and was unanimously confirmed by the state Senate on February 7, 2006.

Before his nomination, Zahorchak served as deputy secretary for elementary and secondary education, a role in which he was responsible for the education of more than 1.8-million school children in the commonwealth. As deputy secretary, he worked on the development and implementation of support systems for public schools working to meet the demands set by Pennsylvania and No Child Left Behind targets.

Zahorchak has managed an unprecedented expenditure of educational state funding that included $200 million in accountability block grants that were used for tutoring, math and literacy coaching, the expansion of full-day kindergarten, and the creation of pre-kindergarten classes.

See the full news release.
 

At this event, students may order/purchase commencement ceremony robes/regalia and order graduation announcements and memorabilia. Undergraduate students who have earned academic honors can pick up their honors medallions and verify their diploma name and mailing address.

Don’t miss this event. For more information, contact the Registrar’s Office at 724-357-2217.

Find out how to apply for graduation and the details surrounding commencement.

At this event, students may order/purchase commencement ceremony robes/regalia and order graduation announcements and memorabilia. Undergraduate students who have earned academic honors can pick up their honors medallions and verify their diploma name and mailing address.

Don’t miss this event. For more information, contact the Registrar’s Office at 724-357-2217.

Find out how to apply for graduation and the details surrounding commencement.

Don’t miss this event. For more information, contact the Registrar’s Office at 724-357-2217.

Since 1987, Kopchick has held the Milton and Lawrence H. Goll Eminent Scholar Professorship in Molecular and Cellular Biology. He directs the Growth/Obesity/Diabetes Section of the Edison Biotechnology Institute at Ohio University and is a professor in the Biomedical Sciences department in the university’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.

In 1989, Kopchick and his group were the first to discover and characterize the molecular aspects of growth hormone antagonists, an accomplishment for which he and Ohio University were awarded several U.S. and European patents.  He was instrumental in founding a company, Sensus, which applied his laboratory discovery to development of a drug that has been evaluated in clinical trials for acromegaly, a chronic disease caused by excessive secretion of growth hormone by a pituitary adenoma. The drug, Somavert, has been approved for use in the U.S. and in Europe and is being marketed by Pfizer.  Somavert also is expected to be useful in treating diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy as well as breast and other types of cancer.

Kopchick has been involved in the start-up of two additional biotechnology companies.  The latest, DiAthegen, focuses on the discovery of diagnostics, therapeutics, and therapeutic targets in the obesity and diabetes field.

A Punxsutawney native, Kopchick earned both his bachelor’s degree in Biology and master’s degree in Biology and Chemistry from IUP. In 1975, he enrolled in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas System Cancer Center, where he earned his Ph.D.

After completing his Ph.D., Kopchick continued research training as a postdoctoral fellow at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology and then spent almost five years at Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories, for which he developed a system built around cloning and expression of growth hormone genes.

Kopchick has published hundreds of scientific articles and abstracts in the area of growth, obesity, and diabetes. Twelve patents have been granted based on his work with several more pending. He has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Endocrinology, and Molecular Endocrinology, and currently serves on the editorial board of GH and IGF-1 Research and Endocrinology.  He is also a member of the Growth Hormone Research Society Council.

Don’t miss this event. For more information, contact the Registrar’s Office at 724-357-2217.

1. Each graduate will be named individually and recognized as they process across the stage.
2. A diploma cover, unique to the University Commencement Ceremony, will be given to each graduate in attendance.

We very much hope that you will be able to attend.  To help us plan effectively for this event, please let us know if you intend to participate by submitting an RSVP:

Log into the secure area of URSA, then choose:

• Student Services and Financial Aid
• Academic Records
• RSVP for the University Commencement Ceremony

As in the past, graduates completing coursework in May as well as those undergraduates and masters candidates slated to complete graduation requirements by August have the choice of participating in the University Commencement Ceremony in May or December.

If you have any questions about your departmental ceremony, please contact your department.