UHCL Spring 2020 Virtual Commencement to stream July 17
The UHCL will host a virtual commencement ceremony on July 17 to honor spring graduates. The event will take place at 6:30 P.M. on YouTube Live, and will be open to the public.
Students will not be physically present for the event but will be able to submit a presentation slide for the ceremony.
“Graduates have an opportunity to create individualized slides which can include a photo,” said Bryan Heard, UHCL registrar. “The slides will be presented during the event and names will be read aloud.”
Students can create slides through NameCoach, who the university has contracted to produce slides. NameCoach provides students with a way to submit a picture and record their names, in order to prevent mispronunciation during the ceremony. Graduating students will be contacted directly in order to submit their slides and must do so by July 1.
Some students have expressed concern about the communication method and amount of time given to graduates to submit their slides through NameCoach.
“The only methods of communication I have seen are through text message and through our student emails,” said Flor Gonzalez, spring 2020 alumna. “I’ve noticed that many other universities have provided their students over a month to submit their picture, quotes, recordings, etc. while UHCL allowed their students about two weeks to submit all their pictures and recordings.”
In comparison to previous commencements, which have paired two academic colleges per ceremony, this virtual event will include students from all four academic colleges.
A link to the ceremony will be provided to graduating students, and they will be able to share this link with their friends and family.
“The event will be public in that it will not be restricted to just graduates and their families, however, we are focusing on communicating the link to graduates for them to share,” Heard said.
The community can expect to hear speeches from UHCL leadership, students, the UH System and a guest speaker. The speeches will not take place live, in order to ensure that the event will run without issue.
“We are prerecording the video in an effort to ensure that the event is secure and runs uninterrupted,” Heard said.
Additionally, in response to concerns about connectivity or lagging issues, Heard said “the event uses three separate networks to ensure redundancy.”
All spring 2020 graduates, even those who participate in the virtual commencement, may attend an in-person ceremony in the fall.
“I’m excited that UHCL is doing something to recognize and celebrate the 2020 graduates,” Gonzalez said. “Given the circumstances, I think it’s the best option they could have chosen.”
