The University of Southern Maine is honored to host the second annual Doctoral Graduation Ceremony. This event will gather members of our community to celebrate the culmination of years of students’ hard work, dedication, and perseverance. We welcome graduating doctoral students, their faculty mentors and advisors, and students’ family and friends to join this momentous occasion. Keep reading for all the details!

Ceremony Details

Date: Friday, May 8, 2026
Location: Abromson Community Education Center, Portland campus
Time: Ceremony begins at 3:30pm

3:00pmAll graduates must arrive by this time
Abromson 109/110

Cap and Gown Robing
Abromson 218

Doors to Hannaford Hall open for guest seating (general admission)
Hannaford Hall, Abromson Center
3:30pmCeremony begins
Hannaford Hall, Abromson Center
4:30pmReception for Doctoral Candidates and Faculty Members
Abromson Center

Frequently Asked Questions

Students should have received information about ordering Commencement regalia from the folks at the USM University Store, and should be sure to pre-order your Caps and Gowns from Oak Hall by Wednesday, April 1.

When ordering from Oak Hall you may choose to have it shipped to your home, or you can save on shipping by having it sent to the University Store Office which is in the Glickman library on the Portland campus. The orders for campus delivery will be shipped in bulk and available for pickup on April 30th. The Office of Graduate Studies staff has offered to pick up your regalia and hold it in their office if needed–just let us know by emailing usmgradstudies@maine.edu by May 1.

Because of the size of our graduating doctoral student cohort, there is no limit on the number of tickets each doctoral student is allotted. However, graduating doctoral students and faculty are required to register for this event using the form linked here.

Yes! A livestream of the Doctoral Graduation Ceremony will be available for people to watch if they are unable to attend the ceremony in person. The link for the livestream will be sent to all doctoral candidates and posted at the top of this webpage shortly before the ceremony begins.

When folks driving arrive at USM Portland, they will see two garages. Everyone should park in the garage attached to the Abromson Center (Garage 1). For folks familiar with USM, this is the “old garage” (accessed by turning off Bedford Street onto Surrenden Street). The street address is 88 Bedford Street.

Visitors should note that there are no gates, no tickets to take, and parking payment/validation should be taken care of upon ARRIVAL.

Once guests park, they should look for blue and green PAY HERE parking signs with QR codes in the garage, or at the Abromson entrances, and, using a smartphone, scan the code. Make sure you have your license plate number.

  1. Scan the QR Code or text the number on the sign
  2. Enter your mobile number and license plate information
  3. Select rate code: Day Pass or Hourly Rates
  4. Enter credit card information
  5. Tap the Start Parking button to begin your parking session.

Abromson 218 will be available as a robing room where graduates and their faculty advisors can put on their regalia prior to the ceremony. We will have a hand steamer available to use for getting out last-minute wrinkles in your gown. Graduates and their faculty advisors should arrive by 3:00pm at the latest; if you plan on using the steamer please arrive earlier.

Abromson 218 will be locked during the ceremony, so graduates may leave their belongings in the space for the duration of the ceremony.

There will be space reserved upstairs in 218 Abromson for students and faculty to put on their regalia prior to the ceremony. All graduates must arrive by 3:00pm. Doctoral students will be seated together in reserved seating at the front of Hannaford Hall, with remaining seats available as general admission guest seating.

The Abromson Community Education Center is accessible to guests with mobility challenges. You may enter from both main entrances. Hannaford Hall, within Abromson Center, has accessible seating (including seating for guests with wheelchairs) located on the landings, as well as elevators for accessing these spaces.

ASL interpreters and CART captioning (on the livestream) will be available during the Doctoral Graduation Ceremony. Limited seating for guests with hearing impairment (for ASL interpretation) or visual impairment will be available. If you have questions about access, need to request disability accommodations, or require other assistance for Commencement, please contact Sherry Philips Gleason at sherryp@maine.edu.

Your diploma will be handed to you during the ceremony. Students who do not attend in person will receive their diploma by mail.

This process may take up to 6-8 weeks. Please ensure your mailing address in MaineStreet is up to date. If for some reason you have not received your diploma 6-8 weeks after graduation, please reach out to the Office of Registration & Scheduling Services for more information by calling them at 207-780-5230 or emailing them at RegisterUSM@maine.edu.

Doctoral students who applied to graduate in Spring 2026 must be fully done with their academic work (defended, graded, awarded) by May 1 in order to be eligible to participate in the Doctoral Graduation. Students recognized at this event receive their actual diplomas and get hooded based on their full completion, so all steps must be followed according to the established timeline.

Graduating doctoral students are welcome to participate in BOTH or EITHER of the Commencement weekend events: the evening of Friday, May 8 for the Doctoral Graduation Ceremony on the Portland campus (details above), and/or Saturday morning’s 146th Commencement ceremony for undergraduates and graduates, on Saturday, May 9 at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland (details here). However, students who attend the Saturday event will not be hooded at that time and will only walk across the stage as their name is called.

When you applied to graduate, you indicated whether or not you plan to participate in the Commencement ceremony. If you applied to graduate in the Fall semester and don’t remember what you selected, or if your plans to participate have changed, please get in touch with the Office of Registration and Scheduling Services.

Watch the 2026 Doctoral Graduation Ceremony Livestream!

The University of Southern Maine’s Doctoral Graduation Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 8, 2026 at 3:30pm EST. Just prior to the event, the ceremony livestream will be available by clicking below.