Become a Commencement Speaker!
The Commencement Student Speaker Committee invites all undergraduate and graduate students eligible for graduation to apply to deliver the student address at the upcoming Commencement ceremony. Giving the student address during the ceremony is an opportunity to reflect upon your time as a Falcon, relate how UWRF impacted you through your experiences, share inspiration and encouragement and convey a message for the future.
Eligibility
Eligible students must be graduating in the semester of submission and be in good academic standing.
One student representative will be selected to represent your college at the upcoming commencement. The speech should be 3-5 minutes in length and reflect experiences at UW-River Falls. Speeches must be submitted by one person (no groups will be considered).
Submission Guidelines
- Guidelines for video submission are as follows (please keep video under 5 minutes):
- Why are you interested in being a Commencement speaker?
- Please share with us about a time you had to speak in public and how you prepared.
- Share a story about one of your significant experiences at UWRF and how it impacted you.
- Walk us through the main points you would like to cover in your speech, answering the prompt:
- How has UWRF changed/impacted you through your experiences?
Selection
- Selection of commencement speaker will be based on the following criteria. The selected candidate:
- Demonstrates a strong level of Falcon Pride (connection to UWRF community and experiences at UWRF).
- Prepares a thoughtful, relatable message outline that will appeal to a range of graduates.
- Conveys a level of self-confidence in public speaking with an appropriateness of language and style.
Submission Information
To submit your video, please follow the submission process. Upload your video to your UWRF OneDrive account and email your link to commencement@uwrf.edu.
Please use these instructions to access your OneDrive account and create a link to share your video.
- Visit OneDrive for Business at UWRF and select the "Office Web App" link under "Using a Web Browser to access OneDrive."
- You will be prompted to log in.
- After logging in, you'll see your email messages. The OneDrive option can be found by clicking on the dot grid in the upper left corner.
- Upon arriving in OneDrive, you'll find a workspace where you may create folders and drag and drop files.
- Share a file by creating a link that you can send in an email.
Important Dates
- Video submissions are due Monday, April 7.
- The selection committee will review all applications and select three finalists (one for each ceremony). The selected speakers will be notified by Monday, April 14.
- The selected Commencement speakers will submit their final speech to the committee by April 28.
Questions
All questions about the student speaker submission process should be directed to Wendy Stocker in the Provost's office at 715-425-4641 or by emailing commencement@uwrf.edu.
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