A severe weather scenario decision will be made on the morning of commencement no later than 7 a.m. Every effort will be made to make this decision as early as possible to ensure timely notification to the campus community.
In the event of potentially dangerous weather or unsafe conditions for guests to sit outside, the main ceremony will be relocated from Lions’ Stadium to the Student Recreation Center for graduates, faculty & staff, and the president’s party only. Graduates are instructed to report to the Student Recreation Center by 10 a.m.
Guests will be directed to a variety of locations throughout campus, where a live simulcast of the main ceremony will be available. TCNJ’s Commencement Reception hosted by President Gitenstein will be held on Quimby’s Prairie as scheduled and there will be plasma flat screens for viewing the simulcast. Additional simulcast locations will be available and have been predetermined based on your graduate’s school or department. Guests with special needs seating passes who are attending a departmental ceremony in the Student Recreation Center may remain in that location.
PLEASE be sure you know your departmental ceremony location prior to commencement to avoid confusion in the event of severe weather.
The departmental ceremonies will be held as scheduled. Guests will be admitted to the various school and departmental ceremonies only as space permits. Seating is limited to three guests per graduate, subject to the discretion of the individual department. The starting time for events scheduled to follow the afternoon departmental ceremonies may be affected.
Methods of Notification
If the severe weather scenario is activated for commencement, the campus community will be notified the following ways:
1. A blanket voice mail message will be sent to all campus extensions. Campus voice mail can be accessed from a remote location by dialing 609.771.2050 and following the prompts to listen to messages. No message means that the severe weather scenario is not in effect.
PLEASE NOTE: If a voice mailbox is full or not accepting messages, the blanket message cannot be left on that voice mail and the user must rely on another method of notification.
2. A universal e-mail message will be sent to all users @tcnj.edu.
3. A text message will be sent via TCNJ’s Text Alert System. Subscribe to TCNJ Text Alerts.
4. An announcement will be posted to TCNJ’s homepage.
5. Select radio stations, including 91.3 WTSR, NJ 101.5 and 94.5 WPST will be notified. Please be advised that it may take up to an hour for radio stations to receive and announce the information. We strongly recommend checking TCNJ’s homepage and your email, or signing up for TCNJ Text Alerts for the fastest notification.
6. Callers may dial TCNJ’s hotline at 609.637.6000. The greeting on this extension will inform callers if the severe weather scenario is in effect. To avoid inundating the hotline number, which can handle only a limited number of callers at one time, the campus community is urged to first check voice mail, email or the homepage to find out whether the severe weather scenario is in effect.