Ceremonies in August and December would be at the Regent Theatre, with post-ceremony receptions in a marquee on the First Church lawn in nearby Moray Pl, the university said in its Bulletin magazine on Friday.
The town hall is about to undergo extensions and renovations. Dunedin City Council property manager Robert Clark said last week the auditorium would be available for some concerts and events until mid-October, but the university chose not to hold the August graduation ceremony there because the post-graduation reception marquee could not be erected on Harrop St while renovation work was under way.
The Regent Theatre is closed for renovations but would reopen in July, he said.
In the university magazine, graduation office staff member Marj Wright said the university had investigated various options before settling on the Regent Theatre. That venue had recently been approved by the vice-chancellors advisory group.
The Regent was not as big as the town hall and it would be necessary to hold more ceremonies.
Graduands traditionally walk along George St to the town hall before ceremonies and those walks would continue, she said.
On the days with two ceremonies, only one street parade would be held, starting at 11.30am. On days with one ceremony the parade would be at the usual time of 1.30pm.
As well as its December graduations in Dunedin, the university holds two ceremonies that month in Invercargill.
Otago Polytechnic's second graduation ceremony for the year will be on Friday, December 9. Marketing, communications and customer relations general manager Mike Waddell said the venue for the ceremony had not been confirmed and the polytechnic was still considering its options.
Ceremonies
University of Otago Regent Theatre graduations.-
• August 27, 3pm: All disciplines
• December 3, 3pm: Education and pharmacy
• December 10, 1pm: Medicine, medical laboratory science
• December 10, 4pm: Dentistry and physiotherapy
• December 14, 3pm: Humanities, except law
• December 17, 1pm: Commerce, law, biomedical sciences, health sciences
• December 17, 4pm: Sciences
