It's graduation season, so we asked administrators who plan commencements across the country to share their best planning strategies.
Don't Get Too Set in Your Ways
"Zero-base things and always look at the event with fresh eyes," says Tricia Stultz, director of convocations in the offi ce of university events at Emory University in Atlanta. "There are always opportunities to improve. Every year we do an evaluation and make subtle changes or big ones that will make the event [run] smoother. We ask, 'Why do we do this this way? What other ways could we do it?' After evaluating the ceremony the last few years, we changed the order of the procession so the students enter the quadrangle fi rst to add drama, we realigned the stage to make it more aesthetically pleasing, and we added [video] screens so the faculty could see the ceremony better. We also added announcements prior to the ceremony and during the processional, so people knew what was going on."Look for Ways to Innovate
"Fortunately, ceremonies are rituals, and rituals have a specific set of circumstances, so there is a set format," says Melissa Werner, director of university ceremonies at Arizona State University in Tempe and cofounder of the North American Association of Commencement Offi cers. "There is always a processional, the commencement address, and the offering of degrees. The question is, how do we interest students in this modern age of technology to sit through an old traditional ceremony with roots in Europe? How do we maintain traditions yet be modern? We've incorporated a live Webcast and included more video-cameras in the arena, on the audience so they can see themselves on the screen-and archived it on our Web site."
Watch the Clock
"We are cautious in looking at how long a ceremony will run," Werner says. "Ninety minutes is about how long people will sit. We want to give graduating students the respect and celebration they deserve, but listening to name after name for three hours isn't very fun. People will sit as long as they are interested, and you keep things moving as quickly as is reasonable. Behind the scenes, we are always a little ahead of what is happening in the program, so there's no lull between segments. For example, when the students are announced, they have already moved from their seats and are in place to cross the stage."
Ask for Help
"When I was asked to chair commencement, I contacted the commencement officers at the other 10 higher-education institutions in Rhode Island," says Michelle S. Curreri, commencement chairperson and assistant to the president at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. "Each officer offered to be of assistance. After meeting with each representative, I thought it would be a good idea to bring the group together, so I founded the Rhode Island Association of Commencement Officers. For the past five years, we have been meeting once a year. [It is] extremely helpful because we all walk away with ideas to make commencement more memorable for our grads, alumni, family, and friends."
Keep Records
“One of the ways I've found that the URI commencement committee stays organized is by having a commencement manual," Curreri says. "Since there are more than 70 people on my committee, several years ago I asked each person to write about his or her role with commencement. This empowered the group to write about what they do best. Each committee member has a copy of the manual, which is a working document that is updated after each commencement."
Research, Research, Research
"When working with high-profile speakers, do your homework," says Franklin D. Murphy, assistant vice president for university relations and director of university communications at Florida State University in Tallahassee. "The more you know about a speaker and who will accompany him or her to the event, the better prepared you can be to meet all their needs and desires. We had Willie Nelson on campus, and he was going to have lunch with our head football coach, Bobby Bowden; our alumnus and former FSU football player Burt Reynolds; and our university president, T.K. Wetherell, who also played football at FSU. I thought Willie might be left out of the conversation when it turned to football, [but] my research showed that he played high school football. I briefed our president and Coach Bowden, [who] did mention Willie's playing days during the luncheon. There is a lot to be said for helping your leadership connect to visitors."
Be Prepared
“One year, it rained torrentially on the commencement ceremony in Washington Square Park," says Gregory Albanis, director of university events at New York University. "The honorary-degree recipients, Robert De Niro and Steven Spielberg, were sitting under the canopy that was filling with rain, and then it came cascading down on them. They were good about it and started laughing, but as a result of that experience, we developed a strict protocol for rain-one for drizzle, one for heavy rain, and one for rain so heavy we have to abbreviate the ceremony. Now we always have 6,000 ponchos for the graduates and more than 12,000 ponchos for the crowd ready to go, plus 150 extra-large umbrellas for the people on the platform, rain or shine. We also use chairs with air holes so that if it rains, water won't collect on the seats. If it rains the night before, we have the maintenance crew on call and cases and cases of paper towels on hand so they can wipe down 20,000 chairs at 4 a.m."
Don't Get Too Set in Your Ways
"Zero-base things and always look at the event with fresh eyes," says Tricia Stultz, director of convocations in the offi ce of university events at Emory University in Atlanta. "There are always opportunities to improve. Every year we do an evaluation and make subtle changes or big ones that will make the event [run] smoother. We ask, 'Why do we do this this way? What other ways could we do it?' After evaluating the ceremony the last few years, we changed the order of the procession so the students enter the quadrangle fi rst to add drama, we realigned the stage to make it more aesthetically pleasing, and we added [video] screens so the faculty could see the ceremony better. We also added announcements prior to the ceremony and during the processional, so people knew what was going on."Look for Ways to Innovate
"Fortunately, ceremonies are rituals, and rituals have a specific set of circumstances, so there is a set format," says Melissa Werner, director of university ceremonies at Arizona State University in Tempe and cofounder of the North American Association of Commencement Offi cers. "There is always a processional, the commencement address, and the offering of degrees. The question is, how do we interest students in this modern age of technology to sit through an old traditional ceremony with roots in Europe? How do we maintain traditions yet be modern? We've incorporated a live Webcast and included more video-cameras in the arena, on the audience so they can see themselves on the screen-and archived it on our Web site."
Watch the Clock
"We are cautious in looking at how long a ceremony will run," Werner says. "Ninety minutes is about how long people will sit. We want to give graduating students the respect and celebration they deserve, but listening to name after name for three hours isn't very fun. People will sit as long as they are interested, and you keep things moving as quickly as is reasonable. Behind the scenes, we are always a little ahead of what is happening in the program, so there's no lull between segments. For example, when the students are announced, they have already moved from their seats and are in place to cross the stage."
Ask for Help
"When I was asked to chair commencement, I contacted the commencement officers at the other 10 higher-education institutions in Rhode Island," says Michelle S. Curreri, commencement chairperson and assistant to the president at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. "Each officer offered to be of assistance. After meeting with each representative, I thought it would be a good idea to bring the group together, so I founded the Rhode Island Association of Commencement Officers. For the past five years, we have been meeting once a year. [It is] extremely helpful because we all walk away with ideas to make commencement more memorable for our grads, alumni, family, and friends."
Keep Records
“One of the ways I've found that the URI commencement committee stays organized is by having a commencement manual," Curreri says. "Since there are more than 70 people on my committee, several years ago I asked each person to write about his or her role with commencement. This empowered the group to write about what they do best. Each committee member has a copy of the manual, which is a working document that is updated after each commencement."
Research, Research, Research
"When working with high-profile speakers, do your homework," says Franklin D. Murphy, assistant vice president for university relations and director of university communications at Florida State University in Tallahassee. "The more you know about a speaker and who will accompany him or her to the event, the better prepared you can be to meet all their needs and desires. We had Willie Nelson on campus, and he was going to have lunch with our head football coach, Bobby Bowden; our alumnus and former FSU football player Burt Reynolds; and our university president, T.K. Wetherell, who also played football at FSU. I thought Willie might be left out of the conversation when it turned to football, [but] my research showed that he played high school football. I briefed our president and Coach Bowden, [who] did mention Willie's playing days during the luncheon. There is a lot to be said for helping your leadership connect to visitors."
Be Prepared
“One year, it rained torrentially on the commencement ceremony in Washington Square Park," says Gregory Albanis, director of university events at New York University. "The honorary-degree recipients, Robert De Niro and Steven Spielberg, were sitting under the canopy that was filling with rain, and then it came cascading down on them. They were good about it and started laughing, but as a result of that experience, we developed a strict protocol for rain-one for drizzle, one for heavy rain, and one for rain so heavy we have to abbreviate the ceremony. Now we always have 6,000 ponchos for the graduates and more than 12,000 ponchos for the crowd ready to go, plus 150 extra-large umbrellas for the people on the platform, rain or shine. We also use chairs with air holes so that if it rains, water won't collect on the seats. If it rains the night before, we have the maintenance crew on call and cases and cases of paper towels on hand so they can wipe down 20,000 chairs at 4 a.m."
