Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / May 19, 2018, edition 1 / Page 12
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SATURDAr MAY 19,2018 COMMENCEMENI PHOTOS BY STtPHANIE HAYS | ELON NEWS NETWORK Creating c ommenc ement Starting months in advance, graduation requires cross-department coordination to get pulled off Stephanie Hays Elon News Network | @sterphanerfiers For families, the Elon University commencement ceremony begins promptly at 9:15 a.m. For gradu ates, the call time for lineup is 7:45 a.m. For some Physical Plant and Aramark employees, chairs start getting wiped down and coffee starts brewing at 4:30 a.m. But for others, commencement and all the preparation that goes into it, began right after Spring Convocation. Planning ahead While the main bulk of plan ning begins in April, graduation is often on the forefront of many Elon employee minds. “Commencement is always on the mind of I’d say about 20 peo ple that work across the campus because they are always looking at commencement for ways we can make it better — make it saf er and more comfortable for the guests,” said Patti Gibbons, as sociate director of Cultural and Special Programs. Gibbons works to bring to gether the resources on campus necessary to put on graduation, including dining. Physical Plant, academics, security, cultural and special programs and teaching and learning technologies. All of these people are employees of the uni versity who add commencement planning to their current jobs. “We are ^•ery luck)' and very fortunate to have staff that are so invested in this that they \vi\\ do their regular 8-5 job but then they'll do whatever it takes to get these events ready and to pull them off and make them extraordinarily special for families,” Gibbons said. Soon after commencement, a meeting is held where the cere mony is debriefed and people are invited to send thoughts and sug gestions about ways to improve. After that, it’s not until after spring break that preparation re ally kicks into high gear. Ihe main logistics meeting for commence ment this year was April 12, and after that, volunteers are recruited and assignments are handed out. But for Physical Plant, the job starts even earlier. “As soon as spring starts com ing, we start doing things to get ready,” said Robert Buchholz, as sociate \ice president for facili ties management and director of Physical Plant. While students are gone over spring break. Physical Plant work ers begin inspecting flag poles and touching them up, replacing dam aged flags, planting fresh flow ers, freshening up pine straw and cleaning the pond. And the W'eek before gradu ation is when all the main set up gets done. The Tuesday before graduation is when the stage went up and the grass got its final cut. Wednesday, the chairs began getting placed — all 11,500 of them. After finishing Thursday afternoon, other chairs were being placed in Alumni G)'m in case of rain. Haggard Avenue was blocked off Friday night, and the final chairs were set up in the road. And then on Saturday — the day of commencement — the day kicks off at 4:30 a.m. \sith employ ees wiping down and drying off the chairs before the ceremony begins. For student Ph^-sical Plant em ii THAT MAKES IT REALLY MEANINGFUL WHEN YOU KNOW THAT YOU’VE MADE AN IMPACT AND AN IMPRESSION ON A GUEST OR A STUDENT WHO’S ABOUTTO GO OFF TO THE REST OF THEIR LIFE AND DO GREATTHINGS.TO GIVE THEM THAT KIND OF SEND OFF ISA REALLY WONDERFUL OPPORTUNI^ PAHI GIBBONS ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CULTURAL AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS. ployees such as junior Colleen Cody, getting to be a part of the preparation provides them with a different perspective, and a greater appreciation for the process. “I’m behind the scenes to see how much work is put into setting up for graduation and then hon estly I feel like I will appreciate it more next year when I graduate, seeing everybody else work behind the scenes,” Cody said. “I guess I Just have a different outlook on what goes down.” And while all of this occurs, catering is hurrying to get their preparation for the week’s events done as well. “Our catering department kind of gears up after Spring Break and its kind of nonstop from Spring Break until graduation,” said Laura Thompson, resident district man ager for Aramark. With the large number of end- of-the-year events such as depart ment luncheons and celebrations, the catering department — which has a cooking team of five chefs and four pastry chefs - is busy. Senior week kicks off with the senior picnic and senior gala the Wednesday before graduation, bodi of which require food prepa ration in the days beforehand, vrith food orders and shipments coming m the Monday. Wednesday and Friday of the previous week. Lemonade starts getting made that same Wednesday, the bulk of ^e food gets prepared Thursday, Fnday is focused on receptions tor the different schools and com mencement morning kicks off at 4:30 a.m. with the brewing of 175 gallons of coffee untU the conti nental breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. But there are a lot of other de partments who also chip in to make things happen. Cultural and Special Programs and Teaching and Learning Technologies helps set up the sound system, speakers and microphones, environmental services helps wipe down all the chairs the morning of and Cam pus Police is involved to ensure the ceremony is safe. “It takes a village to kind of pul! off graduation,” Thompson said. Securing diplomas While the majority of the physi cal setup kicks off in the spring, the registrars office is thinking about commencement the moment se niors arrive on campus in the fall- All seniors attend a graduation appointment in the fall to out line their last year, ensure theyr^ on track to graduate and get any exceptions to the curriculum made. And in the spring, the reg istrar’s office goes back to dou ble check each student’s degree audit and ensure they’ve met all the requirements. Diplomas are initially ordered based off of Winter Term, but last minute changes to majors, nu' nors and GPA causes a final rush for reordering diplomas after final grades are submitted the Wednes day morning before graduation- These diplomas are printed on Thursday in Virginia, and then driven back to campus. And then at 4:30 a.m. on Commencement morning, the diplomas are re placed and put in order so every thing is updated for when the se niors walk across the Stage- Putting together the program for graduation also has to be done after final grades come in.
Elon University Student Newspaper
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May 19, 2018, edition 1
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