Commencement 2008: College of Professional and Continuing Education
A Matter of Degree: A Guide to Commencement 2008 for COPACE students (brochure with map in PDF)
Congratulations! You soon will receive your degree from Clark University. Although most of your work is completed, there are a few significant details for you to attend to before graduation in May.
Times, dates, locations, procedures, attire and guest services for Commencement 2008 are listed below. Please read carefully and note important dates and deadlines. If you need additional information, please stop by or call the Student Records Office at 508-793-7427.
Attendance
Commencement 2008 will be held Sunday, May 18, on the Jefferson Academic Center green. The procession, from Kneller Athletic Center to the campus green, begins at 1:15 p.m. and the ceremonies at 1:30 p.m. The 2 1/2 hour ceremony includes honorary degree presentations and the Commencement Address. The ceremony concludes with the awarding of doctoral, master's and bachelor's degrees.
If you are unable to receive your degree in person, you may receive it in absentia. Those participating in Commencement are expected to remain for the entire 2 1/2 hour ceremony. If any last-minute emergency prevents you from joining the ceremony as planned, please call 508-793-7427.
You are eligible to participate in Commencement if you have fulfilled all requirements and do not have an outstanding balance on your student account. Students who have completed all work (no incompletes) by May 5, 2008 are included in the Commencement program. Students who have registered for Summer Session I and have permission to "walk" at Commencement also will be included in the program.
Honors Ceremony and Brunch
Each year, COPACE honors students who are eligible for membership in Alpha Sigma Lambda, the National Evening College Honor Society. New members are installed during the COPACE brunch in Tilton Hall, Higgins University Center on the morning of Commencement. Graduating students, their friends, families and COPACE staff and faculty are invited to the brunch.
Alpha Sigma Lambda was established as a National Honor Society in 1947, and in 1963, COPACE established the Psi Chapter. The honor society recognizes students who maintain high scholastic standards in their academic programs while successfully balancing the demands of their adult lives.
Caps and Gowns
Undergraduates
You will be fitted when you pick up your souvenir caps, gowns, tassels and hoods on Tuesday, May 13, or Thursday, May 15, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Atwood Hall Blue Room. You will have been billed in advance for your outfit, which is yours to keep.
Masters
Most of the times, dates, locations, procedures, attire, and guest services for Commencement 2008 listed in this brochure for undergraduate students also apply to graduate students.
The charge for Master's degree souvenir caps, gowns, tassels and hoods is $27.00, due and payable to University Cap and Gown upon pickup. The outfit is yours to keep.
Commencement Day Schedule
Assembly
If you are graduating, assemble at 12:30 p.m. sharp in Kneller Athletic Center wearing (or carrying) your cap and gown. Anyone who does not arrive in time for accurate placement in the procession will not receive a diploma on stage. Seating: In Kneller, you will find tagged seats arranged alphabetically. Find the one with your name on it and be seated. You will receive last-minute instructions at this time.
Procession
From Kneller you will file in pairs to the Commencement area. When you take your seat on the campus green, please stay in alphabetical order-otherwise you might get someone else's diploma.
Ceremony
The ceremony lasts about 2 1/2 hours. You are expected to stay in your assigned place for the entire ceremony.
Awarding Degrees
Group 1—all graduate degrees
Group 2—all COPACE undergraduate degrees
Group 3—all day-school undergraduate degrees.
At some point in the ceremony, the faculty marshal will ask members of your degree group to stand. Remain standing as President Bassett confers your degree, and then shift the tassel on your cap from right to left. Your group then will file toward the podium, row by row, beginning at the front and the extreme left. Follow the person on your left. When your name is called, walk across the platform, receive your diploma and return to your seat.
Recession
After the ceremony, the formal recession of the platform party (including the president, trustees, honorary degree recipients, and faculty) begins. You are expected to remain seated until they have left the platform. Graduates will follow them in a recession from the platform to Atwood Plaza along the walk beside Jefferson Academic Center, where faculty members will have formed an aisle to congratulate you.
Considering Guests
Guests who prefer seating indoors may sit in Atwood Hall, where they will be able to see a video broadcast of the ceremony on large TV monitors. If special seating is required for physically challenged family or friends, please contact Physical Plant 508-793-7566 in advance.
Media
Professional photographers will set up near the Commencement platform to take photographs or film each graduate as he/she is handed a diploma. You are under no obligation to purchase the photograph or video when the details are sent to your home following graduation. Your family and friends may take their own photographs along the processional route from Kneller and from a small section reserved at the side of the platform.
Commencement Festivities
Commencement Brunch
On the morning of Commencement, there will be a brunch for COPACE students in Higgins University Center, Tilton Hall, at 10 a.m. Installation for new members of Alpha Sigma Lambda will be held during brunch. Information about making reservations for the brunch will be sent to you shortly. As a graduating student, you are the guest of the University for the brunch.
Commencement Reception
After the Commencement ceremony, arrange to meet family, friends and favorite professors at a designated spot in the Higgins University Center (not at the Information Desk, please) or outdoors. A reception with refreshments will be held for you and your family in the University Dining Hall in the Higgins University Center following the ceremony.
Invitations
You may invite as many guests as you wish to the COPACE brunch and Commencement. If you would like to send out formal invitations to family and friends, you may pick them up at the COPACE Office in 111 Jonas Clark Hall in May. Five printed invitations are available for each graduating student.
WE SALUTE YOU! On May 18, 2008, you will reach your destination as graduates of Clark University, Class of 2008 and begin your journey as Clark alumni.