Andrew Hibel, HigherEdJobs: For most institutions, commencement ceremonies are right around the corner. Please walk us through the basic milestones and timeline planning for spring commencement at Arizona State University.
Melissa Werner, Arizona State University: Commencement planning is a year-long activity. At the end of each graduation cycle, December and May, we begin the planning for the next semester and the next year. Because graduation and the commencement ceremony is a life event, not only for the institution, but also for our graduates and their families, we are often fielding questions about ceremonies, two, three or five years out.
We are continually looking at the numbers of graduates and guests from semester to semester and year to year. The planning calendar begins when the semester begins. Schedules are confirmed and information is updated on the ceremonies web page early in the semester, often before the semester begins. A few months out, meetings about parking, facilities, security, etc., will take place. Within a few weeks of the event, production meetings are held and final schedules for rehearsals are confirmed. All performers and invited guests are provided information. The final week before ceremonies begin, scripts are sent out, final seating arrangements are put in place and all the details are checked, double checked and triple checked.
Hibel: As the director of University Ceremonies, what are your major responsibilities? What do you find to be the most exciting parts of your position?
Werner: My biggest responsibility is serving as a conduit of information across the institution. I do not plan the production and execution of the 20+ graduation ceremonies held at ASU each semester, but I coordinate the scheduling of the ceremonies and make certain that information that affects all colleges, ceremony coordinators and graduating students is disseminated across the university. A good deal of my job is connecting people with one another so that all aspects of ceremony planning and production run smoothly. Budgeting is a major part of my job and a skill that I have had to hone over the years.
The most exciting part of my job is watching that moment when students “turn the tassel” near the end of the commencement ceremony. Seeing their excitement and the happiness of families and friends celebrating an incredible achievement is very rewarding. Those graduates and families will never know who I am, but I am deeply gratified to know that I have played an important role in a major celebration in their lives. Nothing really compares to that.
Hibel: What are some of the challenges that event planners in academia may face and what are your recommendations on how higher education professionals can either avoid or manage these challenges?
Werner: One of the biggest challenges is trying to educate those who are not event professionals about the amount of time, effort and detail involved in producing a large-scale event. Staging doesn’t appear overnight without a lot of coordination between multiple parties. Program production takes weeks to put in place. People working your event need to be fed and given a place to rest between ceremonies. Guests need to know all of the details of the day in order to make the event enjoyable and as stress-free as possible. Because we deal with many individuals who spend their lives working at the micro-level — some of them literally working with microbes — it’s hard for them to wrap their minds around the large-scale activity of a graduation ceremony.
There’s not a particular way to avoid these kinds of challenges. You can only prepare to help educate those with whom you work about your work. Most of all, don’t take it personally if someone doesn’t “get it.” If you are the kind of person who is easily hurt or offended by the toss away comments you might hear like, “commencement again?” Or, “Is that really a year ’round job?” you’re likely to spend a lot of your days upset. You have to know that what you do is valuable and help others see the value of your work.
Hibel: You co-founded the North American Association of Commencement Officers (NAACO) in 2001. What was the genesis and vision for developing this association?
Werner: There was a time when commencement at Arizona State University was part of the Office of Summer Sessions. When I interviewed for the job of program coordinator for commencement I asked why this big event was being coordinated out of the Summer Sessions Office. My then-boss and NAACO co-founder, Carol Switzer, told me that commencement was put into the Summer Sessions Office many years before my arrival because the administration thought that the Summer Sessions Office would have time to plan the ceremony. It didn’t have anything to do with expertise, just the time to plan.
Not long after I began planning commencement, Carol approached me and indicated that it was time to get this idea in place that she had about gathering commencement planners to share information and best practices. Naively we thought this would be a small group of people meeting every other year or so to talk about graduation ceremonies. The idea caught on quickly and in less than a year NAACO was formed.
The association has expanded to more than 350 member institutions in the United States and Canada with more than 900 individual members. One of the challenges with gathering graduation professionals together is that we exist in many different areas of the university — Registrar’s Office, Alumni Office, Development/Foundation Office or sometimes the Office of the President or Chancellor. Before NAACO there was no way to communicate with graduation professionals in a single location. The establishment of the association has changed that.
In the 15 years since NAACO was formed we have moved from a volunteer organization to having a management company in place to manage the day-to-day activities of the association. The board of NAACO and the committees are all-volunteer driven. NAACO is planning an expansion of the association into Mexico so we can fulfill the mission of being truly North American in scope.
Hibel: How has the mission been fulfilled over the years and what are your goals for NAACO for the future?
Werner: The mission of NAACO has been fulfilled by the successful expansion of the association and the number of graduation professionals who have gained valuable information and best practices from others across the country. In addition to the annual conference we are looking to establish a certification for graduation professionals in order to prepare academic ceremony management professionals with the skills and training necessary to create, coordinate and manage an academic ceremony of any size using best practices and rigorous training.
I’m still amazed each year at the annual conference how much information is shared and how many best practices we review in workshops and large plenary sessions. The establishment of NAACO is one of the professional achievements of which I am most proud.
Hibel: In an interesting article on the NAACO site, American School and University explained how they have made their commencement ceremonies more “green.” In your experience, have you found that either your institution or other colleges and universities are adopting similar practices to be more environmentally conscious?
Werner: Many institutions have turned to more sustainable practices not only for graduation events but also for all special events. In the area of graduation, most companies now offer “green” gowns made from recyclable materials and the gowns themselves can also be recycled. Many institutions no longer print invitations and all communication with graduates, families and ceremony participants is exclusively via email or websites.
ASU recently began providing a digital program for commencement. We have moved away from producing tens of thousands of printed programs of more than 280 pages. We now put the full commencement program onto a flash drive that is handed to graduates after they cross the stage. A smaller “day of” program with about 80 pages is produced that gives the basic program information for all college ceremonies. Over the course of a full academic year, ASU has reduced the number of printed program pages by nearly 20 million in fall and spring. The “green” event is now becoming the standard among institutions.
Hibel: In a recent article, Loyola University New Orleans shared that they will be using live social media posts from friends and family during commencement. What are your thoughts on this and do you think this is a common or growing trend for university ceremonies?
Werner: Arizona State will also be using social media via a live Twitter feed before the University Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony begins this spring. Social media is a great way to allow everyone to participate in the graduation activity by sharing photos and sending congratulatory messages via Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. It also creates a larger reach for the graduation activity beyond the university.
In addition to introducing social media to the ceremony, ASU has webcast commencement for more than ten years. This allows families who may not otherwise have an opportunity to see a loved one graduate to view the event as it happens. Many institutions have chosen to webcast their events as well. This is a particularly nice option for students who may have family members serving in the military or elderly relatives who are unable to travel to the ceremony.
Hibel: What kind of backgrounds do people working in college events possess? Do they come from an event planning background or a higher education background, or does it vary?
Werner: Over the years I’ve come to understand that there are people working in higher ed who have event responsibilities and others who are event professionals, meaning they have a specific skill set and background in producing events and activities at a variety of levels. The event professionals I know personally all have different backgrounds. My undergraduate degree is in journalism. I know event professionals who have degrees in education/classroom teaching, others who have degrees in engineering and others who started their careers in the entertainment business. The common denominator is a sense of structure and an ability to focus on the details while understanding the bigger picture, and knowing what the goal of the activity is. The prevailing personality trait is the ability to stay calm in the midst of, what can often seem like, chaos.
Hibel: What advice would you give to new professionals who are considering or just beginning their careers in higher education event planning?
Werner: It’s been a recent phenomenon that event professionals are receiving specific event training and certification at the college and university level. If this opportunity is available, take advantage of certification and learn as much as possible about being an event professional. Ask to work at events on campus. If you can, shadow a seasoned event professional and see what the job is all about.
For those who are looking to join the ranks of event professionals, I would suggest that they find out if this is what they really love to do. Some like the project management part of event planning but scoff at the long hours. Others enjoy the “fun” of the event — seeing it take place and enjoying the moment — but don’t like working on the details. Still others love the details and the event but don’t want to release control of certain aspects of the event to others when required. You may not love all aspects of event planning but, you have to be prepared to do all the work in order to be a truly successful event professional.
Be honest with yourself. Are you willing to answer email from your President or Chancellor at midnight? Will it bother you when others receive credit because they were on stage speaking but you were the one that made certain the stage, lights, chairs, lectern and microphone was there so that person could shine?
Great organization and preparation help combat the stress that comes with event planning. As Winston Churchill said, “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.” Stress comes with any profession but you have to know when to brush off the stress if an event doesn’t run like clockwork. A great plan and a backup plan or two allows you to know that you can handle just about anything that comes your way. And while planning is great, don’t cling to your plans with both hands. Know when the plan has to change on the fly but prepare for that eventuality as well.
Hibel: What different advice would you give to professionals who are more seasoned and are looking to grow and expand in their roles on campus?
Werner: Continual education is a must. Reading blogs, newsletters and professional publications is a great way to keep on top of trends. Getting certified as an event specialist (CSEP) or meeting professional (CMP) is an excellent way to promote your visibility on campus.
Know your profession well and ask others in related fields to help educate you. Talk to your lighting professionals about equipment and trends and keep up with the lingo. Spend time with your staging company and understand what it takes to put up a large stage with rigging. Get to know your fire marshal or your director of emergency planning and what they can do to help you with event planning, management and production. Understand all you can about crowd management, ticketing, sound production, parking and traffic. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t know what someone is talking about.
I’m also a big believer in sharing information. Share your experiences, your scripts, your room diagrams. If you help others they will help you. Be a resource on your campus for events, catering, meeting locations, etc. Volunteer your time for other event professionals and when others volunteer for you be sure to thank them, thank them and thank them again! A little gratitude and graciousness can take you far. A bowl of candy helps, too.
Hibel: One final question — what aspect of working in academia are you most passionate about and why?
Werner: I am fascinated every day by the work and research being done at Arizona State University. I get to promote that through the graduation activity by celebrating incredible faculty, staff and students. I love commencement because it is the public recognition of who we are as an institution. There are few events that cross the institution as completely as graduation does by including the internal and external community. It makes me proud as an event professional and as alum of ASU.