Graduation

Today I am in Washington DC for Walden's commencement ceremony tomorrow! What is Walden's graduation ceremony like? In general, I am not a big fan of graduations- but I do like Walden's. Let me see if I can paint you a picture. Walden now has two ceremonies. The first one is commencement, the audience is in their chairs quietly talking, and the faculty enter in their caps, gowns, and brightly covered hoods to music. Faculty with doctoral students who are graduating will be on the stage so they can hood their students. Next, the excited graduates enter to the cheering of their families.

Walden's President and the President of Walden's Board of Directors address the audience. There is a guest speaker (always good!). Then it is time for the degree conferrals. Students getting bachelors and master's degrees have their names read and they go across the stage.

Between the 2 ceremonies, there are parties and activities for children. Later will be the doctoral hooding ceremony. The doctoral students have their names read ("Dr. Jane Smith") and their chair, if present, or the associate dean of the school hoods them. There is much hugging and crying. It is a beautiful ceremony and marking of your accomplishment. Attached is a photo of me (on left) with my doctoral student, the "new" Dr. Lee Clark. I look forward to seeing you there soon! 

Next time I will talk about journal empowerment.  Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu