College Considering Virtual Commencement Options
Alicia Riley has been an event planner for more than 20 years. As such, she always has a Plan B.
"That's what event planners do," she said.
When Thomas Nelson Community College announced it was canceling its traditional graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020, she wasn't left scrambling.
"I was already planning on a virtual commencement one month before we got the news that commencement was canceled," she said. "I was already proactive. Early February, I knew that I needed to plan for a virtual (commencement)."
Her Plan B quickly became Plan A. Even with that, she's exploring options to provide students, faculty, staff and their family and friends with a ceremony.
Riley, who has been the College's Special Events Coordinator for 14 years, is hoping the graduation ceremony will go on May 14 (as previously planned) but just online. She's working on a pre-recorded ceremony from Dr. Mary T. Christian Auditorium that would begin with the Langley Air Force Base Color Guard presenting colors, followed by the College's choir performing the national anthem.
There also would be an invocation, messages from the College's interim president and Student Government Association president, and the conferring of degrees accompanied by the reading of names. And, yes, there would be graduation speakers.
"We're going to have global speakers," Riley said.
But instead of one speaker, there would be five or six from around the world, including Australia and Canada, as well as local personalities. They have been given a theme of "The Year We Were Forced to Leap."
"Each speaker will have to decide what that means to them," Riley said. "My goal with this is that we're reflecting slightly on the current situation but, as the students progress in their lives, they are going to have to be forced to leap on many occasions; whether they decide to leave a job, enhance a career or go back to school to take that leap or next step in their life."
As for the reading of the names and the conferring of degrees, Riley in coordination with Student Affairs is exploring two options. One is to go live May 14 at a designated time, and deans will read the names.
"That's our first goal," she said. "That portion will be live. As well as not only reading the names, but they are also going to read their degree as well as any type of honor. That's one way we're considering. My preferred, and the College's preferred, is to go live at that time."
The other option is for students to send in pictures, and when the names are read, the photos would pop up on your computer screen. However, if that is the selected option, there would be a deadline of mid-April to submit photos.
Despite the changes, Riley see this as an opportunity rather than a challenge.
"I consider that we have a problem that needs a solution," she said. "What we all need to understand is technology has been in the forefront for decades. Now is the time to utilize this product, to utilize technology (cell phones, Zoom, etc.). … We get to explore avenues we have never done before at the College."
Riley takes the coronavirus pandemic seriously, but she also hopes people can still have some normalcy in their lives.
"One thing that is disappointing is people wanting to cancel life," she said. "That is so against everything that I've studied for 23 years as an event planner. It's important to me that we have to continue our lives. We have to continue our celebrations, our recognitions, our accomplishments. All those things are important, not only to me, but to everyone."
Riley is in communication with Interim President Dr. Greg DeCinque and Vice President for Student Affairs Kris Rarig.
"There is nothing more exciting for me than a community college commencement," said DeCinque, who feels for the students, and wanted to make sure they also are involved in the decision.
"It's their commencement even more than ours," he said.
Commencement is not the only event on Riley's plate. She's also working on a virtual conference called "The Global View," as well as "Family Fun Day," both set for April. She said the plan for the virtual conference is for it to be a weeklong event. Interested parties can check in daily, watch the conference, and at the end, all of the sessions will be posted online.
As for the fun day, it will be in the form of a TV show, similar to "Out of the Box." There will be four shows in the series, and each show will be based on age (2-7, 8-12, 13-17, 18 and older).
"It will all air on one day," Riley said. "You can decide which show to watch, and you can watch them over and over."
For updates on all the events at the College, go to vpcc.edu.