Graduates, families, friends, faculty and staff all gathered Friday, May 13 to celebrate our 2011 graduates. This beautiful ceremony, while held in the Fort Worth Convention Center one night a year, is the not only the pinnacle of the diligence of the graduates during their studies here at TCC, but is the culmination of an entire District’s worth of work.
Throughout the year, our faculty, student service areas and campus staff serve as front-line representatives of the College, assisting students as they work toward their goals of completing degrees or certificates. Educating our community is not small feat, and these employees that interact with our students have the honor of getting to know our students.
When it comes to the commencement ceremony held each year, our campus communities pull together to make sure the graduation experience for our students can’t be rivaled by even the largest university. Campuses hold events for their students, faculty and staff; assist with coordinating transportation of employees to the convention center, ensure all graduates’ names are submitted for the ceremony; and all this while continuing to provide support to the students.
In addition to all the support our campuses provide students during their tenure at TCC, one campus each year serves as the host of commencement. Presiding over the ceremony this year was South Campus’s Interim President Joy Gates Black. As this year’s host, South Campus also provided the musicians and name callers for the ceremony.
The District would like to thank our faculty and campus staff as well as these other departments that make our commencement ceremony possible for their tireless efforts:
- Police department: provides security, directions, crowd control during the event as well as support after the event
- Human Resources: arrange shuttles to and from campuses
- Business services: coordinates regalia and makes sure everyone gets the right gowns and hoods (faculty regalia)
- Bookstores: distribute student regalia
- Admissions and Records: helps with ordering items needed, secures volunteers, helps with the staging area for graduates and faculty, ensures graduates meet graduation requirements, compiles the list of eligible students, gets diploma covers in order
- Information Center, College Access, Business Services volunteers: help with staging area, coordinate the processional and recessional flow and ensures it goes as planned, as well as assist graduates backstage with last minute hair or mortar board adjustments
- Horticulture department at NW Campus: provides plants and mums for décor
- PR & Marketing, Communications: create commencement website, coordinate photography before and during ceremony, coordinate VIP guest reception, help coordinate communications for graduates, work with TCC Board of Trustees members, post photos online for graduates and families to enjoy
- Online Support: helps create commencement website
- Graphics, Print Shop: assist with signage used at convention center and produces the ceremony program
- Facilities: assists with deliveries and makes sure everything is in place.
