New Guidelines For Conducting Graduation Ceremony
Universities and colleges in the State will now have to follow new guidelines while conducting graduation ceremonies. The guidelines laid down by a committee constituted by the Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TNSCHE) for this purpose, and approved by its executive committee on July 8, will be implemented soon. “Many academicians, officials and representatives from the Government pointed out irregularities in the conduct of the graduation ceremony. There was a general feeling that the sanctity that the ceremony should have was absent. We have revamped the whole procedure, from the arrival to the departure of the chief guest,” Vice-Chancellor of Bharathiar University G. Thiruvasagam, who is the chairman of the three-member committee, told. The committee constituted four months ago had even gone into the nomenclature intricacies. Its first guideline is “The degree distribution ceremony should be called Graduation Day and not as convocation”.
It has recommended that the graduation ceremonies of all the colleges affiliated to a university should be held within 15 days of the receipt of the degrees from the university. Only university ranks and prizes, besides the degree certificates, should be given on that day. The invitation should carry the name of the university awarding the degree. Guidelines regarding what should go as backdrop, people who can be permitted to wear the robe, the colour of robes to be worn, people to sit on the dais, the size of the chairs and colour, those forming part of the procession, speech duration, etc., too have been prescribed.
The procedure begins with the arrival of dignitaries, then formation of academic procession, invocation (Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu), declaring the graduation open by secretary, welcome address and report of the college by principal, delivery of graduation address by chief guest, felicitation by secretary, presentation of candidates for receiving degrees, administration of the pledge by principal, dissolution of graduation, playing of National Anthem, and departure of procession.
Guard of honour by NCC cadets should be given only to Central and State Ministers, Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor of universities. The music to be played during the procession would be provided by the TNSCHE. The invocation and National Anthem should be recorded versions. The chief guest’s address should be printed and distributed to candidates. Among the “Things Not to Be Done”, the committee has specified that institutions should not garland, give mementoes or any other kind of gifts to anybody on the dais. No other cultural programme should be held on the day of graduation. A Master of Ceremonies should not be allowed to conduct the proceedings.
Among the infrastructure arrangements, the committee has suggested the presence of fire extinguishers, first aid facilities, emergency exits, etc. in the ceremony hall. It has also asked the institutions to provide snacks and refreshments for the graduates after the ceremony. To keep a tab on whether the colleges are following the guidelines, the universities would set in motion a mechanism. Every graduation ceremony will be attended by a representative from the university who will report to the Vice-Chancellor of that respective university about the procedure.
