June 9, 2008

Around the middle of April, university people are often asked:  “So, what are you going to do over the summer?”   This question is motivated by a commonly-held belief that the work of the university shuts down for the months between the end of classes in May and the beginning of the new academic year in September.  Since this belief is tied to teaching responsibilities and, typically, university presidents do little if any teaching (a symptom of what is and what is not expected of university presidents), what we do from May-September is a source of wonder to many.

I hope that through a series of intended blog entries over the summer I dispel the idea that we are on a four month vacation.  In fact, we get a lot of significant work done during the summer months, especially items related to academic and strategic planning, budgeting etc.  But, I’ll start the composition on “What I did Over the Summer” by writing first about a joyous event that happens at the beginning of the summer period – Convocation.

Sometime between mid-May to mid-June, universities celebrate the graduation of their students in ceremonies called Convocations.  In bigger universities, to keep the ceremonies manageable, a series of Convocations are scheduled.  The U of C holds ten Convocations during this period – one in May for Law and Medicine so these students can go off to their articling and residence positions and nine during the week of June 9th.  About 4700 U of C students will get their degrees in these ceremonies.

University presidents are expected to say something intelligent, if not inspirational, at each Convocation.  Since we can’t come up with so many messages like this, we typically prepare a generic speech that we use at each ceremony.  This generic speech is to university presidents what the stump speech is to politicians.  I am told that some presidents use the same Convocation speech for their entire presidency.  I change mine every year and I insert some material at each Convocation that is particularly germane to the graduating students’ Faculty.  One of the keys to a good presidential convocation speech is that it is short – otherwise all that people seem to remember is that the president went on for too long.     At Convocations, presidents are well advised to follow the advice of a former Supreme Court of Canada judge who charged lawyers appearing before the court to:  “Be heard.  Be clear.  Be brief.  Be gone”. 

Some wonder whether a week of convocation ceremonies gets tiring.  For me, the answer is an emphatic no!  First, the purpose of a university (our most important product, to use corporate lingo) is to graduate well-educated students.  To spend a week celebrating the success of each individual graduate is rewarding and comforting to those in university administration – it reminds us of our purpose.  Second, it is amazing how much you can learn about your university – student enrolments and trends, range and popularity of programs, gender balance in different Faculties and among award winners etc. – if you attend to the parade of students crossing the stage at Convocations.   Finally, during Convocation week, presidents have the opportunity to speak to thousands of people in the community who have a link to the university because one of their loved ones is graduating – an opportunity for community engagement no president should pass up.

Convocation week – a fun, engaging, celebratory, time.  A great way to initiate a university summer.

If you would like to respond to this blog, please e-mail: president@ucalgary.ca