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| Friday, July 11, 2008
Graduation ceremony: universities/colleges
to follow new norms
Coimbatore: 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 Hindu.
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.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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