As you know, First Lady Michelle Obama will provide the commencement address at Oregon State University’s 2012 commencement ceremony on Sunday, June 17. We are excited to have the First Lady join us for this year’s commencement.

The logistics for this year’s commencement are going to be more complicated. Over the next few weeks, we will be working with the White House and other relevant agencies to plan the event. In the meantime, I want to share with you some key elements of the planning process as it pertains to faculty and staff participation in this year’s commencement.

The anticipated start time for the event (time when the first graduates enter Reser stadium) on June 17 is 3:30 p.m. We expect 3,500 to 4,000 students to participate and about 35,000 guests to attend the ceremony.

The 2012 graduation will be a ticketed event. As in previous commencements, faculty may participate in the 2012 commencement ceremony by volunteering as an escort, representative, or marshal.  Faculty who wish to participate in one of the following roles must register in advance.

• Faculty Escorts who wish to accompany doctoral candidates will receive a memo from the Graduate School toward the end of May.

• As Faculty Representatives, faculty will dress in academic regalia and participate in the processional across campus and into Reser Stadium where they will be seated as a group for the ceremony. There will be limited number of seats available on the stadium floor for Faculty Representatives; specific information regarding volunteering to be a faculty representative will be distributed toward the end of April.

• Faculty members are encouraged to serve as Marshals. We are anticipating the need for almost twice as many marshals as in the past. Chris Bell, Chief Marshal, will work with each college to staff marshals.

This year we have an increased need for OSU staff volunteers.  Staff who would like to volunteer greeting guests, distributing programs, assisting guests in locating a seat, etc. will need to complete the registration form found on the commencement webpage.  Once commencement begins, volunteers in all capacities are welcome to attend the ceremony.

Tickets: After accommodating family and friends of our graduates, we anticipate to have a limited number of admission tickets (no charge but this is a ticketed event) available in the general audience for faculty and staff. Information regarding ticket availability will be made available to the colleges following the graduation application deadline of May 25^th.

I would appreciate if you can encourage your students who are prospective graduates to visit the Commencement webpage http://oregonstate.edu/commencement for information on the commencement ceremony. If students have questions about graduation requirements and deadlines, please encourage them to contact their advisers and the OSU Registrar’s Office. We will provide additional information regarding the commencement ceremony as it becomes available through the commencement website and at the May Faculty Senate meeting.

I want to thank you for all you do for OSU and its students, and wish you an enjoyable and productive Spring quarter.

Sabah Randhawa

Provost and Executive Vice President