The College of The Bahamas :: Oakes Field :: P.O. Box N-4912 :: Nassau, The Bahamas :: Tel (242) 302.4300 :: Email cob@cob.edu.bs

   News > Letter from President Boze on Commencement Exercises




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Letter from President Boze on Commencement Exercises


6 September 2011

This Spring, I had the privilege of experiencing my first commencement exercises as the President of COB. One of the most important and traditional academic ceremonies, commencement never fails to touch my heart and soul and this was no exception. Commencement is a time of ritual and pageantry, a time for family, friends and classmates to honour and celebrate the achievements of an institution’s newest graduates.

It is always a special moment when I ask the graduates to turn and face the many people who helped them get to this moment in their lives: the parents and guardians who supported them emotionally and financially; the spouses, children and siblings who took on extra responsibilities at home so that they would have time to attend class and complete assignments, and the friends, neighbours and relatives who mentored and encouraged them.

But for some of our graduates, this simple yet important act of recognition was not possible. Although commencement was held in the Diplomat Centre, the seating capacity was just not sufficient to accommodate the family and friends of our 442 New Providence graduates, who filled the Centre to overflowing! Many families watched on closed circuit television and many more were turned away from the Centre.

To make space available for our graduates’ family and friends, this year and to allow for our Summer and Fall graduates to commence in a more timely manner, there are a few options:
  1. Limit the number of family members that each student may invite. While this would allow all families to enjoy the ceremonies, it would mean that many students would not be able to have their whole family and support network present.
  2. Move commencement to a facility like the new stadium that is large enough to accommodate our graduates and their families. Concerns about weather could make the open air ceremonies problematic.
  3. Host multiple commencement ceremonies in May, probably by Faculties. Multiple ceremonies are a real possibility, but could be redundant in some instances and fragment the ceremony in others. To manage the awarding of large numbers of degrees, many universities have one large ceremony with the commencement speaker, then award degrees by school or college. If we had a place large enough to accommodate the ceremony, then we wouldn’t need to split the awards by school or college yet, although we may want to at some point.
  4. Resume December commencement ceremonies in New Providence. Student Affairs and the Registrar are prepared to resume December ceremonies in New Providence only with a Baccalaureate Service proposed for Monday, December 19th and Commencement on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011.

As we consider our options, we are seeking student input about how we can best serve you and your family. As time is of the essence, I have set up a BLOG to receive your thoughts and perhaps suggestions that we may not have considered. We look forward to hearing from you at:

http://cobcommencement.wordpress.com

Dr. Betsy V. Boze, President
The College of The Bahamas


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The College of The Bahamas :: Oakes Field :: P.O. Box N-4912 :: Nassau, The Bahamas :: Tel (242) 302.4300 :: Email cob@cob.edu.bs
The College of The Bahamas :: Oakes Field :: P.O. Box N-4912 :: Nassau, The Bahamas :: Tel (242) 302.4300 :: Email cob@cob.edu.bs