Supporting the graduation experience

A message from the Chief Operating Officer, Dr Stephen Weller:

Dear colleagues,

This autumn, 17 graduation ceremonies were held to celebrate the achievements of more than 5000 graduating ACU students.  A total of 3,562 graduands and 14,457 guests attended ceremonies at Ballarat, Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.  Honorary Doctorate awards were also conferred during the Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne ceremonies.

Autumn graduations marked a number of firsts:

• The Faculty of Health Sciences celebrated the first graduating cohort from the Bachelor of Speech Pathology and the Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours). In total, 62 students graduated across the North Sydney and Melbourne campuses.
• The Honourable Sir Gerard Brennan was conferred a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) at a Sydney ceremony, before presenting ACU’s first graduate of Law, David Orr, with his degree.  David is a Gurang Gurang man from Maryborough, and he was conferred with a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Global Studies.

I congratulate all of our graduates on their achievements.  A graduation ceremony represents the pinnacle of the student journey at ACU, where we celebrate an individual’s accomplishments, and also to look forward to their future contributions to the local and global community within their chosen field.

Creating an excellent Graduation experience

We strive to ensure that graduation ceremonies are a memorable experience for students and their guests.  I am pleased to say that the Canberra ceremony venue was moved to the National Convention Centre this autumn to accommodate a larger audience.  Student Administration reports that this venue facilitated a 25% increase in guest attendance, as well as an unexpected 10% increase in graduand attendance.

I congratulate the many staff who support the graduation experience, from our hard-working Graduations and Protocol team, to the staff volunteers who attend a ceremony to honour and celebrate our students.  Over 400 staff from across ACU registered to attend autumn ceremonies and be in the procession.  Thank you to everyone involved.

Open Day is coming up

Open Day is another opportunity for staff to get involved in supporting the student experience at ACU. If you would like to volunteer in support of these events (to be held 22 July to 9 September) you can register until two weeks prior to the ACU Open Day on your campus at: http://www.acu.edu.au/volunteer.

Regards,
Stephen