Information for VIU employees

• Sign up using the employee RSVP form
• Rent regalia from Gaspard until May 4 at 11:59 pm.

What is a Convocation Marshal?

Marshals are required for each Convocation ceremony to guide the graduating students before, during, and after the ceremony. A Marshal may be a VIU faculty or staff member. Marshals are seated with an assigned group of graduating students and are required to wear regalia*.  

A program may have one or more marshal(s) depending on the number of graduates from it.  Some programs are grouped together with a single marshal. The number of students assigned to each marshal is usually no more than 30. 

Each marshal is asked to arrive at their student muster location 60 minutes before the ceremony and perform the following duties: 

• new this year! Students will arrive to their muster room and Marshal already in their regalia with their oath card in hand.
• line up students alphabetically
• read out instructions/overview to graduates;
• accompany the graduates to their seating area in the gym; 
• line the graduates up next to the stage to receive their credential; 
• lead the graduates out of the gym in the recession line at the end of the ceremony. 

A marshals’ information meeting will be held in May.   A detailed Powerpoint will also be distributed. 

*If you do not have your own regalia, you can book from Gaspard compliments of VIU, or contact grad_sales@gaspard.ca to purchase.

Lots of Convocation Assistants needed!

• Sign up using the employee RSVP form

What is a Convocation Assistant?

Helping at Convocation is a great way to interact with our graduating students on these special days.  Opportunities for interested employees include: 
 

• Gowning and Pinning – help grads get their regalia on properly prior to the start of the ceremonies
• Muster Room Host – Greet students as they arrive and direct students to their correct muster room location inside of their assigned building
• Greeters ­– hand out programs and provide a warm welcome in the gym
• Guest check-in and ticket collector - responsible for checking in all guests at the gym
• Gym host – greet guests and provide a warm welcome to the gym, help guests find appropriate seats, hand out fans
• Student seating specialists – Support movement of students throughout the ceremony: into the gym, across the stage, and out of the gym.

You can volunteer to help at one, two, or all four ceremonies. Some rolls require attendance at all 4 ceremonies. The exact time commitment is dependent on the role you will be taking on, but generally these are each approximately 4-hour commitments. 

Please be sure to get approval from your supervisor or manager for you to be re-assigned from your regular duties.
 

A volunteers' information meeting with further details will be held in May.

Learn how to pin a hood to regalia.

• Sign up using the employee RSVP form
• Book regalia from Gaspard - place your order now May 4 at 11:59. VIU will cover the cost of regalia rentals for instructional employees.

Show your support to the graduating students by wearing your regalia, participating in the faculty procession, and sitting in the faculty/VIP reserved section, which is on the floor in the centre between the grad seats. 

If you would like to attend but are not in a student-facing position and want to sit in the regular audience, you do not need to wear regalia, but you will need to RSVP.