By Rachel Beck
Corvallis Gazette-Times | Posted: Sunday, June 14, 2009 12:00 am
A couple thousand graduates. A couple more thousand degrees. In the span of a few hours, and in plain view of a stadium full of spectators, each piece of paper gets delivered to its rightful owner.
"It's magic," said Chris Crabtree, who works in the Oregon State University Registrar's Office.
Oregon State is one of the few universities in America that still physically awards diplomas to all graduates at a single commencement ceremony. Other schools distribute diplomas in college-specific ceremonies or mail them out months later.
What OSU does is unusual, and it isn't easy.
"We have quite a process that we go through," Crabtree said.
First, students have to let the Registrar's Office know they're coming to the ceremony. Then the diplomas are organized by college and then alphabetically.
The diplomas are numbered, and each number is printed on a card with the student's name.
As students reported to the pre-commencement lineup Saturday morning, they were given their card, which noted their place in line.
"And so as long as they stay in line, it should all work out perfectly," Crabtree said.
Marshals - about 40 of them - got the students in line. As the procession started, they made note of who hadn't shown up and who showed up unexpectedly. Latecomers put their names on blank cards.
As the procession reached Reser Stadium Saturday, the marshals handed their new cards and the cards of missing graduates to Registrar's Office employees, who ferried them to the diploma tent for last-second checking and altering.
Chris Bell, director of international programs and former associate dean in the College of Engineering, was this year's chief marshal.
Bell has been involved with commencement for 12 years, several of those as chief marshal.
"I coordinate all the marshals to get the students lined up in the right order in the quads," he said.
Marshal training involves an orientation with a PowerPoint presentation and a walk-through the day before the ceremony. If anyone is uncertain about what to do, they go over it again.
Even with all their preparation, Crabtree said, mistakes sometimes happen.
"There's always someone who gets out of line," she said.
Anyone who ends up with the wrong diploma can take it to the registrar. If the proper diploma can't be found, a new one will be ordered.
Given how complex the process is, why do it?
"It's just knowing that we're one of the last schools that still do it," Crabtree said. "We're proud of that fact."
And, she said, the graduates' reactions can't be beat.
"It's awesome to see the shock and awe when they look and it's really theirs."