Commencement Exercise Responsibilities

The purpose of this administrative policy statement is to outline in greater detail responsibilities for the various aspects of commencement exercises.

1. Responsibilities of the Office of the Board of Regents
   1. The Office of the Board of Regents will coordinate with the Regent Awards Selection Committee for the determination of recipients as per Regent Policy 2.D:  Regents Awards.
       
   2. Following board approval of the regent awards, the Office of the Board of Regents will forward detailed information of the awardees to the respective chancellor’s office. The Office of the Board of Regents will provide the University Medal Award and the Distinguished Service Award. The office will work directly with the respective chancellor’s office and registrar for the preparation of the Honorary Degree certificates and signatures.
       
   3. Honorary degree diplomas will be ordered by the Office of the Board of Regents’ staff working directly with the campus registrars. See attachment A for example.
       
   4. The Chair of the Regent Awards Selection Committee is responsible for the initial notification to regent award recipients. The Chair of the Regent Awards Selection Committee may request assistance from other regent members of the Regents Awards Selection Committee with the notifications.
       
   5. The Office of the Board of Regents will be responsible for assuring that academic regalia for members of the Board of Regents, medals, and any other objects to be provided by the Office of the Board of Regents are physically present at the appropriate location and in sufficient time for commencement ceremonies.
       
   6. The Office of the Board of Regents will prepare and distribute for inclusion in each commencement program a commencement program message from the Board of Regents along with a current picture of the Board of Regents.
       
2. Responsibilities of the Office of the President
   1. Final approval of commencement schedules will rest with the Office of the President.  Future commencement schedules can be found at https://www.cu.edu/commencement-calendar.
       
   2. The president will prepare a commencement program message. This does not preclude the preparation of a message by the campus chancellor.
       
   3. The president will assist in the hooding ceremonies for all honorary degree candidates.
       
   4. The president may delegate the presentation of the Norlin charge to a regent or other appropriate campus leadership each commencement exercise.
       
3. Responsibilities of the Office of the Chancellor
   1. General coordination of campus commencement ceremonies will be the responsibility of the campus chancellor and appropriate campus commencement officials.
       
   2. Regent Award selectees will be invited to attend commencement of the nominating campus. Expenses for the honoree to attend the selected commencement ceremony activities will be funded by the selected campus.
       
   3. Securing accommodations for award recipients, ordering of regalia including honorary degree hoods, arranging transportation, planning special events, and issuing invitations for commencement activities will be the responsibility of the campus chancellor and appropriate commencement officials. Each campus will be responsible for necessary publicity, including any public information office coordination when necessary.
       
   4. Formal notification to the president of all scheduled commencement events and functions, including details of the commencement ceremonies and any scheduled Regent Awards events will be the responsibility of the campus chancellor and appropriate commencement officials.
       
   5. Each campus will be responsible for the program citation of regent and campus award recipients.  This includes the verbal citation given during the campus commencement exercises.
       
   6. The planning for any necessary security measures attendant to commencement events will be the responsibility of each campus chancellor and appropriate commencement officials.
       
   7. Each campus will prepare for and administer alternate commencement ceremonies which may be necessary due to inclement weather or other unexpected events.
4. Degrees and Diplomas – See APS 8003 – Campus Designation on Diplomas and Transcripts (Section II.A-B)

1. Attachment A – Example of Honorary  Campus Degree Diploma
    
2. APS 8003 – Campus Designation on Diplomas and Transcripts​ 

• Adopted:  April 26, 1976.
• Revised:  May 15, 1980; January 17, 2013; April 9, 2015; February 19, 2017 (removed references to the rescinded Regent Article 8.B.1.); January 1, 2025.
• Last Reviewed:  January 1, 2025.