Academic Policies

2. Guidelines for Selecting the Capital College Faculty Commencement Marshal

Purpose

To establish a practice for choosing the Capital College Faculty Commencement Marshal.

Introduction

The position of Commencement Marshal is one of the highest non-academic honors bestowed on senior faculty members by the Chancellor of the College.

  1. Since the College has no formal policy guiding the selection of the Marshal, this guideline will establish the selection process, criteria for selection, and the time of service[1].
  2. Three Schools [Behavioral Sciences and Education, Business Administration, Public Affairs], and the Library have never had Marshals, while, in recent history, Science, Engineering, and Technology has had at least two [G. Bulman and S. Richman] and Humanities has had one [I. Richman].

A. Selection Process

  1. When the selection of a new Commencement Marshal becomes necessary, the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will prepare the list of eligible candidates for the Chancellor's review based on the criteria described below.
  2. The Chancellor will select the Commencement Marshal.

B. Selection Criteria

  1. The Commencement Marshal must be a tenured faculty member, preferably of senior rank and position, whose record of teaching, research and creative accomplishment, and service to the College and the University has been distinguished and exemplary.
  2. After the Senior Associate Dean completes the review of the candidates' accomplishments and determines that those accomplishments meet the "distinguished" designation mentioned in paragraph 1, two additional criteria will assist the Chancellor with the selection process.
    1. The first of those criteria is the time of continuous service at Capital College. The "time of service" means the period beginning with the first date of employment. The period of employment must be continuous, that is, without any break in service. Those faculty members with the longest periods of service will be considered as candidates for the position of Commencement Marshal.
    2. The second criterion is that the position of Commencement Marshal must be distributed throughout the Schools so that the senior faculty members of each School have the opportunity of being honored.
  3. If the faculty member chosen to serve as Marshal cannot perform the duties for any reason, the Chancellor will review the qualifications of the other candidates from the list prepared by the Senior Associate Dean.
  4. At least one year before the end of the current campus Marshal's term of service, the Marshal Designate shall be selected to assist the current Marshal and become familiar with all the duties associated with the office. The Marshal Designate must be eligible to serve for a minimum of three years before retirement. The criteria described above also apply to the selection of the Marshal Designate.

C. Duties

  1. Once designated as the College Marshal for the Harrisburg campus, the faculty member is expected to continue in his/her respective role until retirement or unless relieved of responsibilities because of illness or other reasons deemed appropriate by the Chancellor.
  2. The Marshal will perform such duties as designated by the Chancellor of the College at public ceremonies or other official college events.
  3. The campus Commencement Marshal will assist the Chancellor with the maintenance of order and decorum at such events.

Approved by Academic Council (3-18-2003)

[1] Until the appointment of the current Associate Provost and Senior Associate Dean in 2001, the College had no formal policies or guidelines. The Capital College Handbook of Administrative Guidelines and Management Practices was established in March 2002 to guide administrators, faculty, students, and staff with the various academic and administrative policies and procedures required to manage the College's business as efficiently and equitably.

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