Faculty Marshal Training and Information
(see this instructional video for example)
Thank you for committing to represent your college at this Spring’s commencement ceremonies!
A brief, mandatory training is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 14, 2026, for all marshals.
Upon arrival at Fisher Court, please visit the information table to sign in.
Ceremony Date & Times:
9:30 a.m. & 2:00 p.m.,
May 16, 2026
Ceremony 1:
9:30 a.m.
The ceremony will feature undergraduate students from the College of Business, Health, and Human Services and the Donaghey College of Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics.
The doors will open at 8:00 a.m. for the 9:30 a.m. ceremony. Faculty Marshals are expected to arrive by 8:00 a.m.
Ceremony 2:
2:00 p.m.
The ceremony will feature undergraduate students from the College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education and graduate students from the Graduate School.
The doors will open at 12:30 p.m. for the 2:00 p.m. ceremony. Faculty Marshals are expected to arrive by 12:30 p.m.
9:30 a.m.
– CBHHS: 2 faculty marshals & 2 student marshals
– DCSTEM: 2 faculty marshals & 2 student marshals
2 p.m.
– CHASSE: 2 faculty marshals & 2 student marshals
– Graduate School: 2 faculty marshals from any of the three colleges
– All marshals will ensure all graduates have signed in at the registration table before assisting with finding their announcement cards.
– Once the student has registered at the main table, student and faculty marshals will assist in passing out the students’ preprinted name cards that will be used for photography purposes and announcing their name during the ceremony.
-The students MUST hold on to these cards until they line up to cross the stage, as they are used to identify the student’s name to the announcer. At the appropriate time, the cards will be collected from the student to be given to the announcer.
-Marshals may be the first point of contact for graduating students. Be ready to answer questions. Please familiarize yourself with the facility and the opportunities available for the graduates.
Before the ceremony, graduates can:
-Consult with announcers regarding the correct pronounciation of their name.
-Visit the Bookstore table to purchase last-minute regalia
-Visit the Alumni table to sign up
-Participate in the Cap Decoration Contest
Please do not allow a graduate to leave the JSC with the procession without an announcement card
If a student is eligible for commencment honors (Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude), those honors will be pre-printed on the announcement cards for honorable mentions during the ceremony.
This card is identical to the other printed cards except the honors will also appear with their name.
If a student feels that they should be given one of those distinctions, and it is missing from their announcment card, please send the student to the information table so we can give them the contact email address for Records & Registration. At this point, we are unable to change their honors status and the announcer will ignore hand-written honors.
Once a student has signed in and obtained their announcement card, they can take advantage of the photo booth set up in the back of Fisher Court before the ceremony for graduation photos.
Photos will also be taken of students during the commencement ceremony as they receive their diploma covers on stage. Students will receive proofs of those photos to their ualr.edu email several weeks after the commencement ceremony. Photos are sold separately.
Students may wear University Approved caps and gowns to commencment. Any student not in University approved regalia may not be permitted to walk in the procession. However, leave that up to someone in the Records & Registration office to resolve.
**If any student should arrive missing any of their regalia, the school bookstore will have a table set up in Fisher Court with commencement needs before the ceremonies.
If any student expresses concern about the correct pronounciation of their name, plese direct them to the front of Fisher Court, where the announcer will be standing by to assist students with that.
Listen Closely to the Announcements in Fisher Court
There will be an announcer in Fisher Court counting down until it’s time for the procession to start. There will also be other important information released up until it’s time for the procession to leave.
Marshals are responsible for assisting with lining their colleges up in alphabetical order, regardless of their major. The announcer will make it clear when it is time to begin the process.
Faculty Marshal Roles per college:
– Banner Marshal –
– Leads the procession for their college, behind the Head Marshal at the beginning and end of the ceremony
– Receives the banner from commencement employee upon entering the tunnel (Keep an eye out for your college’s banner so you can wave at the employee to identify yourself)
– Carry the banner to the stage and hands the banner off to the commencement employee who will be standing by to receive it and place it in the stantion.
-When the students line up at the stage, the Banner Marshal shall direct them back to their seats in the graduate seating area.
– Diploma Marshal –
– Leads the procession with the Banner Marshal. While the banner is being taken to the stage, the diploma marshal will continue to lead the students to their seats
– Takes the second seat, but reserves the first seat for the Banner Marshal on the first row of their college’s area
– When it is time for the students to proceed to the stage to receive their diploma covers, the diploma marshal will lead them.
– Once the students are at the stage area, this marshal will walk in front of the stage to the opposite side where they will assist the students and congratulate them when they leave the stage.
– The diploma marshal will remain present at the stage to assist in guiding students in returning to their seats.
– As students are routed back to their seats, the diploma marshal will carefully direct them around the video camera located at the front corner of the student seating area.
*Each college’s faculty marshals should decide between them which role they would prefer.*
Any questions during the ceremony should be directed to a commencement employee, stationed at various locations around the JSC.
Once the student procession into the arena starts, the commencement volunteers assisting in seating you will be unable to answer your questions at that point in the ceremony.