Commencement March
Case Western Reserve University's spring commencement features ceremonies and related events celebrating the graduation of undergraduate and graduate students from nine schools.
Commencement March Project Goal
During the morning of commencement, students and faculty from all of the schools process across campus to the Veale Center for the Commencement Convocation. Coordinating this effort requires the staff to work with considerable precision.
Explaining the routes the different groups would take in the procession, and how they would take their seats was always a challenge. Maps were made with color-coded lines indicated who marched where, but it was still confusing.
In 2004 we decided that a Flash animation—demonstrating the routes in action—would better illustrate the process. The animation, updated each year, and redesigned in 2008 is used primarily as a presentation tool to educate staff, but is also published on the Web as a reference for students and faculty.
Project Overview
The animation I developed features a map of the campus edited for this project, a floorplan of the Veale Center that I drew in Freehand by referencing the building's blueprints and groups of colored dots representing the various student and faculty groups participating in the procession. As many groups are marching at the same time but on different parts of campus, the animation was divided into chapters showing the different sequences of events. Features include:
- A color key on each page to indicate which color represents which group.
- Captions indicating activities as they begin.
- Scripts that allow users to pause and restart the animation at any time so that key actions can be explained during presentations.
- A chapter menu so that users may refer to a specific chapter without having to watch the entire animation.
- Contact information for the event coordinators from each of the schools.
Results
The animation has proven to be far more useful at conveying the commencement routes than were the earlier printed maps. The quirkiness of the moving dots, and random elements such as fish jumping in the museum lagoon, also help to keep event staffers alert and entertained during the meetings at which it is presented—they tend to giggle. In 2004 the event team shared the animation with fellow members of the North American Association of Commencement Officers where it was well-received when demonstrated as a best-practice.
