SJVC Temecula Holds its First Virtual Graduation

On December 11, 2020, SJVC Temecula held its first virtual graduation. Students who completed their course of study between January and October 2020 attended a ceremony to virtually receive their degrees—68 graduates in total.

Behind the scenes, a graduation committee was formed by Tammy Earnhardt, Southern Region Academic Coach. They met to plan the ceremony, work out technical logistics, and to practice.

“From initial planning to the event, it took us about six weeks,” says Tammy.

Students submitted a commencement photo of themselves in a cap and tassel (each picked up their cap and tassel from campus).

“Tammy did a great job getting everything together,” says Kevin Caldwell, Campus President. “They had lots of practice runs prior to actual live graduation—a link was sent to all graduates to share with anyone who might want to attend.”

The virtual format allowed graduates to invite friends and family from anywhere.

“We had several graduates who had relocated out of state but who were still able to participate,” Tammy explains. “We mailed them their cap and tassel.”

Participants were met with pomp and circumstance as they joined the online graduation. When it went live, they were greeted by the Criminal Justice: Corrections Program Director, and a video of the color guard ceremony pledge of allegiance.

The Dean of Student Services spoke, along with the guest speaker, Regional Vice President of Operations, Robyn Whiles. Awards (the Lambda Beta Award for the Respiratory Therapy program and the Founder’s Award) were presented.

A special feature was a slide show with music, and videos of students thanking faculty and family.

“The slide show was moving!” says Tammy. “It was so cool to see our graduates excelling in their respective fields of study.”

The Academic Dean then announced the salutatorians; the valedictorian, Patrick Lambert, gave an excellent speech.

A video played of faculty offering congratulations and words of encouragement to the graduates, and then the graduates were presented: the screen featured the student’s picture, name, program, and any awards. The Dean of Student Services also congratulated them.

“We got some great feedback from students that they loved the videos,” says Kevin. “They said it made them miss their school, classmates, and teachers.”

The staff had great feedback as well.

“The people in admissions were reenergized,” Kevin says. “Graduations are really a big part of why we work so hard and why we do what we do. This one came at a needed time.”