The Office of Student Services Prepares for Another Great Commencement

This spring, SDSU College of Education’s Dr. Lisa McCully, Director of the Office of Student Services, and Jackie Fuller, Recruitment, Advising, and Commencement Coordinator, traveled to Atlanta, GA to attend the annual North American Association of Commencement Officers (NAACO) conference.

NAACO serves as a peer community of commencement planners from campuses across the nation. The conference allowed McCully and Fuller to meet many of their counterparts and share ideas and solutions to some of the common issues encountered each year while organizing the ceremony. “We are dedicated to making every student’s graduation a memorable and enjoyable experience and in doing so pride ourselves in continually improving the commencement experience,” stated McCully.

Fuller went on to say, “it was so great to have the opportunity to meet with other professionals who plan university commencement ceremonies. Hearing the graduation-planning successes and challenges from other schools helps us plan an even better ceremony for our SDSU students."

In addition to learning about ways to improve the COE ceremony, Jackie and Lisa took part in NAACO’s charitable contribution program: They traveled to the Georgia Institute of Technology to see its commencement venue and assemble furniture. Working in teams, the NAACO attendees assembled over 75 IKEA dressers, which were then donated to the Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta. The Furniture Bank provides furniture to individuals and families who are moving out of homelessness and fleeing domestic violence environments.

Fuller added that "not only was it fun to work with our peers, but it was so great to know that NAACO actively implements these types of charitable activities into their conference. It feels good to be a member of an organization that cares about our communities."

Jackie and Lisa are looking forward to celebrating both Mother’s Day and all of our graduates at this year’s ceremony on Sunday, May 13, 2018. More information about 2018 commencement is available at the SDSU Commencement home page.

Their attendance at NAACO was made possible through a generous allocation of professional development funds from Provost Enwemeka’s office earmarked specifically for SDSU staff members.


Read more about the Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta.

Get more information about this year’s commencement ceremony.