Printer FriendlyAcademic Procession
Virtually all aspects of academic ceremony have evolved over the centuries and are now fixed by traditional practice. These include, among others, the types of costume worn by degree recipients, the practice of identifying academic and professional faculties by special colors, and the nomenclature in use by American universities to designate the three levels of academic degrees.
Although the protocols of today's commencement procession reflect our own institutional history and organization in matters of detail, in their essentials they remain faithful to those academic customs which evolved among European universities since the middle ages. Graduating students precede the faculty, who are followed by the trustees, the chancellor, and the president; candidates for degrees process by college and degree level, the final places in the academic procession being reserved for degree candidates of the faculties of arts and sciences. College affiliations of degree candidates in our academic procession can be distinguished by the college banners, the colors of which are as follows: drab brown--College of Management; green--College of Health Professions; pink--College of Fine Arts; light blue--College of Education; orange--College of Engineering; and white--College of Arts and Sciences.
Faculty members are led by the faculty marshal bearing the university mace and process by college (arts and science faculties last) and rank (full professors last). Upon arriving at the place for conferring degrees, the faculty marshal places the mace in a conspicuous location where it remains throughout the commencement ceremony. Since the mace is a symbol of university authority, it bears the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, from which authority the University derives its right to confer degrees. The chancellor's party is led by the sheriff of Middlesex County (our oldest law enforcement officer). Then, in order of seniority, follow the college deans, vice chancellors, trustees, political representatives, and distinguished guests. The chancellor and president, who are the institutional embodiments of the faculties and the various authorities who have preceded them, occupy the last position in the procession.
History of Academic Degrees
The nomenclature in use by American universities to designate the three traditional levels of academic degrees (bachelor, master, and doctor) originated during the middle ages. By the middle of the twelfth century, the terms "bachelor," "master," and "doctor" had been introduced at the University of Paris, the "mother" of English, American and northern European universities, and by the thirteenth century, these terms were in common use throughout Europe.
The term "bachelor" derived from the Latin for "cowherder" (surviving with its original denotation in the Spanish word "vaquero") and denoted an unschooled individual who had no specific occupation and few prospects for gainful employment. By the thirteenth century, it was used to designate any student who had yet to complete his basic studies in the seven liberal arts. Upon completion of the liberal arts curriculum, the bachelor was permitted to begin his studies in philosophy, the successful completion of which resulted in the award of the degree of Master of Arts and a teaching license or "licentiate." Such a licensed individual was called a "magister" or master teacher.
The term "doctor" meant "teacher." Initially, it was an honorary title which medieval faculties employed to designate distinguished colleagues. As other than an honorary designation, the term "doctor" was first used by the University of Paris to designate masters who had completed a prescribed course of study in theology (then called the "Queen of the Sciences") and who had proven their intellectual and teaching skills by publicly defending a thesis before the theology faculty. Except in England, where the doctorate retained its honorary character until the nineteenth century, European universities generally adopted the doctorate as the highest form of earned degree in the arts and law, as well as in theology. Because early American universities followed the English practice, the doctorate was not awarded in America as an earned degree until recent times. The last vestige of the English practice in America was the nomenclature employed for law degrees. Only within the last few years have American law schools awarded the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence rather than the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
The Doctor of Philosophy terminology for the highest earned degree in liberal arts originated in Germany where the faculty of arts was designated as the faculty of philosophy. This terminology was not used in America until Yale University awarded the first Ph.D. degree in 1861. Although the Doctor of Philosophy degree is now the most widely granted doctorate in the arts and sciences in America, it has been granted as an earned degree in our country for less than 130 years.
In 1865, the University of Durham (England) granted the first associate degree (Associate of Physical Sciences) as a baccalaureate equivalency to graduates of a new non-traditional program in science. From 1910 to 1929, Harvard University also granted the associate degree as a baccalaureate equivalency to "nonresident students who have attended the class exercises...and passed the examinations in the University Extension Courses (including summer courses) equal in number and standard to the courses required of a resident student for the degree of Bachelor of Arts." The first institution to award the associate degree for less than equivalent baccalaureate studies was the University of Chicago, which granted the Associate in Arts degree (in the liberal arts) and the Associate in Science degree (in science and practical arts) to graduates of its newly established junior college in 1900. Since Harvard discontinued the practice of awarding the associate degree as a baccalaureate equivalency, American practice has been to award the associate degree for completion of two-year undergraduate programs only. At the present time, the associate degree is widely granted by both two and four year institutions. By a margin of ten to one, however, it is most commonly granted by community and junior colleges.
In recognition of the need of professional educators for an advanced graduate degree below the doctoral level, several American institutions have created a second-level graduate degree. In 1950, the University of Kansas initiated the Specialist in Education degree, to designate completion of a year of graduate study beyond the master's level. Although, widely awarded throughout the South and West, this degree has yet to become popular among New England institutions, the terminology "certificate of advanced graduate study" being the preferred nomenclature in this geographical area. Following the conservative New England practice, the University of Massachusetts Lowell awards the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study.
The various accomplishments which have been traditionally recognized by the granting of degrees are identified at the time of conferral as the purpose for making an award. An earned degree ("in cursu") is granted as an affirmation that an individual has completed a prescribed course of study. An honorary degree ("honoris causa") is granted in recognition of an individual's personal contributions to society. An "ad eundem" degree, rarely awarded except by institutions with long and distinguished histories, confers alumni status upon an individual, usually a faculty member, by reconferring a degree which was earned at another institution. Although the "ad eundem" degree is customarily awarded at the master's level only (in recognition of the early English practice of conferring the master of arts as the terminal teaching degree), custom does not dictate the use of discrete terminology for "in cursu" and "ad eundem" degrees. However, the American code strongly discourages the use of earned degree terminology for honorary degrees and recommends that institutions award only one type of honorary degree, the Doctor of Humane Letters. At today's ceremonies, the University of Massachusetts Lowell complies with this recommendation.