Chapter 24: Pomp and Circumstance

As he finished signing the last certificate, Bob knocked on the door and walked in when Dan looked up, saw him looking at him through the window’s open blinds, and waived for him to enter. “This is terrific Dan,” he said, putting the file on his desk. “I made some suggestions as to employment opportunities and trends that you’re free to use or discard as you see fit, but its excellent as written. I couldn’t even find any typos or errors in grammar or usage.”

“That’s thanks to Katie,” Dan said. “I’m not the best editor of my own work, and she had to guess at half of my chicken scratches--but she is flawless.”

“Well, you two make a great team,” Bob said, chortling, which made Dan smile and brought color to Katie’s cheeks.

“I appreciate your suggestions and will incorporate them, along with any other relevant information my research turns up tomorrow.”

“I’m not the most optimistic person around, but I’m starting to think you could actually pull this off.”

“Let’s not count our chickens, Bob. But I appreciate the positive feedback and support. We’ll see how Monday goes and take it from there.”

“I’ll see you at the graduation later.” Bob said, turning to leave.

“You’ll be there too?” Dan asked.

“Of course—I’m the designated photographer. Plus, I get to play Pomp and Circumstance on my kazoo,” Bob chortled as he walked out the door and closed it behind him.

“He’s kidding, right?” Dan asked, turning to Katie.

“About the kazoo, yes. About the photography, no.”

“That’s a relief,” Dan said smiling and shaking his head.

“There will be Pomp and Circumstance on a record player, though” Katie added, “And you and Mr. Lantz will give out the diplomas, shake each student’s hand and stand next to them as Bob takes their picture to post on the reception area with the class banner.”

“Who calls out the student’s names? I don’t know any of them and I’m lousy with names even if I did know them.”

“Mr. Lantz will call the names from a list and you will give the students their certificate when they come up and both of you will stand with the student in front of a large PEMTI banner for the photo. Don’t worry, the names and certificates will be in alphabetical order. Parents and other friends and family will be present for some students too, and they will all be dressed up. Then there will be cake and punch and a quick mixer with everyone.”

“Where is it held?” Dan asked.

“Room 4010—the largest classroom that holds up to 80 people. There’s never that many, so no worries. Each student can invite two guests, but mostly it’s a mom and/or dad or significant other. Sometimes kids, too.”

“And we do this for every certificate program?” Dan asked.

“Yep. Every few weeks on average we have a graduation of some kind—same routine always.”

“I should take the certificates to Mr. Lantz since you’re done,” Katie added.

“No, I’ll do it. I want to talk to him about Monday and show him a copy of the proposal with the comments Bob made. I want to get his opinion on it. Frankly, I just want to get him excited about it going out on Monday. I need him in his most supportive mood for the computer exchange meeting in case the corporate guy they send puts up roadblocks.”

“My, my,” Katie said, shaking her head and clucking her tongue. “Such a Machiavellian core beneath the soft, gentile facade. Do your mom and girlfriend know this side of you?”

Dan laughed, “Hey I’m a lawyer, what did you expect? As to mom, I could sprout horns and a tail and breathe fire and brimstone and she would see only her little angel. My girlfriend, on the other hand, is probably waiting for the horns, tail, fire and brimstone to show up any day now so she can shout “I knew it!”

“Girlfriends usually know best. But you’re an easy one to read, and my money’s on mom’s interpretation,” Katie said, cocking her head to the side and giving him an impish smile that for some reason made him blush. He was doing that much too often these days around her and had no idea why. He carefully grabbed the certificates and walked out saying only “I’ll be back soon” as Katie returned to her work, still sporting that impish smile.

Dan got to Marvin’s office and knocked on the half-open door. Marvin looked up from whatever he was working on at his desk and waved him in jovially, “Come on in Dan, come in.”

“Hi Marvin. Katie told me you asked her to bring you these as soon as I signed them, but I wanted to see you anyway so decided to walk them over myself,” Dan said, putting the certificates gently on Marvin’s desk and sitting on the chair across from him.

“Glad you did. Want some coffee? I just made some”

“Absolutely, thanks.” Dan smelled the fresh coffee—a dark roast with a hint of caramel today—and realized he badly needed a caffeine jolt about now.

Marvin served himself and Dan a cup and gave Dan his black, as he usually took it, putting a bit of milk in his own cup.

“Thanks, Marvin. It smells delicious, as usual. I wanted to talk to you about my SED proposal. I have a draft here that I will change as needed based on my research tomorrow. Bob was kind enough to volunteer to review it and provided some useful additional information for me to add. I’d appreciate it if you can scan through it as I’ll have a final draft ready to go on Monday and would really like it to be submitted then, if it meets with your approval.” He then handed the file folder to Marvin and took an appreciative sip of the delicious coffee as the other took out the proposal and began to read it.

By the time Dan was finished with the last of his coffee, Marvin finally looked up from his reading and said, “This is really impressive work, Dan. I can’t believe you put it together in just a few days. It took many months for the last two successful proposals I gave you—And the same for several more unsuccessful ones I did not share with you as I did not want you to be discouraged from pursuing this further. It’s really, really impressive—especially given that this is your first week with us and that you’ve never prepared a new program proposal before.”

“I’m very happy to hear that, Marvin. Any issues or need for changes from your perspective?”

“None. Bob’s comments are right on point, though, and I suggest you incorporate them, though your research tomorrow may independently lead you to some of the same information he provides. I think State Ed will be impressed with your rationale of the need for this new program and the employment data will be the icing on the cake. Your syllabi are very detailed, and the learning objectives are a nice touch. I’d send it out as written, frankly, even without the additional placement and jobs outlook information.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m new at this, so your perspective and Bob’s are really helpful in making me feel I’m on the right track. Let’s see how Monday goes with the PC guy and hopefully we can take it from there. By the way, I contacted the publisher that supplies the Apple keyboarding book and software, and they have a PC version and book that costs exactly the same as the Apple—so a new lab would not pose any additional issues or cost as to the current use or affect the curriculum of the programs that use the keyboarding book and software. I used the desk copies I got from the relevant publishers for the required books noted in the syllabus and independently tested all of the free student versions of the software that accompany the self-paced books. Both the books and software are really excellent, taking the students step by step into learning how to use the main features of each programs.

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“That’s great, Dan. You previously told me the price of the books is about $40 each, and that is certainly not an issue.”

“So, I can count on your strong support for the program and the lab?”

“Absolutely—as long as the computer sample checks out and the net cost is zero. I’ll go to bat with the Melameds as to its needed.”

“Great, Marvin. Thank you. And, by the way, thank you for assigning Katie to me. You should know that I could not have done this and prepared the new schedule for my faculty for Monday’s new COS class, along with all my other duties without her help. The new program would have had to wait at a minimum several more weeks as she is much faster and accurate at typing and data entry than I am, and also much more organized. She took a great burden from my shoulders and is worth her weight in gold. She’s put in a couple of extra hours this week but did not want to get paid. I do want her to get paid, though, which is something else I wanted to ask you. Will you allow her two extra hours if I sign off on it?”

“Absolutely. I’m glad to hear she’s working out so well. She’s yours for as long as you’re happy with her—and I can approve more hours for her when you need her. Not a problem.”

“Thanks, Marvin. I’m grateful for that. I’ll make a notation on her timesheet when I review and approve them—something I need to do before you leave today. By the way, when do I turn these in to you? Some faculty are in until 9:00 p.m. but I assume you want the timesheets today?”

“Yes, you can do them any time after 3:00 p.m. every Friday and give them to me by 5:00 p.m. Anyone who signs out after that I’ll verify next week when those timesheets are turned in. Most faculty will be done by 3:00 p.m., so that’s a good time to do them.”

“Sounds good, Marvin. I’ll go do it right now as its just past 3:00 p.m. and I’ll get them to you before 4:00 p.m. when we have the graduation ceremony.

“Sounds good Dan. I’ll see you then.”

Dan got up to leave and, as he was walking to the door, Marvin called out to him. “Dan, you need to know that what you’ve accomplished your first week is truly remarkable. I’m really impressed.”

“Just doing my job, boss. And I did not do it alone. Katie and Bob have been a great help. And I also very much appreciate your support.” With that, he turned around again and headed out the door. “And thanks for the delicious coffee,” he added without turning around, waving to Marvin as he walked out the door. He then headed straight to the conference room and began to verify the timesheets for the week. There were several instances of faculty punching in or out several minutes early but no major discrepancies. He made notations as to the irregularities for himself, intending to speak to the individuals involved during their upcoming evaluations, but did not dock anyone as none were more than five minutes early or late. When he got to Katie’s card, he calculated her overtime as one hour and fifty five minutes and, circling the days she worked late on her timesheet, noted “Two hours of overtime approved” with his signature. He then took the timecards to Marvin’s office.

“That was fast,” Marvin said before he could knock on the still half-open door.

“I thought you might want to review these before the graduation ceremony in case you want me to put them back so the night faculty can punch out.

“No need—I’ll review and put them back myself before I leave which will be not much after the ceremony ends—usually takes about an hour. I’ll put them back long before the folks working nights punch out. Thanks for getting them to me early, though.”

“You bet. I’ll go back to the office and will meet you in room 4010. When should I get there?

“About ten or fifteen minutes before if you can, just so we can greet early arrivals.”

“Sounds good. See you in about fifteen minutes, then.” With that, Dan left and headed to his office after doing another quick round of the classrooms. He got there at about a quarter to four, looked at his watch and knew he had to leave immediately for the graduation ceremony. He stuck his head in the office and said, “Katie, I have to head out to the graduation ceremony but wanted to tell you not to worry about punching out. I’ll tell Marvin you’re leaving at five today as I gave him the timecards already. Have a great weekend.”

“You too,” she replied. “But hold on. Come here a minute.” He did as he was asked, and she gently pulled up his tie and straightened it. She then combed the front of his hair with the fingers of her right hand. “Much better. Gotta look good for the photos, she grinned.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“It’s been a fun week,” she said.

“And a very productive one thanks in great part to you. See you Monday.” With that, he closed the door and rushed to the meeting room for his first graduation ceremony.

When he got to Room 4010, Marvin was already there, and Mr. Chang was setting up a large sheet of cake with “Congratulations COS Class of 1987” written on it in golden piping. Paper plates were piled on a table to the left of a lectern along with a very large glass punch bowl full of plum-colored punch with a ladle inside it and clear plastic cups next to it that Mr. Chang was slowly filling with punch. Plastic forks and napkins were next to the cake, along with a cake cutter and server.

A group of graduates and guests began arriving around the same time as Dan and were greeted by Marvin who congratulated them and asked them to take a seat. “The ceremony will begin shortly, and we will have celebratory cake and punch afterward,” he announced to everyone he greeted. By five minutes of six, the room was more than ¾ full with 20 graduates and their guests sitting in rows of folding chairs. Dan greeted the newcomers, along with Marvin, and chatted briefly with them. He noticed that almost all students and their families were formally attired—men wore suits or ties and jackets and women business suits or dresses—some in evening gowns that seemed touchingly incongruous. Dan took it all in during quiet moments, realizing how important the occasion was for most of these students and their families, some of whom-- perhaps many of whom--were the first in their family to graduate from a professional school that was a source of pride for them. This day and the large certificate they were about to receive told them they had made something of themselves and might soon find meaningful work and successful careers.

He was moved by this—even more so than from his own undergraduate and graduate graduations. And it became even more important for him in that moment to ensure that their certificates meant something in reality, not just on paper. Dan’s vision blurred with unshed tears, and he felt in a much more personal way the responsibility that he had undertaken, its weight very palpable on his shoulders. He may be the dean of a proprietary, for-profit business school whose mission was simply to make money. But he personally was in the business of changing lives for the better. That was his own very personal vision and mission statement.

“Welcome everyone,” he heard Marvin say, shaking him out of his reverie. “Today is a special and happy day for all of our graduates and their families. You have worked hard, you have studied, you have sacrificed and today you get your just reward: a beautiful certificate you can proudly frame and hang in your homes or offices that shows you have achieved competence in a variety of business areas that employers will find useful and that will serve you well from this day forward. We are very proud of you and welcome you to the role of proud graduates of PEMTI. When I call your name, please come up and take your certificate handed to you by Dean Daniel Amor, and then stand by us as we take your photo. We will send you a complimentary copy of an 8” by 10” photo home within ten days and will also post a snapshot by our reception area of each of you to inspire all of our students in honor of your graduation. So, without further delay, let’s begin this happy occasion.”

As soon as Marvin was finished speaking, Mr. Chang cued up a record in a portable record player and Pomp and Circumstance began to play as Marvin began reading the names of each student, each of whom walked up with a broad smile on her or his face and cheers and applause from their family and the families of the other graduates. Each had a picture taken by Bob with a 35mm camera after shaking hands with Dan and with Marvin and receiving their congratulations. Each was asked to hold their impressive certificates in front of them for the photograph. About twenty minutes later, all had their certificates, the record player was silenced, and Marvin invited everyone to come up and get some cake and punch, which Mr. Chang had been busily cutting and serving during the ceremony, careful to leave the gold-piping in the center part of the cake intact so all could read the message of the large sheet of cake when they came to take their plates and pick up their glasses of punch. Dan and Marvin also picked up some cake and punch once all others had been served, and they cordially chatted with the graduates and their families. Dan noticed that the cake was actually excellent—not the Pathmark sheet cake that he had expected. And so was the punch—made from a variety of fruit juices, he guessed, but really delicious—not some insipid powdery drink mix or fruit drink with 10 percent fruit juice and 90 percent water, artificial flavors, and enough corn syrup to give hummingbirds diabetes. He was impressed, even though he immediately recognized that, like the ostentatious certificates, this was part of the facade. “I am in the business of changing lives for the better,” he mentally repeated to himself, facade or no facade, he had a mission he intended to fulfill. Although he could not know it yet, he would remain true to this personal mission and vision throughout a long, productive and intensely satisfying career in higher education in each of his many future titles and roles at every institution he would be privileged to serve.

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