#BearGrads, #BearGrads everywhere

Congratulations! Over 2,000 graduates will earn degrees this month, and your program or unit undoubtedly has something to do with that. Before your graduates embark on new adventures, consider capturing their thoughts on your blog. A few questions you might ask your grads:

• When you look back at this period of your life, what’s the biggest thing you’ve accomplished? What makes you proud?
• What will you miss about Missouri State?
• What surprised you about your time here?
• What did you discover about yourself? Any passion or interest that you’d never thought about before?
• What are you most looking forward to now? When you look ahead at the next five years, what’s your dream?

And when sharing Commencement experiences on your social media platforms, remember to include the hashtag #BearGrads so that your thoughts can become part of a larger conversation.

Commencement resources

Commencement takes place on May 16. The following resources are available to help you keep your readers informed.

• The Commencement website includes information for graduates, guests, faculty and staff.
• The social media kit provides easy tips and sample tweets for sharing the Commencement experience online.
• Live streaming makes it possible for graduates’ faraway friends and relations to view the ceremonies.
• Missouri State offers plenty of resources for the next chapter of grads’ lives, including the Career Center, the Alumni Association and advanced degree options through the Graduate College.

Study abroad

Missouri State’s Study Away Programs can be transformative. Engagement with other cultures enhances and deepens the education our students receive. Some ideas for talking about this on your blog:

• Use your blog to let students know about available programs. 
• Encourage students who are studying abroad this summer to send you photos and brief anecdotes of their travels. Share them on your blog. (And remind them to pack some BearWear!)
• If you’re personally traveling over the summer, keep an eye out for experiences that might make good blog posts. Talking about how your travels influence your work or research is a great way to communicate the value of lifelong learning.

Blogging tip: Scheduling posts

Make blogging even easier by writing posts whenever you have time and scheduling them to publish at a later date. It’s easy, and here’s how you do it:

In the Publish box of the WordPress interface, click Edit to the right of Publish immediately.

An editable field for date and time will appear. Set it to the date and time you’d like to publish your post. Keep in mind that WordPress functions on a 24-hour clock (a.k.a. “military time”).

Once you click OK, the blue Publish button will become a Schedule button. Click the Schedule button to save your choice. This will set your post to publish at the time you selected.