MarchingOrder recommends using the Graduate Check-In tool at the arrival point/card distribution area so that ceremony administrators can verify that graduates have a valid GradPass or graduate card. Graduates with valid passes/cards can continue to the student line-up area. Anyone without a valid pass/card can be directed to the Help Desk for support.
Using MO’s Graduate Check-in feature, you can also track attendance in real-time and use that data for a variety of useful purposes. Examples:
Confirm honors or veteran status to determine cord eligibility.
Track numbers for logistical purposes e.g., number of seats needed on stage for doctoral graduates.
As input criteria for a graduate slideshow e.g., running a slideshow for graduates that are not in attendance.
When using GradPass, we highly recommend using Graduate Check-In to ensure that graduates have their GradPass printed or loaded onto their mobile phones properly. If the Check-In staff notices an issue, students should be referred to the Help Desk to collect a back-up label or blank card.
MarchingOrder offers two methods to check graduates in: via the MarchingOrder Director software or by scanning via the Ticket Scan App. Each has advantages.
MarchingOrder Director can be run without internet as it runs locally on an extra laptop using a copy of your ceremony display software. Because you can export the data from graduate check-in to the ceremony display laptop, you can run slideshows for graduates that did or did not check in.
To utilize this feature, download the ceremony files to the laptop that will be used for graduate check-in.
NOTE: You will need one QR scanner for Graduate Check-In.
For ceremonies using printed cards, setup Graduate Check-In beyond the card distribution area. For GradPass ceremonies, Check-In can be placed near the student entrance. This arrangement allows graduates to funnel into the line-up area quickly after being helped and scanned for Check-In. The Graduate Help Desk should be placed before the Check-In area to ensure that graduates without a card/pass can get a blank or backup card/label.
The check-in laptop should be placed on a table near where the barcodes will be scanned. MarchingOrder recommends plugging the laptop in to avoid it going to sleep or the battery dying.
As cards are scanned, the tally at the top of the screen will increase, and the software will display information related to the student scanned most recently. Contact MarchingOrder to define your check-in fields prior to processing.
Students will move from the Not Checked In column to the Checked In column.
The bottom of the screen will show a running tally.
After students are scanned, a file called “Check-In Log.txt” will be created in the “Logs” folder, found in the same directory as the MarchingOrder Director program on your desktop. It will have the barcode number, name, and check-in time, along with any other data attached to each record.
You can also export a log from the “Logs” menu on the software home screen.
If you would like a specific information included in your check-in log, reach out to your Client Success Manager.
Graduate Check-In data can be used to generate a slideshow featuring all graduates not in attendance at the event. This is a fantastic way to make sure all graduates are recognized, regardless of their attendance status. Please see the next section for implementation instructions.