Brian Posler, executive vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college of arts and sciences, University President Pat Long and Student Senate President Katie Thurbon will all speak Tuesday at the 2012 Baker University Convocation.

Convocation will begin at 11 a.m. with a procession of the faculty in full regalia. The march will be longer than usual, as it will go behind Owens Hall and then come back to end in Rice Auditorium.

“What we’re hoping is that we’ll have some students on the sidewalk, like we always line the sidewalk as they go in for graduation,” Long said. “So we’ve been working with Katie and (Dean of Students Cassy) Bailey with some other student groups to see if we can get some students to line up because I think that would be a nice tradition to start.”

After the procession, University Minister Ira DeSpain will give the invocation before Posler begins to speak. Once Posler finishes with his remarks, the first of two videos will play.

“We have a couple of videos this year and we’ve never done that before,” Long said. “One is a traditions video and that helps the new people, the new students and new faculty, to see a little bit about, ‘what is Baker?’ We’re four schools and just a little bit about our history. The second one is about highlights from last year.”

Thurbon will follow the traditions video and speak on behalf of student senate and then Long will give the State of the University address.

The theme of Long’s address is entitled “Baker 2020 and New Beginnings,” and will touch on plans for the university for the next eight years.

“If we can do some of the things that we need to do to get more of a national exposure or regional exposure, it will increase our enrollments and it will increase our giving,” Long said. “It will increase our ability to go out for grants, so all of those things. The second goal we’ll be talking about enrollment; we must grow. Third will be about finances and fourth will be about our students and what we want to see for our students.”

Following the State of the University address, the highlights video will be played. Convocation will conclude with a performance from a brass quartet, the singing of the Alma Mater and the benediction from DeSpain.

Lunch and dessert will be offered in Harter Union shortly after convocation concludes.