USU December Commencement is coming
Utah State University will hold a December Commencement this year allowing December graduates the opportunity to participate in graduation ceremonies right after graduating.
Assistant Provost Sydney Peterson said the commencement ceremonies will be held Dec. 18, 2004, for approximately 2,000 graduates. Peterson said she has heard expression of interest in a December Commencement from students for several years.
“It’s the right thing to do for the students,” Peterson said. “We can do it, so we should do it.”
Students who have graduated in December in the past have been invited to participate in graduation ceremonies in May. Many of these students, however particularly graduate and foreign students, are not able to return in the spring, Peterson said.
“Students with enough credits to graduate in December wait clear until May to participate in a commencement ceremony,” Peterson said. “So, if we hold one in December the probability that recent graduates will still be in the area to participate is high, and the formal celebration is greatly increased.”
Tagg Archibald, Associated Students of Utah State University executive vice president, said the resolution to hold December Commencement was written up by the 2003-04 ASUSU council and was recommended by many students. Archibald said with all the money, time and effort that students put into school, they should be able to celebrate their graduation. “Walking the line is kind of like the crowning event in the college experience,” Archibald said.
Archibald said he will be graduating in December 2005 and will definitely walk. He said he believes it is important for other fall graduates to be able to do the same.
Other Utah institutions of higher education have December Commencements, Peterson said. Weber State University held their first December Commencement ceremony a few years ago and has now made it a tradition.
“They liked it so much, they’ve never gone back,” Peterson said, speaking of Weber State’s December Commencement, “because it’s the best thing for the students.”
Melissa Anne Killian, a senior majoring in biology, and graduating in December, is planning on participating in the ceremony. Killian said she would still graduate in December even if there wasn’t going to be any ceremony. Killian said she likes the idea of having the new December Commencement and said her parents are coming from Duchesne to watch her walk.
“I think it’s nice because sometimes people start programs half-way through the year so they end in the fall,” Killian said. “It’s good for them to be able to have the option to walk.”
The decision to have a December Commencement in 2004 was determined this summer, but the idea to hold these ceremonies had been discussed for several years, Peterson said. Initially the recommendation was made for graduation ceremonies in December 2005, but Peterson said there is no reason to wait until then to hold December Commencement.
The potential graduates for December 2004 are composed of students who have applied for graduation, students who have met graduation requirements but have not applied because they were unaware of the December Commencement and students that completed school last summer.
Diplomas will not be handed out this December, Peterson said. Instead, personalized certificates of commencement will be given to each graduate at the ceremonies. The diplomas will be given to the graduates when they are closed out or have been reviewed and found to have met the requirements of their graduation contracts.
Peterson said USU will wait to make a decision on handing out diplomas for future December Commencements until after they see how this year’s ceremony goes.
In December, there will be neither honorary degrees nor faculty awards but there will be a speaker and valedictorians, Peterson said. There has been some concern that the December Commencement will detract from Commencement ceremonies in May, she said.
While the December ceremonies will not look just like those in the spring, the spring ceremonies will remain pretty much the same, Peterson said.
“Our main focus is the students,” Peterson said, “so we will look at ways to personalize the ceremony for the students.
-meganroe@cc.usu.edu