Is a commencement deferred a commencement denied? A GSU students thinks so.
Under a new policy, GSU students who graduate in December will have to wait until May for their commencement ceremony. Here is the May, 2010, GSU commencement at the Dome. (Hyosub Shin / hshin@ajc.com)
I received this letter from GSU student Kiana Nicholas, a film/video and journalism/public relations double major. Proving that she has learned something about effective PR, Kiana is taking her disagreement with Georgia State University to the public square. (She is president of the Public Relations Student Society of America. )
Her issue: She will graduate in the fall, and Georgia State has decided against a college-wide commencement ceremony for students graduating mid-year. Instead, fall 2012 graduates will have to wait and walk with spring 2013 grads in a joint ceremony. (Students will still graduate; it is the commencement that is delayed.)
A Georgia State spokeswoman told me this morning that the university’s goal was to raise the profile and fanfare of the spring event. The school is also hamstrung because it has no facility large enough for a commencement crowd so it had been forced to secure massive venues for ceremonies twice a year, not an easy task in downtown Atlanta.
The official statement from GSU is:
The decision to go to one commencement ceremony was given significant consideration. It is our sincere hope that the plan will make our spring commencement an even bigger and more exciting affair. Our commencement office is currently reaching out to students who will be affected by the change and offering them alternative solutions.
Degrees will continue to be conferred three times during an academic year. The academic colleges hold individual convocations prior to the end of a term for their degree candidates, which most students prefer to attend. The college ceremonies are more personalized and intimate, with students celebrating with other students in their academic discipline and with faculty and staff from their college.
As someone who didn’t attend her college or grad school commencements, I am probably in the minority here. I have little enthusiasm for the pomp and circumstance of stadium-size gatherings. This decision would not faze me. But I know that many graduates love the commencement extravaganza and invite dozens of relatives.
Is it fair to ask GSU grads to wait five months since many of them may be elsewhere by then and miss the big event?
Here is Kiana’s letter:
Did you hear that Georgia State University has cancelled its fall commencement ceremonies? This has left thousands of future fall graduates like me without a proper graduation ceremony celebrating his or her four years of success. And how did students find out: a message on the commencement website and a story by WSB-TV.
Students, parents and even alumni cannot believe it and are outraged by the university’s decision and secrecy. According to WSB-TV, university officials refused to comment fully, only saying that the decision was because of the difficulty of scheduling a ceremony around the Falcons football schedule at the dome (and the subsequent $500,000 price tag). But aren’t the fall ceremonies held on Wednesdays?
And isn’t Atlanta filled with alternative, less expensive venues? Even the GSU Sports Arena can hold 3,500 plus in the stands and even more when you count the floor (which I read in an AJC article)!
After four years or more of paying almost $8,000 a semester in tuition, housing, fees and more, students are absolutely entitled to a graduation ceremony and should not be forced to wait five months to walk. Do you know where you will be five months from now?
Students can easily be out-of-state or even the country (just ask the international students). Besides providing a quality education, a commencement ceremony should be at the top of any university’s priority list. Just ask UGA, Georgia Tech and any other Georgia university which offers Fall, Spring and even Summer commencement ceremonies.
With over 33,000 students attending Georgia State University, it is hard to imagine having one commencement. The university says that students can go to the individual college convocation instead. There is no comparison between the two. One is small, not as formal and not as memorable. The other brings together all students, faculty, alumni and university to celebrate years of hard work and accomplishment. All students want is a commencement where the president and university leaders stand on the stage, look at each student in his or her cap and gown, and say “thank you” and “congratulations for all your hard work and success.”
This is especially true for Fall 2012 graduates. When we entered school in 2008-09, it was right before the economic downturn and the recession that rocked this nation to its core. Throughout the years, fall 2012 graduates saw parents lose their jobs, tuition and fees increase and fewer courses offered. We even saw friends drop out left and right due to the financial hardship.
However, we did not waver. We continued with our education and are less than a year away from earning our degrees. Instead of looking forward to receiving our diplomas and celebrating our accomplishments, our university informs us that we will not have a commencement; that the university will not bring all graduates together and recognize our achievements.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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117 comments Add your comment
Fred
January 27th, 2012
10:55 pm
I dunno about all that, but I DO know thta this is a perfect opportunity to post the best commencement speech ever given:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Wcr82UOsw&feature=autoplay&list=PLBB81E4F9BCD5B0E7&playnext=1
Is a commencement deferred a commencement denied? A GSU students thinks so. – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Columbia Christian Radio
January 28th, 2012
1:09 am
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Lee
January 28th, 2012
6:19 am
I’ve been to small college commencements where they still call out the individual graduates name and I’ve been to large universities such as UGA where they have several thousand graduates and the students of such and such school stand en masse.
I always thought the large school graduations were a waste of time. I mean, unless you carry a good pair of binoculars, you probably cannot even pick out your graduate from the crowd.
Mom3boys
January 28th, 2012
8:34 am
My oldest son recently graduated from UGA (Dec). The ceremony was inside the basketball colliseum. I am so gald for the smaller crowd; it was very enjoyable and easy for the grandparents to get around…not nearly as much walking at “one big event” would have been. Since many people come to our GA schools from out of state, this is a really bad idea.
MrLiberty
January 28th, 2012
9:36 am
It is truly a sad state of affairs in this country when a college graduate puts more emphasis on the “ceremony” than on her graduation and the education she received. What a disgusting display of selfishness.
She made the decision (no doubt a wise one) to do what was necessary to finish her schooling early. That saved her significant monies I am sure and has given her a jump on her fellow students in applying for a dwindling supply of jobs. That she cannot fathom the rationale for reducing expenses to the college by eliminating what I understand to be a multi-million dollar expense is just another sign of the entitlement mentality that so many decades of government intervention into the economy have engendered among the citizens. If commencement is that important to her, let her drag her likely unemployed ass back in the Spring to join with her fellow classmates.
It is stuff like this, kids like this, and media coverage of things like this that make many question how america will ever have a sound economic future.
Sarah
January 28th, 2012
10:53 am
I graduated last August with my Masters from GSU. I had never attended a commencement ceremony before (Associate or Bachelors degrees) and was looking forward to mine. However, they cancelled the summer commencement begining the year prior to my graduation. I decided not to attend the December graduation. I saved my money and time. I understand the school wishing to save money this way. I also understand students’ displeasure of the cancelling of the December commencement. And now, August graduates will have to wait until May to walk? When I think of it that way, it is unfortunate – but not the worst thing that will ever happen to these students. This is the only class that will probably put up a fuss, and next year it will just be considered as the way it is.
Prof
January 28th, 2012
12:33 pm
I imagine that Kiana Nichols has just received some valuable post-graduate Public Relations experience if she has been reading this blog.
PR may be defined as “the practice of managing communication between an organization and its publics.” The “organization” here seems to be Ms. Nichols and other present GSU students who won’t be able to experience a midyear graduation ceremony. The “publics” include other GSU students, those who have gone through such ceremonies, and taxpayers. When the organization leaves out key factors in its “spin”–here, the high costs of such graduation ceremonies during a recession– its public relations are NOT going to be very persuasive.
Also, be objective about the likely opposition to your “spin,” Ms. Nicholas, and beware of the “straw man” fallacy.
“All students want is a commencement where the president and university leaders stand on the stage, look at each student in his or her cap and gown, and say ‘thank you’ and ‘congratulations for all your hard work and success.’ ”
You wouldn’t get this, even with a midyear commencement, as many here have commented.
Sk8ing Momma
January 29th, 2012
9:02 am
I’m old school. Commencements happen in May/June. IMO, graduating in the summer or fall just don’t “feel” right. It would be like celebrating Christmas in June.
IMO, it is reasonable for a college/university to hold one commencement ceremony per school year. Traditionally, students complete their studies in May/June. Graduates need to plan accordingly. If one wants to participate, good. If not, so be it. Life really does go on!
Panther turned Owl
January 29th, 2012
10:46 am
I remember the Sports Arena graduation days and how many of my fellow upperclassmen hated it (only 4 attendees). I was there when the change was made to eliminate summer school graduations. I was planning to graduate in Summer 2007 and I was pissed initially as I wanted to have a summer graduation. This was 2006 and the announcement was made to have to ceremonies in the Ga. Dome for Spring and Fall 2007. Of course, December 2006 graduates were none to pleased as many of them opted to wait until Spring 2007 where you can bring as many people as you wanted. This was something the SGAs over the years fought long and hard for. I There was a short lived proposal to have the summer graduation in the suburbs such as the GICC or Gwinnett Arena but that plan was scrapped.
While I ultimately transferred out of GSU to Kennesaw State as I had some personal challenges to happen to me that postponed my education, I saw no dig deal from it. The Andrew Young School told us that we would have a private celebration where our names would be called and we can bring as many as we wanted. The other colleges offered similar things. Trust me, you don’t want to live through the horror of what previous GSU students did having Sports Arena graduations.
ajset
January 29th, 2012
10:57 am
what is even more amazing is that either of her two majors are majors at all. shouldnt these be trade school programs?
Sam in GA
January 29th, 2012
10:58 am
I support GSU’s policy decision on this one. It is no big deal to wait for the graduation ceremony in the spring as long as the degree is conferred once the course work is done in the fall. Good idea.
JSS
January 29th, 2012
11:42 am
I’m still to busy laughing at the person calling out the young lady for using “waver” properly!
Most of you are highly misinformed on the process of mid-year graduation ceremonies. Because GA and most Southeastern colleges and universities were on the old quarter system, they did not have mid year graduations. Once they joined the rest of the world in the Semester system, more graduates qualified for the mid year graduation.
Many of you are not realistic, as the young lady pointed out, the Great Recession delayed many students from graduating with their original class. It is time for highly paid administrators to earn their keep. On a personal note, if I had been forced to wait for the graduation ceremony the following year (Spring 1988) instead of graduating in December 1987, my Godmother who helped to raise me from age 2 weeks old would have missed my ceremony. She died a 3 months following my walk down the aisle. Some things are bigger than you alone…
Maureen Downey
January 29th, 2012
11:45 am
@Jss, FYI:
I fixed waiver/waver — I try and fix all misspellings in entries by other authors simply because I don’t want the issue lost in complaints about spelling.
Maureen
PantherGrad
January 29th, 2012
1:30 pm
Blah Blah… I was graduated from GSU in the 90’s and didn’t walk. I understand that for most kids this is an emotional event, but if they bothered to support the football and basketball teams, bringing their friends and families maybe GSU could afford to rent the dome every quarter for commencement. GO TO THE GAMES!!!! GET INVOLVED!!! 100,000 GSU grads in ATLANTA and we can’t average more than 15k for football games. We can’t get 3,500 to support basketball. Get your priorities straight people. This is what’s wrong with this country we have become whiners. Hang your degree on the wall, get back to your shift at Walmart and GO TO THE GAMES!!!
Entitlement Society
January 30th, 2012
2:23 pm
Thank goodness, Ms. Nicholas has graduated before we had to hear her whine about the cut in HOPE. Once again, we have students thinking they are entitled to things. Ugh. Whine, whine, whine. Get over it. Has she not read the news that the entire state’s education system is in serious condition? Cuts are being made left and right and she’s complaining about a few hours packed in the Dome to have 30 seconds in the spotlight? Get over yourself, Ms. Nicholas. You got your diploma. Good job. Now get on with your life, get a job, stop whining and become a productive member of society. Good grief.
seo
January 31st, 2012
1:32 pm
My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on numerous websites for about a year and am nervous about switching to another platform. I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
KaTrina Harrison
February 1st, 2012
10:36 am
I think that the point of the article is being misinterpreted here. As a current GSU student who was hoping to graduate in the fall, this is a major let down. We are not against the school trying to save money, but no one is forcing them to have it at the dome. And quite frankly, GSU has plenty of funds considering all of the fees students pay and reap no benefit from. It would be one thing if we were made aware awhile ago rather than finding out by watching the news or even reading the school’s newspaper. GSU did not even release a public statement until after the story ran in the school’s paper and then they even did that poorly. For one to say that the ceremony shouldn’t matter is rather a profound “opinion”. When you work hard, you should be able to celebrate. Especially when one is paying to go to school.