Jaclyn Figg
Staff Writer
Spring commencement has always been the traditional approach to honor graduating students, but the lack of a fall commencement is of concern for some students.
Idaho State University conducts a university wide graduation ceremony in May, at the end of spring semester, but does not have one at the end of the fall semester.
“Our bottom line as a University is we want to make sure students are recognized,” said Stuart Summers, director of marketing and recruitment for the College of Technology. “They receive that congratulatory opportunity to stand on the stage and be able to be presented their diploma.”
Though ISU keeps to tradition of having the spring commencement, some students believe it would be beneficial to have a similar commencement at the end of the fall semester.
There are students who graduate after the fall semester and are unable to walk because it is too difficult, or not worth it to come back in the spring to walk with their class.
“Often times students will leave and not be able to come back for the spring commencement so they never really get a commencement,” said Mackenzie Smith, ASISU President.
Earlier this semester, a student brought a complaint to the attention of the ASISU Senate regarding the lack of a winter commencement.
The current policy is each individual college within the university can host their own winter commencement. The College of Technology hosts commencements after both the spring and fall semesters.
“I think at the college level it would be fantastic if more colleges were to say ‘we have a group of students that will be graduating in December, so we want to do a ceremony specifically for them,’” Summers said.
Having a commencement in separate colleges is beneficial as students are typically more involved in their own college and are more familiar with faculty there.
Although these students participate in their college’s graduation ceremony, they are welcomed back in the spring if they would like to participate in the bigger ceremony.
“If that’s something at a college level certain colleges are interested in doing, then I think some of those dialogues and discussions can be happening,” Summers said. “The reason we do it in May at the University level is we want to make it a big presentation.”
Though the College of Technology has a winter commencement ceremony, it isn’t nearly as large and encompassing compared to the graduation ceremony hosted at the university level in May.
Of the estimated 275 College of Technology students graduating this fall, only about 150 to 200 of them will participate in the commencement.
“One of the things about the College of Technology is our students are here for two years or less for their training so it doesn’t really work out to their benefit to wait another extra semester to participate in a commencement exercise or graduation ceremony,” Summers said.
The College of Technology has a more non-traditional program and has more graduating students at the end of each semester than other colleges.
The smaller number of students graduating in other colleges may be the cause of them not participating in winter commencements.
“The College of Technology currently has a winter and a spring commencement but most other colleges do not,” Smith said. “It’s mainly because in the past there may not have been enough students to justify it.”
For the fall 2015 semester, concerns of winter commencement were brought up too late to do anything about it, and although many of the graduating students are OK with the university commencement in the spring, there are those who find it difficult to participate.
“The hope is that we can continue to look into the issue and see if there’s a way to make these students feel more included during commencement,” Smith said.
