Southeast will divide spring commencement ceremony into morning, afternoon sessions

Southeast Missouri State University officials are anticipating more than 1,300 undergraduates at the upcoming spring commencement.

The increase in graduates from previous years has prompted changes to the commencement ceremony.

There will be a morning and afternoon commencement ceremony, dividing students by area of study.

Both ceremonies will be May 13.

Commencement for the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Health and Human Services will begin at 10 a.m. and will feature Louise Bodenheimer, head of graphic design/illustration in the art department at Southeast.

Commencement for the College of Business, the College of Education, and the College of Science, Technology, and Agriculture will begin at 2 p.m. and will feature speaker Julie Ray, best-selling textbook publisher and department of elementary, early and special education chairwoman at Southeast.

The changes, made by the graduation office in concert with the office of the president, were implemented in an effort to accommodate the growing student body’s needs.

Ann Hayes, the director of Southeast’s news bureau, explained the changes’ benefits to students.

“It’s gotten to where there are too many people than what that building, the Show Me Center, was designed to hold,” Hayes said.

This led to several complaints about the length of the ceremony as well as creating potential safety hazards.

“As enrollment at the university has continued to grow, we’ve had more and more candidates for graduation,” Hayes said.

“In the past, because of the size of the crowd, students were asked to limit their guests to four people. Now, we are letting students know if they would like to have as many as eight people attend their graduation and see them graduate live, they will be able to do that.”

The new changes are not welcomed by all.

Some concerns surfaced about the removal of the honors convocation.

Jane Stephens Honors Program member and senior Jill Schmitt will not receive the same acknowledgement as previous honors-program graduates.

“We aren’t getting the same recognition for a lot of hard work,” Schmitt said. “I know I’d even be happy if at least cords were given out to recognize these students.”

The graduation office has not released details about the honors program and its members’ standing at the upcoming spring commencement, but Schmitt remains positive.

“I think it’s awesome we have so many graduates, it needs to be broken up,” she said.

Students who still are unsure of what these changes mean for them can expect regular emails from the graduation office between now and May 13.