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Wednesday,
September 19, 2001
Graduating
seniors to vote on commencement location
By Jacque Petersell
Staff Reporter
Graduating seniors may see a change in the way Spring Commencement
takes place. An e-mail was sent to seniors and faculty last
week by Patrick Miller, registrar and director of enrollment
management, announcing two alternatives to the graduation
ceremony and included a link to a survey where seniors could
vote on the alternatives.
The
survey closes to students today and to faculty members Thursday,
Miller said.
An
on-going commencement task force was asked to find alternative
methods or places for graduation following complaints that
the ceremony in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum was too crowded and
dangerous, Miller said.
The
task force has since come up with two alternatives to the
graduation ceremony, according to an e-mail sent by Miller
to faculty and graduating seniors last week. The first alternative
would keep the ceremony at Daniel-Meyer, but seniors would
be given six or seven passes for family and friends. A separate
area would be set up where extra guests would be able to view
the ceremony on television screens.
The
second alternative would be to move the graduation ceremony
to the Fort Worth Convention Center downtown, and according
to the e-mail, there would be no limit to the number of guests
seniors can bring if the ceremony is moved off campus.
Miller
said the task force, consisting of administrators and faculty,
decided on these two alternatives after looking at other universities
and examining the pros and cons of the situations there. Miller
said the alternatives chosen had one thing in common.
“The
number one plus is we have a single ceremony with all the
students graduating together
in a single location,” Miller said.
Chancellor
Michael Ferrari said other options the task force looked at
were moving the ceremony to Amon Carter Stadium, splitting
the graduates into their different colleges or having separate
ceremonies for graduates and undergraduates. Ferrari said
he tried many of these alternatives at Drake University, but
found most students did not like having graduation ceremonies
split up.
“The
students wanted to be with their friends,” Ferrari said.
“Students said it didn’t feel like a real university
(when splitting undergraduate and graduate ceremonies).”
Ferrari
said the survey is important because it allows the task force
to get seniors’ input on “their day.”
Holly
Ricketts, a senior social work major, said it would be nice
to keep graduation on campus, but she would give that up to
be able to invite more people.
“Doing
it at the convention center will make it a lot less crowded,”
Ricketts said. “I won’t have to limit the number
of people I invite, which will probably be more than the six
or seven allowed by the one proposal.”
Ferrari
said his preference would be to have the graduation ceremony
on campus because the ceremony loses the TCU feel when you
move it off campus.
“That
has been my hesitation about going downtown, but it is somewhat
easier,” Ferrari said. “There will be some advantages
when you look at the bigger picture.
Parking
is easier, students can bring more guests and it is more comfortable.”
Miller
said having the ceremony at Daniel-Meyer actually costs more
than having it at the convention center because the university
has to pay for setting up for the service at Daniel-Meyer,
while most of the setting up is already done at the convention
center. However, both Miller and Ferrari said the cost wasn’t
important.
“This
has nothing to do with the cost,” Ferrari said. “What
you spare is some set-up time at Daniel-Meyer.”
Ferrari
said Daniel-Meyer seats a little over 7,000 people plus an
extra 1,000 seats on the floor for the graduates and faculty.
He said 8,400 to 8,500 people normally participate in commencement,
either as graduates, faculty or family and friends. The convention
center will seat around 12,000 people, Ferrari said.
Ferrari
said possibly a decision on graduation should be made within
the month.
Jacque
Petersell
j.s.petersell@student.tcu.edu
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