Changes in store for Clemson University graduation ceremonies
July 26, 2011
CLEMSON, SC – July 26, 2011 – Clemson University will have three commencement ceremonies in May 2012 to accommodate more people.
The additional ceremony is one of several changes in a 2012 commencement schedule approved by the university’s board of trustees. Two ceremonies, rather than one, are scheduled for December 2012 graduates. The August 2012 commencement will remain a single ceremony, but will move from a Saturday to a Friday.
The additional ceremonies in May and December are needed because of an increase in the number of graduates and the number of relatives and friends who attend the big event, said Associate Registrar Cal Becker.
“We have a very high level of participation in the ceremony,” Becker said. “Well over 90 percent of our undergraduates participate, and they want their friends and families to come. We have simply run out of capacity in Littlejohn Coliseum, both on the floor and in the seats.”
A Graduation Review Committee looked at other options, including issuing a limited number of tickets per graduate, but recommended adding ceremonies instead. Undergraduate and graduate students will continue to participate together, by college, as in the past.
The 2012 graduation schedule
May 2012 commencement: Three ceremonies on Friday, May 11, 2012 — at 9:30 a.m. for graduates of the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering and Science; at 2 p.m. for the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities and the College of Health, Education and Human Development; and at 6:30 p.m. for the College of Business and Behavioral Science.
August 2012 graduation: One ceremony for all colleges, at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 10, 2012. This is a change from the traditional Saturday ceremony.
December 2012 graduation: Two ceremonies on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 — at 9:30 a.m. for graduates of the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities; and the College of Engineering and Science; and at 1:30 p.m. for the College of Business and Behavioral Science; and the College of Health, Education and Human Development.
The changes do not affect the two remaining graduation ceremonies in 2011. The August 2011 graduation will be one ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 13. The December 2011 graduation will be one ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 22.
Honors criteria changing in 2013
A previously approved graduation-related change takes effect in 2013: The standards for graduating with honors will rise to bring them into line with the standards at other similar universities.
Students graduating in May 2013 and afterward will be under the new criteria. The grade-point ratio required to graduate cum laude will be 3.7 (up from 3.4); to graduate magna cum laude will require a GPR of 3.85 (up from 3.7); and to graduate summa cum laude will require a GPR of 3.95 (up from 3.9).
The current standards were adopted in 1980, Becker said, and average student abilities as measured by SAT scores have increased substantially since then. The new criteria were approved following a review that involved students, faculty and staff.
