The communication department once had a contract with the Convention Center in downtown Raleigh, but it was abruptly cancelled.

“We take it very seriously and try to put this on for the students. We want to send them off in an appropriate way,” Dr. Zen Zagacki, associate head of academic affairs in communication said. “It’s become increasingly difficult to find a space that we can use in the long term.”

A temporary solution this past December was to hold commencement ceremonies in Carmichael Gym on campus.

“No one objected to the space, faculty felt that the stage accommodations worked pretty well,” Zagacki said. “If we do settle with Carmichael (for the future), we wont be able to accommodate the same number of family members as we have in the past, as the fire marshal limits how many people we can take in”

Rumors voiced among the communication students last fall indicated they felt like they were being thrown into a cheap space at the last minute, suggesting their faculty did not put forth enough effort in the planning process.

“That was just an unfounded rumor. We start working on the graduation events semesters ahead of time,” Zagacki said. “We had some alternative spaces we considered once we knew the convention center was no longer available. [We] thought we had them secured, but for one case, we were told last minute that the space was no longer available.”

Other issues persist in securing a graduation venue. Budget constraints play a major part in the final decision of a graduation space.

“The University gives us a small sum of money to do things like this. These places are expensive, and we’re not allowed to charge anything for tickets,” Zagacki said. “Everything from sound, stage, chairs–it gets very expensive. [Carmichael] worked out pretty well.”

The one college preceding communication in graduation size is business management, and they have been able to secure Raleigh’s only professional arena since its opening in 1999.

“We’ve had the commencement ceremonies there [RBC Center] since it opened,” Millie Hurget, coordinator of business management commencement ceremonies and academic advisor, said.

The venue discrepancy between colleges is recognized by communication students.

“It’s unfair that we go to the same school, yet their graduation is so much better than ours,” Jarran Thomas, a senior in communication, said. “The RBC Center is obviously better suited for a professional function. I don’t like the idea of graduating in the same place where I lift weights and play basketball.”

Before Carmichael Gym was used as a location, the communication department hosted ceremonies at the Colonial Baptist church in Cary.

“Their sanctuary was large enough to accommodate spring graduation, which is huge,” Zagacki said. “Afterward there were some objections from parents and students that having a secular graduation in a sacred sanctuary wasn’t appropriate. I feel those voices were the minority, but it deterred us from seeking similar spaces.”

The Carmichael Gym was originally planned as a one-time event location, but it may be an option this semester since the department is so large and working on a budget.

“It’s very hard for us to find a permanent venue that is within our budget,” Zagacki said. “It was beyond our means last semester, but the RBC Center is something we looked into.”

Ceremonies for individual schools for both the fall and spring semester are not a national trend, according to Zagacki.

“We are one of the only universities that has a departmental level graduation, where that graduation occurs twice a year,” Zagacki said. “A lot of other universities I’ve been affiliated with have two graduations, but not a particular departmental ceremony.”

A possible compromise for the communication majors could be a ceremony held in the historic Reynolds Coliseum.

“We’d like to get Reynolds, but there are always events going on,” Zagacki said. “In a lot of ways, we’re really trying to meet our students’ interests and demands.”