The Department of Communication’s graduation ceremony is back on schedule despite an e-mail Monday from Dean Kenneth Zagacki that said it would be cancelled because of budget cuts.
Zagacki said people in the provost’s office offered to support the graduation to make sure it happens at its normal time, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. in Carmichael Gymnasium.
“[Graduation] costs us about $3,000 to $4,000 every year, depending on where we hold it,” he said. “We have probably one of the largest departmental graduations on campus.”
Abigail Weaver, a senior in communication, said the initial announcement of the cancellation was a disappointment.
“Not being able to walk is denying our family the opportunity to see us rewarded for this accomplishment,” she said.
Weaver has 15 people coming to campus to see her graduate, and she said everyone she talked to in the department was upset over the announcement.
The response to the communication department was “100 percent negative,” Zagacki said, but people didn’t understand the context of the cancellation.
“I’m not sure that a lot of people who replied really understood the cost,” he said. “There’s no reason that they should have. They simply see themselves paying tuition and they assume it would pay the cost of graduation. But it doesn’t always do that. I don’t think they understand what we have to do to hold a departmental graduation.”
The Communication Department has undergone a 4 percent budget cut, with a possibility for a 7 or 8 percent cut in the future, and Zagacki said the 4 percent accounts for more than $100,000.
“We are only able to purchase the bare necessities that we need to run the department, and we’ve had to cut a couple of sections,” he said. “Although we have not cut as many sections as some other departments have.”
Communication has also had to trim its faculty and staff, according to Zagacki.
“I have a little more flexibility than some of the other heads as I have graduate students that can teach courses. Nonetheless, we have had to cancel some sections as have other heads. If more cuts come down, we’re not sure exactly yet how we’re going to handle those.”
The department has a freeze on new equipment, graduate and faculty travel and any renovation to classrooms, he said.
Zagacki said the department must be able to accomodate as many people as the student needs to bring.
In Monday’s cancellation e-mail, Zagacki said Communication would combine its fall and spring graduation ceremonies.
“This larger ceremony will give us the opportunity to honor you in a way that befits your accomplishments,” it stated.
The department usually graduates about 70 students in the fall, compared to between 125 and 150 for the spring.
The communication department has secured Carmichael Gymnasium and Reynolds Coliseum for the fall and spring graduation ceremonies, and Zagacki said there are many added costs after renting out a location.
The cost to rent chairs, a sound system and stage and to print out hundreds of programs is also factored into the overall ceremony’s cost, he said.
