Cutting costs for commencement
January 9, 2010 by Geneva ReidPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Student Life
In an effort to save money, one school prepares to cut some of its commencement expenses for next spring. There won’t be a guest speaker at Ithaca College’s 2010 commencement. Instead, a faculty member of alumni will stand at the podium.
“Commencement is one of the largest costs for the institution,” community service assistant director Deborah Mohlenhoff said in The Ithacan online.
“We always try to work with a reasonable amount of money, and our definition of reasonable … is not matching anymore to what [outside speakers] are asking.”
While some students expressed disappointment at the cuts, it was reported the average cost of a guest speaker totaled $70,000. Students will be receiving medallions — which were not handed out at last year’s commencement – at about half the cost of a speaker.
In addition to saving money, the college says having faculty or alumni speak will bring a heightened academic focus to commencement exercises.
Is the college making the right move? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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February 1st, 2010 at 9:39 am
I believe that ‘s a great idea. I’ve sat through twenty graduation ceremonies (including two of my own) and I’ve only ever heard one good speaker that a I thought was both entertaining and inspirational for the graduates. A professor with a sense of humor would be someone students would remember and all would be happy if graduation fees were lessened.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:14 am
This is a good idea. Most students are more concerned with getting through the ceremony as quickly as possible and are only thinking of the celebrations that are planned for afterwards. A majority do not even listen to the speaker and would be hard pressed to remember that expensive speaker’s name an hour after the ceremony. So do away with the expense.
I agree with Colleen that the graduation costs should be lowered to reflect this savings.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:52 am
I think this is a great idea, too. I know of a college that went away from pricey speakers a few years ago. Instead, they have a student speaker and they put together a nice video of a broad section of students and faculty cmmenting on certain questions pertinent to the students and that institution. They try to capture as many students as possible. After commencement, each student receives a copy of it. Meaningful and something they’ll remember.
February 1st, 2010 at 1:03 pm
I stuck a book under my robe and read through my entire graduation. I was only there because it seemed important to relatives. This sounds like a great idea. Now that I’m an administrator, the torture has become an annual event. There is no need for a commencement speaker, haven’t we all been tortured enough?
February 1st, 2010 at 5:38 pm
I fully agree that this is a good idea. I have no memory of who our commencement speaker was when I got my engineering degree at Penn State in 1985. Nor do I remember what he said. To me the commencement ceremony was somewhat meaningless… the meaningful part of getting that degree was all the learning I did over those four years. I doesn’t make sense to me to spend so much money to have a high profile commencement speaker… I am guessing that most students at that time in their lives are more looking forward to the next step in their lives, rather than focusing on the commencement ceremony.