Rowan to divide commencement into six ceremonies

Rowan University will split its commencement this year into six ceremonies held over four days, ending its tradition of a unified, universitywide commencement ceremony, the school announced Wednesday.

This is the first time in the school's history that it won't have the universitywide ceremony, a spokesman said, citing a lack of indoor venues for ever-growing enrollment.

The ceremonies will all be held on the University Green where past commencements were held. Rain locations would include Esby gym, Pfleeger Concert Hall, and Wilson Hall.

The move comes after last year's ceremony was moved from the University Green to Wackar Stadium to fit a record class size and number of guests, prompting some pushback from students who had hoped to walk the stage on the traditional University Green location.

Rain forced last year's ceremony indoors — "accommodating the number of participants and guests under those circumstances proved to be unmanageable," the Rowan commencement announcement reads.

"It was not the type of commencement ceremonies that we wanted," Joe Cardona, spokesman for the university, said this week.

So Rowan researched other universities' ceremonies, finding that most peer institutions held large, unified ceremonies at indoor stadiums or similar venues, then had smaller ceremonies split by discipline or academic unit.

Without a convenient indoor space, the university has decided to discontinue the large ceremony altogether.

Undergraduate and graduate student events will be combined, with the six commencement ceremonies split by school.

Each small ceremony will have it own speaker.

"Ceremonies will focus on themes more aligned with colleges and disciplines of study," the announcement reads.

The spring academic calendar was shifted for the move, with the semester ending Monday, May 11. The first commencement ceremony begins 10 a.m. Tuesday, for the College of Engineering, College of Science and Mathematics, and the School of Biomedical Science and Health Professions.

The decision to divide the 2015 commencement is expected to become permanent for future ceremonies, if the new format is successful, Cardona said.

That would make Gov. Christie, who addressed the graduating class last year, the last universitywide commencement speaker.