Seven colleges filed applications with the Graduation Office to hold December 2005 graduation ceremonies by Friday's deadline, Graduation Office Director Becky Heeney said.

The colleges of journalism, education, arts and sciences, business, and liberal studies will hold convocation ceremonies, and the colleges of geosciences and public health will hold smaller ceremonies to recognize graduates in December, Heeney said.

Heeney said she will now discuss the applications with OU President David L. Boren, who will give final approval for the convocations. She said she expects each college that applied to be approved.

"It's a rubber stamp process," Heeney said.

The convocations will be held despite policy changes last fall that would have canceled December ceremonies. Boren said last year he felt the separate ceremonies fragmented OU and should be reserved for one large celebration each May.

After students protested the cancellations, Boren allowed last year's ceremonies to go forward as a one-time exception. Further consideration this spring led Boren to permanently reinstate convocations as long as colleges applied and were approved through the Graduation Office, he said last week.

Lance Thomas, public information officer for the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, said he will wait for approval and then begin planning the college's ceremony.

"We were very pleased, obviously, with the announcement," he said. "I'm glad we're giving the opportunity."

Heeney said there was no formal application process. She said she asked college officials to e-mail her about intent to hold a ceremony.

She said the graduation office will help colleges get the word out about their convocations.

"As a university community, we'd just like to be aware of what activities are going on out there, so we can help disseminate that information more efficiently," she said.

The graduation office, which was created this year, will mostly concentrate on increasing graduation rates at OU. The office is also responsible for coordinating commencement and convocation ceremonies for graduates.

"We not only want to help [graduates] get to that point, we want to help them celebrate once they get there," Heeney said.

Mary Stephens, alumni and special events coordinator for the Michael F. Price College of Business, said the planning process should be simple because the college has held December convocations in the past.

"We've done this many times now," Stephens said. "We will just follow the same format that we've done in the past."

Stephens and Thomas said arranging for venues, decorations, speakers and programs are the major tasks for convocation planners. Both said their colleges will not restrict the number of guests students can bring to the December convocations.

"We want everyone's parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters to all be able to come," Thomas said.

Benjamin Simon, entrepreneurship and venture management senior, said he plans to attend the business college's convocation this December.

"I can't come back in May to graduate," he said. "It's just not feasible."

Simon said the idea of a university-wide ceremony isn't workable when students finish school on such different schedules.

"I truly appreciate the idea of all of us getting together like in high school during graduation time, but this is completely different," Simon said. "People don't graduate in four years anymore."

Heeney said she hopes at least some December graduates who attend a convocation in the fall will return for commencement in May.

"We need to let the students know that commencement and convocation are very distinctive," she said. "Students shouldn't feel like they have to choose one or the other."
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