2008 Woodie Awards
Calendar inconsistency causes student discord
Matthew Richardson
Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: News
Major changes were made to the University Calendar this semester.
Spring commencement is scheduled for April 27. Earlier this semester, the online academic calendar showed that commencement was May 4.
Associate Vice President and Dean of StudentsHenry L. Kirby serves as the chair of the university commencement committee. Kirby said that the university commencement committee has always scheduled the spring commencement for April 27.
"If the information got out there telling of another date, it was not by way of the commencement committee," Kirby said.
Although the situation may pose an inconvenience for students who planned ahead for graduation, Kirby made it clear that the correct date has always been documented in the "FANG" - FAMU's student handbook - and that April 27 has been the commencement date for three consecutive years.
"The college catalog also shows the correct date," Kirby said. "The dates have been out there (referring to the student handbook and catalog). These are the dates we operate by and they were documented long before the registrar calendar."
Because of the other universities, the commencement committee scheduled their events in regards to the dates of FSU and TCC. Since the other universities may schedule the same day as FAMU, the commencement committee plans in advance, to hold the event dates to avoid conflicting times.
"The registrar's office and the academic affairs office, when they do the academic calendar over the year, they do it over a period of time," Kirby said. "They do calendars in advance, so those dates are not set in stone."
The academic calendar may have displayed May 4 as the commencement date, but at the bottom of the calendar, it noted that all dates and times are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information visit OurFAMU, found at http://www.famu.edu.
Spring commencement is scheduled for April 27. Earlier this semester, the online academic calendar showed that commencement was May 4.
Associate Vice President and Dean of StudentsHenry L. Kirby serves as the chair of the university commencement committee. Kirby said that the university commencement committee has always scheduled the spring commencement for April 27.
"If the information got out there telling of another date, it was not by way of the commencement committee," Kirby said.
Although the situation may pose an inconvenience for students who planned ahead for graduation, Kirby made it clear that the correct date has always been documented in the "FANG" - FAMU's student handbook - and that April 27 has been the commencement date for three consecutive years.
"The college catalog also shows the correct date," Kirby said. "The dates have been out there (referring to the student handbook and catalog). These are the dates we operate by and they were documented long before the registrar calendar."
Because of the other universities, the commencement committee scheduled their events in regards to the dates of FSU and TCC. Since the other universities may schedule the same day as FAMU, the commencement committee plans in advance, to hold the event dates to avoid conflicting times.
"The registrar's office and the academic affairs office, when they do the academic calendar over the year, they do it over a period of time," Kirby said. "They do calendars in advance, so those dates are not set in stone."
The academic calendar may have displayed May 4 as the commencement date, but at the bottom of the calendar, it noted that all dates and times are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information visit OurFAMU, found at http://www.famu.edu.
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