President Connie Gores will make the final decision on whether to change the date of graduation from Saturday to Friday starting with the 2017-18 academic calendar. Gores says she is unsure when the decision will come, due to a number of factors still under consideration.

Student and faculty organizations have differing opinions on the day change.

On March 17, the Faculty Association voted to recommend that graduation be moved to Friday. The Faculty Association is one member of a university committee whose members make recommendations on the calendar to administration.

Professor of Justice Administration BC Franson said some of the advocates for keeping graduation on Saturday were not present during the vote.

“Unfortunately for today’s vote, there were not a lot of faculty who had previously expressed the preference for Saturday,” Franson said, “and I know those professors had talked to students who wanted graduation to stay on Saturday.”

In contrast, the Student Association voted on Mar. 31 to recommend that graduation remain on Saturday.

This conclusion was reached after student senators discussed the pros and cons. It was pointed out that a Friday graduation may be easier to get volunteers for, and be a potential cost savings for SMSU. However, senators ultimately felt that a Friday graduation would create a financial burden for some families, because some parents may have to take two days off from work in order to attend, according to the meeting minutes.

Gores received a memo dated Apr. 5 from Student Association President Ashanti Payne stating the decision.

“I spoke with President Payne and asked if I could attend a meeting of the Student Senate to hear their perspectives and learn more about their thoughts on this topic,” Gores said.

Faculty Association Secretary Tony Amato said the issue came up in January when discussing the larger calendar.

In these discussions, Amato said that some faculty noted a Friday graduation would interfere with students’ and their families’ work and travel schedules. Other faculty argued that their schedules would better accommodate a Friday ceremony.

Amato said that some faculty wanted the administration or Student Senate to conduct a poll and abide by the wishes of the students.

“Those who spoke said that ‘it is their day after all,’” Amato said.

“Student voices are very important and I am intentionally seeking more information from a variety of students before making a decision,” Gores said.