Dr. Gene C. Couch, Jr. Vice President for Instruction and Student Services 828.586.4091, ext. 308

To my knowledge, the College has not held a December commencement for students that complete their programs at the end of fall semester. However, we have students asking, "Why not?"

We are excited to announce that students who are graduating at the end of fall semester will now have the opportunity to participate in a December commencement ceremony!

The ceremony will be held December 15, 2006, at 4:00 p.m. in the Balsam Center Myers Auditorium.

In the near future, the Registrar's Office will be communicating the details about the December commencement exercise. By adding another ceremony, this will allow us to recognize this significant milestone in a more timely manner. If for some reason students are unable to participate in the December ceremony, they will be allowed to participate in the May 2007 ceremony.

Ron Poor has agreed to be our speaker for our first December commencement. In anticipation of the question: What are the expectations regarding your participation, this commencement will be treated like our summer exercise. We hope you will choose to participate in this special time in the lives of our students. Another question: How many students do we anticipate will participate? Over the last few years, we have had about 50-60 students that complete their degree requirements at the end of fall semester.

We want everyone to view this as a positive initiative. Any time we acknowledge and celebrate student success, this is good.

Please share this exciting information with your students. If students have questions, please direct them to Christy Deaver. If you have questions about the ceremony, please give me a call.

Thank you for your continued cooperation.

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