Southeast Missouri State University officials are anticipating more than 1,300 undergraduates at the upcoming spring commencement — an increase in graduation candidates forces change.

There will now be a morning and afternoon commencement ceremony, which evenly divides students by area of study.

Commencement for candidates in the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Health and Human Services will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 13.The ceremony includes guest speaker Louise Bodenheimer, head of graphic design/illustration in the Department of Art at Southeast.

Commencement for candidates in the College of Business, the College of Education, and the College of Science, Technology, and Agriculture will begin at 2:00 p.m on Saturday, May 13. The afternoon ceremony will feature guest speaker Julie Ray, best-selling textbook publisher and Department of Elementary, Early and Special Education chairwoman at Southeast.

The changes, made by the graduation office in concert with the Office of the President, were implemented in an effort to accommodate the growing student body’s needs. Ann Hayes, the director of Southeast Missouri State University’s News Bureau, explained the benefits to students the new changes will bring.

“It’s gotten to where there are too many people than what that building, the Show Me Center, was designed to hold,” Hayes said.

This led to several complaints about the length of the ceremony as well as creating potential safety hazards.

“As enrollment at the university has continued to grow, we’ve had more and more candidates for graduation,” Hayes said. “In the past, because of the size of the crowd, students were asked to limit their guests to four people. And now, we are letting students know if the would like to have as many as eight people attend their graduation and see them graduate live, they will be able to do that.”

The new changes are not being welcomed by all. Some concerns have surfaced regarding the removal of the Honors Program commencement. Honors Program member and senior Jill Schmitt will not receive the same acknowledgement as previous Honors Program graduates.

“… We aren’t getting the same recognition for a lot of hard work,” Schmitt said. “I know I’d even be happy if at least cords were given out to recognize these students.”

The graduation office has yet to release any details about the Honors Program and its members standing at the upcoming spring commencement, but Schmitt is still positive.

“I think it’s awesome we have so many graduates it needs to be broken up,” she said.

Students who are still unsure of what these changes mean for them can expect regular emails from the graduation office between now and May 13.