Commencement officials say the May 2010 ceremony is going to be a little different this year.

Swaminat Balachandran, chair of the University Commencement Committee, said the major difference will be the amount of guests allowed to attend. Graduating seniors are now only allowed to reserve a maximum of four tickets for their friends and family to attend the ceremony. There previously was no limit.

One reason tickets are being sold is the recent renovations of the bleachers in the Williams Fieldhouse, which Balachandran said reduced the seating capacity in the Fieldhouse by a few hundred seats.

“The number of graduates is increasing each year,” Balachandran said. “There is not enough room in the Fieldhouse for unlimited number of guests.”

Tickets have been used at UW–P before, and are being reinstated in May. According to David Kieckhafer, UW–P’s registrar, this decision was made by the University Commencement Committee membership, which includes Interim Chancellor Carol Sue Butts.

Kieckhafer said there are approximately 762 degree candidates scheduled to graduate in May or August 2010. With students continuing to turn in intent-to-graduate forms each day, the final number is guarantied to be even higher. For example, in February of 2009 there were 685 degree candidates, compared to 837 prior to the ceremony in May.

“Many guests have found that seating has filled when they arrive for the ceremony and they are directed to overflow seating areas,” Kieckhafer said. “Tickets will permit every graduate to have some family members in the audience.”

“I was really surprised when I found out that I was only going to be able to have four of my family members at the ceremony, but I guess it’s fair to allow everyone to have their families present,” Cayla Lillge, graduating senior chemistry and biology major, said. “They’re doing it as fairly as possible, but I’m still disappointed.”

“In recent years, there have been 20, 30 or even 40 guests attending for one student,” Kieckhafer said. “This prevents other families from getting seats.”

Detailed ticket information is available here.