UWS May Suspend Winter Commencement

SUPERIOR, Wis. - Many colleges around the country are seeing budget cuts and the University of Wisconsin - Superior is one of them.University leaders tell FOX 21 tuition freezes, enrollment challenges and reduction in state funding are making their jobs a little more difficult than usual lately.Due to these circumstances, UWS is in a pinch.Top officials have been in contact with student groups all over campus to get their input on the situation.They've had meetings to come up with ideas to save money.One option now being considered is an alternative to winter commencement.Lynne Williams, the director of Marketing and Communications at UWS, tells FOX 21 the cost of commencement programs in December and May is about $20,000 each.She also noted there are many other schools without a big winter program."At this moment, it's looking like we might be looking towards an alternative ceremony next winter. Providing something to celebrate, we want to make sure we celebrate the academic reputation, the accomplishments that they've had, but also at the same time making sure that we are being efficient with the resources that are available to us," said Williams.The rumors of suspending winter commencement have been flying around campus for a while and Kara Schmidt, the speaker of the senate at UWS, tells FOX 21 a lot of students are upset."When you put in $40,000 into tuition and expenses, you know, it kind of hurts to find out that you're not going to be able to celebrate the way you thought you did. You might have planned your semesters a little differently so you could walk with your graduating class," said Schmidt.The University is looking to possibly put the winter commencement on haitus because there are substantially fewer students who graduate at that time.School officials plan to reconvene in January to discuss all the feedback they've gotten and decide how to move forward.There is a campus meeting Dec. 19 to talk about budget challenges, as well as any additional academic program suspensions UWS may be looking at.