Provost considers eliminating December graduation

SUNY Oswego’s Office of the Provost presented a plan to faculty on Oct. 19 to discontinue the December Commencement ceremony starting in the Fall semester of 2027.

The school estimates it will save $57,721 annually by eliminating the December graduation ceremony, according to a slideshow created by the Office of the Provost and obtained by The Oswegonian. 

The announcement comes on the heels of several cost-cutting measures the school has put in place to address its 2025-2026 four-million-dollar operating budget deficit, such as a hiring pause, a review of discretionary spending, and the closing of Oneida Hall for the 2026-2027 academic year.

In addition, this past September, SUNY Oswego rolled out the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP), under which eligible full-time faculty who choose to participate and are accepted by the university would receive a one-time, taxable payment equal to 10% of their base annual salary as of Sept. 13, 2026, plus $500 for each year of service at SUNY Oswego. 

Another one of the key selling points for the university to scrap the winter commencement was that SUNY Oswego was one of only three SUNY schools that still put on a December graduation; the others are Plattsburgh State and SUNY Oneonta. SUNY Brockport was the latest SUNY school to end December graduations in 2024.

In addition to the cost-cutting measures, the school says the event is a strain on resources, claiming it takes a combined 10 days of setup and teardown time inside the Deborah F. Stanley Convocation Hall, while requiring staff and resources from departments including offices like facilities, university police, campus technology services and catering. 

The school also reported that 19 of 247 December graduates in 2025 requested to participate in the May graduation due to weather risks.

SUNY Oswego’s Office of the President and Office of the Provost did not respond to The Oswegonian’s request for comment before publication.