More than 1,000 students will don a cap and gown for this spring’s commencement ceremonies on May 15-16 at the Fargodome. For the first time in the university’s history, commencement will be split into the graduate and professional ceremony planned for Friday at 4 p.m. and the undergraduate ceremony on Saturday at 10 a.m.

“We’re looking forward to the implementation of two ceremonies for the spring format,” Rhonda Kitch, associate registrar, said. “It gives us a chance to feature the two separate programs.”

As of May 7, Kitch said nearly 800 students indicated they intend to participate in the undergraduate ceremony. Nearly 300 students indicated they intend to participate in the graduate and professional ceremony. A total of 1,305 undergraduates and 323 graduate students are eligible to participate.

University officials are pleased to see the number of graduate and professional students participating in the ceremony has grown by almost 60. “That’s exciting,” Kitch said. “We attribute this huge growth of graduate and professional participants to the increased interest and availability of graduate programs at NDSU,” she said.

NDSU alumnus Robert Challey will be awarded an honorary doctorate during graduate and professional ceremony. A 1967 graduate, he studied business and the sciences. He was student body vice president, a member of Blue Key Honor Society, producer for the student musical “Oklahoma” and drum major and trombonist with the NDSU Gold Star Band. He has enjoyed a highly successful career, becoming chair of the board of The Park Place Group, a real estate development and investment company in Walnut Creek, Calif. He also is a director and treasurer for the Smuin Ballet of San Francisco. Challey has an exemplary and dedicated connection with NDSU. In fact, the lobby of NDSU’s Festival Concert Hall is named the Challey Atrium in his honor.

Joe Heilman, 2008-09 NDSU student body president and business major with a minor in accounting, is the student commencement speaker. He will speak about the NDSU theme, “students are paramount,” and how that phrase has changed for him during his student career. Following graduation, Heilman plans to pursue a Master of Business Administration degree and hopes to join a local company that has opportunity for growth.

Both ceremonies will stream live on the Internet. For more information, go to www.ndsu.edu/registrar/commencement.