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Those wishing to take part in North Lake’s commencement ceremony in May must turn in a graduation application by March 15.

The reason for the deadline and application are simple: The graduation office does not have enough hands to sort through the roughly 5,000 degree plans of students who may be eligible to receive a diploma.

Ellen Brown, associate registrar in the graduation office, is in charge of the yearly ceremony. She said there are close to 350 applicants for the May ceremony.

The registrar needs time to put the graduation ceremony together without flaws, as students are not only separated alphabetically but by majors as well.

The application process helps to weed out stragglers, but the admissions office is ready to help the odd student who falls behind. Three weeks before the ceremony, all the graduating students’ transcripts are sent to the state for processing. Tardy students will, fortunately, be able to have their transcripts added to the outgoing mail.

Financially, the application process is beneficial to students. Dallas County Community Colleges do not charge students to apply for graduation. “Most schools in the state of Texas make you pay to apply,” said Brown.

Students will have to provide an electronic mail address and their own street address to properly fill out the application. The graduation office sends out the necessary information through the Internet to let applying students know of the ever-approaching commencement. Diplomas will be received in the mail.

Caps and gowns will be sold at the campus bookstore. A deadline has yet to be set. In the past, however, caps and gowns have been available until the night before graduation. Applications are available in Admissions.