UI confers nearly 1,560 degrees in December

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Thursday, December 11, 2014
Written by: Office of Strategic Communication

The University of Iowa will honor December 2014 graduates during a series of commencement ceremonies and other events, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19-20.

Fall degree applicants include, among undergraduates, 750 from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (36 of whom are students getting their elementary education program completion certificate through the College of Education), 198 from the College of Business, 101 from the College of Engineering, 38 from the University College, and 98 from the College of Nursing. Among professional and graduate students, they include 279 from the Graduate College, 10 from the College of Law, and 84 from the Tippie School of Management with an MBA.

Live video stream of ceremonies:

College of Education teacher education convocation

Friday, Dec. 19, 4 p.m. Iowa Memorial Union Main Lounge

Nicholas Colangelo, College of Education dean, will welcome graduates and guests. Speakers will include UI President Sally Mason, as well as graduate Jennifer Dooper-Salazar and Kim Heckart, instructor at the college. H. Dee Hoover will provide the keynote address.

Tippie College of Business School of Management MBA graduation celebration

Friday, Dec. 19, 5:15 p.m. Coralville Marriott Hotel and Convention Center

Featured speaker will be Jim Israel, member of the Tippie College of Business Advisory Board who recently retired after 36 years of service with Deere & Company. Tippie College of Business Dean Sarah Fisher Gardial will confer the degrees.

Graduate College commencement

Friday, Dec. 19, 7 p.m. Carver-Hawkeye Arena

John Keller, associate provost for graduate education and Graduate College dean, will offer a brief introduction. UI President Sally Mason and dean Keller will confer the degrees, while Robert Downer, a member of the Iowa Board of Regents, will provide the keynote address.

Undergraduate commencement ceremony

Saturday, Dec. 20, 9 a.m. Carver-Hawkeye Arena

This includes students from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Tippie College of Business, University College, and the Bachelor of Science degree candidates in the Carver College of Medicine.

Kaley Rigdon
Kaley Rigdon, student speaker at the undergraduate commencement ceremony from Dubuque, Iowa.

Sarah Fisher Gardial, dean of the Tippie College of Business, and Marc Armstrong, associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will recommend degrees for conferral to UI President Sally Mason. Graduate Kaley Rigdon, a communications studies major from Dubuque, Iowa, will be the student speaker.

College of Nursing commencement

Saturday, Dec. 20, 10 a.m. Iowa Memorial Union Main Lounge

College of Nursing dean Rita Frantz will lead the ceremonies, while Joe Brennan, UI vice president for strategic communication, will confer degrees. University of Iowa Association of Nursing Students President-elect Kelsey Spitz will serve as grand marshal, and graduates James Kinney and Michele Jensen will speak.

College of Engineering commencement

Saturday, Dec. 20, noon, Macbride Hall Auditorium

College of Engineering dean Alec Scranton will lead the event; UI Provost Barry Butler will confer the degrees. George D. Ashton, Ph.D., a 1961 graduate, will give the charge to the graduates and be inducted into the college’s Distinguished Engineering Alumni Academy, becoming the third of three Ashton brothers to receive the honor.

Video- live streaming, UITV and YouTube

Video of all commencement ceremonies except the Tippie College of Business School of Management Celebration will be recorded and streamed live online to IowaNow.

For friends and relatives of Chinese students, video of the Undergraduate and Engineering commencements with Chinese language commentary can be viewed at the International Programs website: http://international.uiowa.edu/chinese-commencement-broadcast.  

Video of the Graduate College, Undergraduate, and College of Engineering commencements will also be broadcast live on UITV (Mediacom channel 118.5 in the Iowa City area) for local viewers to watch.  

Archival video of all recorded events will be also be posted online at Iowa Now and the UI YouTube website within 24 hours of the events, and rebroadcast on UITV during campus programming blocks the week of December 22.  

Photo/video guidelines for the IMU

No flashes or lights may be used inside the IMU, and no cords or cables may lie on the floor. Please bring your batteries and be prepared to shoot from the shoulder. Photographers may shoot from the back of the room. Please be in position before the start of the processional.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena commencements

Doors open one hour prior to each ceremony. Photographers and news media are permitted on the arena floor until 15 minutes before ceremonies begin, at which point they must return to the designated media area. Media and visitors on the arena concourse are asked to keep noise to a minimum while the ceremony is in progress. Interviews should be conducted outside the arena. Clean audio is available through the arena system.

More information

Find complete info for graduates and guests on the Office of the Registrar website. Commencement events are open to the public, but traffic near facilities—particularly Carver-Hawkeye Arena—may be heavy. Doors open an hour prior to start time.

Carver-Hawkeye guests with disabilities or limited mobility can park in Lot 46 adjacent to the arena, provided they have state-issued disabled parking permits. Guests with limited mobility can access the Feller Club Room with up to two companions or view the ceremony from the upper concourse level.