UA to Hold Spring Commencement Exercises May 2-3

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama will hold its spring commencement ceremonies May 2-3 at Coleman Coliseum on the UA campus.

Commencement exercises will be split into three ceremonies. Graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Social Work will participate in a ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday, May 2. At 9 a.m. Saturday, graduates from the College of Commerce and Business Administration and the College of Engineering participate in the first of two sessions, while graduates from the Capstone College of Nursing, College of Communication and Information Sciences, College of Education and the College of Human Environmental Sciences will participate in a session at 1:30 p.m. The UA School of Law will have its own ceremony at 5 p.m. in Coleman Coliseum.

More than 4,411 undergraduate and graduate students are degree candidates.

Dorothy J. Martin, associate provost at UA, will serve as commencement marshal. Martin, who has completed 48 years of service at UA, was the first female graduate in the first graduating class of the Executive Master’s of Business Administration program. During her tenure at The University of Alabama, she has worked with 11 presidents, six vice presidents for Academic Affairs and four provosts.

Judy Franks, a chemistry and physics teacher at South Choctaw High School in Gilbertown, will receive the 2014 Capstone Inspiring Educator Award. Franks, in her 25^th year teaching at South Choctaw, has led the school’s robotics team to several state-level awards in its first year and serves as the head coach of the high school’s softball and volleyball teams. Franks was nominated by senior journalism Kristen Campbell, a South Choctaw High School graduate.

The Capstone Inspiring Educator Award was created in 2010 to recognize high-school teachers who have inspired UA students to achieve their academic and career goals through outstanding teaching, mentoring and support. Members of The University of Alabama senior class were invited to nominate a high-school teacher whose commitment to helping students and inspirational approach to teaching made a difference in their lives.

The weekend ceremonies will be broadcast live over the Internet. The webcast will be archived on this UA website, ua.edu/commencement/, and it will be available for viewing 30 days following the ceremony.

More information can be found at registrar.ua.edu/degrees/commencement/.