UA to Hold Spring Commencement Exercises

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama will hold its spring commencement ceremonies May 1 and 2 at Coleman Coliseum on the UA campus.

The first session will be held at 6 p.m., May 1, when degree candidates from the College of Communication & Information Sciences, College of Education, College of Human Environmental Sciences and Capstone College of Nursing will participate in commencement exercises.

Three separate commencement ceremonies will be held May 2. The first, at 9 a.m., will include the College of Arts & Sciences and School of Social Work. The Culverhouse College of Commerce and College of Engineering will participate at 1:30 p.m., while the School of Law will hold its own ceremony at 5:30 p.m.

More than 4,700 degrees will be awarded over the weekend.

Michael George, university registrar, and Dr. John Schmitt, associate graduate dean and assistant to the executive vice president and provost, will serve as commencement marshals.

George became UA registrar in May 2005 after a 24-year career in the United States Air Force and registrar positions at Ohio State University and University of Texas at Arlington.

Schmitt joined the UA faculty as an instructor and clinical supervisor in the UA department of communicative disorders, where he taught courses in speech and language disorders and served as director of the residential stuttering and aphasia rehabilitation programs at the department’s clinic.

He’s developed a number of programs during his 25 years in the Graduate School, including the Graduate Teaching Fellows program to assist new GTAs. Since 1989, it has trained more than 7,000 GTAs for UA’s undergraduate classrooms.

Mark Crosswhite, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Alabama Power Co., will deliver the School of Law commencement address. Crosswhite, UA class of 1987, joined Alabama Power in 2006 as senior vice president and counsel, where he oversaw the company’s legal matters.

Two years later, he was named executive vice president for External Affairs, where he directed regulatory affairs, economic and community development, public relations, environmental affairs and governmental affairs. In 2011, Crosswhite became president and chief executive officer of Gulf Power, a Southern Company subsidiary based in Pensacola, Florida.

Chrissy Cook Burke, Cleburne County Career Technical School business instructor, will be honored as the Capstone Inspiring Educator. She teaches business law, business technology applications, and multimedia design to students in grades 10th through 12th.

Burke received her Bachelor of Science degree in 2000 from The University of Alabama, and she recently received her Masters of Education in Educational Leadership from Jacksonville State University.

Graduating senior Jami Morgan, a criminal justice major in the College of Arts and Sciences from Heflin, nominated Burke as this year’s Capstone Inspiring Educator.

“Mrs. Burke helped me realize that I could make it to The University of Alabama, despite the financial burden, and showed me that with perseverance I would excel,” Morgan said in her recommendation letter.

The weekend ceremony will be broadcast live over the Internet. The webcast will be archived at ua.edu/commencement/, and it will be available for viewing for 30 days following the ceremony. More information can be found at registrar.ua.edu/degrees/commencement/.