Almost 5,600 students have applied to graduate in NAU’s Spring 2022 commencement, which will take place in four ceremonies over two days.
The ceremonies are held in the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome (Bldg. 73), which will open 90 minutes before each ceremony. The clear bag policy will be in effect; all attendees, including guests, should familiarize themselves with the policy ahead of the event. For those unable to attend, the program will be live-streamed via NAU-TV.
Commencement ceremonies will recognize candidates for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees as follows:
Friday, May 6
11 a.m.
College of Arts and Letters
College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences
4 p.m.
College of Education
The W. A. Franke College of Business
Saturday, May 7
10 a.m.
College of Engineering, Informatics, and Applied Sciences
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
3 p.m.
College of Health and Human Services
NAU Online, NAU Yavapai, and NAU Yuma
The speakers, who will receive honorary doctorates to celebrate their achievements, are:
- NAU alumnus Dom Flemons, The American Songster, a Grammy-winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, actor, music scholar and historian who was selected for the U.S. Artists Fellowship Award in 2020.
- Nancy Parra-Quinlan, the 2022 Arizona Teacher of the Year, two-time NAU alum and a STEM teacher at Kino Junior High School in the Mesa Public School District.
- Colleen A. Smith, president of Coconino Community College, whose focus on students and learning assessments and her collaborative leadership have driven learning innovation and success initiatives at CCC and community colleges throughout the nation.
- Mickey Urdea, a founder and partner for biotechnology consulting firm Halteres Associates and founder and chairman of Catalysis Foundation for Health, a nonprofit organization that addresses gaps in global health care caused by inefficiencies in disease diagnoses and monitoring.
What to know about travel and parking
Attendees traveling to NAU for commencement can subscribe to get up-to-the-minute information about traffic, parking, weather and emergencies through NAU’s texting system. To sign up, text “NAU” to 237233. Standard data rates apply. You will automatically stop receiving texts when the event is over. Visitors should plan for extra time to reach their destination so they can be at the Skydome in time for the ceremony.
When driving through campus on Friday and Saturday, remember:
The busiest times to travel on campus will be roughly an hour before and after each ceremony. Driving on campus should be relatively hassle-free during ceremonies if you are able to take advantage of these times.
- If you do not need to be driving on campus or through campus on Friday, please consider an alternate route.
- If you must drive on campus on Friday, please give yourself extra time to reach your destination and understand you may not be able to take a direct route.
Parking is available at multiple locations across campus as well as shuttles from the South Commuter parking lot (P62), San Francisco parking garage (P96) and ADA parking is available in the Skydome parking lot P66 accessible via Lone Tree Road. A map can be found online. NAU parking has designated specific traffic patterns for the commencement ceremony:
- From I-40 east, take exit 191. Follow Route 66, turn left on Milton Road and then right on Butler Ave. to gain access to parking on campus.
- From I-40 west, take exit 198. Turn left on Butler Ave. to gain access to parking on campus.
- From I-17 north, take exit 339. Turn right on Lake Mary Road, left on J.W. Powell Blvd., left on Lone Tree Road and finally left on Pine Knoll Drive. Attendees can also take exit 341. Turn right on Milton Road and then turn right to gain access to university parking.
- The Skydome parking lot (P66) is reserved for individuals with disabilities.
- Participants and guests are encouraged to download the NAUgo app in order to keep commencement ceremony information at your fingertips. Download it from the App Store or Google Play.