Northern Arizona University will honor the graduating class of fall 2019 in two ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13. More than 2,700 students have applied to graduate.
Commencement ceremonies are held in the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome (Bldg. 73), which will open 90 minutes before each ceremony. Attendees should review the clear bag policy ahead of the event to avoid delays at the entrance.
Commencement ceremonies will recognize candidates for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees as follows:
10 a.m.
- College of Education
- College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences
- College of Engineering, Informatics, and Applied Sciences
- The W. A. Franke College of Business
3 p.m.
- College of Arts and Letters
- College of Health and Human Services
- NAU Online, NAU Yavapai, NAU Yuma
- College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Colleges will host individual receptions to celebrate their students’ success in their academic career. To look for your college, please visit the commencement website.
Wally Covington, Regents’ Professor in the School of Forestry and executive director of the Ecological Restoration Institute, and Yvonne M. Luna, associate professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, will speak at this year’s commencement ceremonies.
Covington, who will speak at the 10 a.m. ceremony, joined NAU in 1975 while still working on his doctorate from Yale University. He graduated the next year and has been at NAU since, researching forest ecosystem health, restoration ecology and fire effects on forest ecosystems.
In 1995, he was named a Regents’ Professor of Forestry and recognized as an Outstanding Teacher Scholar by NAU for his dedication to involving undergraduates in his research projects and incorporating his findings into the classroom. He is retiring Jan. 24.
Luna, who will speak at the 3 p.m. ceremony, joined the NAU faculty in 2004. Luna earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Arizona State University; her research focuses on topics such as social inequality, teaching and learning and social welfare. She has published numerous articles on social issues such as single mothers, immigrant issues and research into blended learning. In addition to her departmental role, she also serves as an appointed member of the program committee for the Society for the Study of Social Problems.
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 an ADA accessible route along 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.
For those unable to attend, the program will be live-streamed via NAU-TV. 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.