University to confer degrees this weekend

The University of Nevada, Reno’s 2016 Spring Commencement will take place in three ceremonies Friday and Saturday on the University’s historic Quadrangle located on the southern part of campus.

Each ceremony focuses on particular colleges and will grant both undergraduate and graduates degrees for each of those colleges.

The university will confer 2,710 degrees.

Academic programs participating in the first undergraduate ceremony on Friday at 8 a.m., will be the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources, College of Business and the Division of Health Sciences. The second ceremony at 5 p.m., includes the College of Engineering and the College of Science. The 8 a.m. ceremony on Saturday includes the academic programs of the College of Education, College of Liberal Arts and Reynolds School of Journalism.

Both morning ceremonies have the same start times: graduates report to their designated college line-up location by 7:45 a.m. and the ceremony procession begins at 8 a.m. Friday evening’s ceremony begins with the student line-up at

The Herz Gold Medal for Outstanding Scholarship will be awarded to Emily Ann Weissgerber, biology major, during Friday afternoon’s ceremony. Also Friday afternoon, Kristen Avansino, Fatih Ozmen and Eren Ozmen will be honored with Honorary Degrees recognizing their significant and long-time contributions to the university, and two President’s Medals will be awarded to alumnus Mark Knobel and Felicia O’Carroll. The campus introduced the President’s Medal at the inauguration of President Joseph Crowley in 1979. ATwo Distinguished Nevadans will be honored, The Honorable Cliff Young and The Honorable Gregg W. Zive. The Distinguished Nevadan represents the most prestigious award conferred by the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

During the university’s commencement ceremonies this year, 2,114 bachelor degrees, 530 advanced-degree certificates (master’s and doctoral degrees) and 66 University of Nevada School of Medicine degrees will be awarded. The university awarded 2,454 degrees last spring and has seen a 27 percent increase since 2010 due to increased enrollment and improved graduation rates.

Free public parking is available in the West Stadium Parking Complex and the Blue and Green surface lots. Shuttles will be available two hours before each ceremony. The Brian J. Whalen Parking Complex will be available for handicap parking. The Nevada Wolf Shop inside the Joe Crowley Student Union will be open 7 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. today and 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., on Saturday.

New this year, the University’s commencement ceremony will feature a 20-foot-wide by 10-foot-wide screen, which will be hung above the main stage. The purpose of the screen is for more people to be able to better see what’s taking place at each event. It will also offer closed captioning on the screen to better serve a diverse population.