Nearly 2,000 students eligible for Spring Commencement ceremonies

Nearly 2,000 students are eligible to cross the stage during four commencement ceremonies at the University.  President Mark Kennedy will preside over his first Spring Commencement ceremonies and will deliver a message to the students.

UND added a ceremony for the more than 500 graduate students earning degrees this spring.  That ceremony, 9 a.m. on May 13, will precede the 1:30 p.m. ceremony for about 1,330 undergraduate students.  Both ceremonies will take place at the Alerus Center.

The School of Medicine and Health Sciences will confer the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 14, at the Chester Fritz Auditorium.  Sixty-five degree candidates will participate in the ceremony. The graduates have completed four years of medical education to earn their Doctor of Medicine, beginning with two years of instruction at the UND campus in Grand Forks, followed by two years learning and working with practicing physicians who volunteer to serve as their teachers in hospitals and clinics throughout North Dakota. Upon graduating, the doctors will complete their residencies, a period of advanced intensive training in their chosen medical specialty before independent practice as a physician. Depending on the medical specialty, medical school graduates complete anywhere from three to seven years of residency training after medical school.

William S. Mann, M.D., will deliver the keynote address for the ceremony: “Reflection of a Half Century—the Meaning of Professionalism.”  Mann is a physician in the Department of Family Medicine for Altru Health System. He is a clinical professor of family and community medicine at the UND SMHS, where he also lectures for the Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training degree program. He served as medical director for the UND SMHS Department of Sports Medicine from 1990 to 1995. He is also an assistant director of the Altru Family Medicine Residency Program. He served as chair of the UND SMHS Department of Family Medicine from 1996 to 2002 and returned to the residency program as a faculty member in March 2002. Mann has a special interest in sports medicine. He was born and raised in Scotland and received his medical degree from the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

The School of Law awarded of Juris Doctor (J.D.) to 54 law students during commencement ceremonies May 6 at the Chester Fritz Auditorium.  The Class of 2017 selected Paul LeBel, UND Law Dean Emeritus and former UND Provost and Law Professor, to deliver this year’s commencement address.

Commencements to be live streamed, aired on Channel 3

UND provides a live video stream of commencements to allow family and friends to participate in commencement, even if they cannot attend in person. UND recommends that devices and computers be set to full screen format.  If the screen is grey, please refresh it. The feed is iOS and Android compatible.

Three programs will be webcast on Saturday, May 13:

• Graduate Degree Ceremony, 9 a.m. (CDT)
• “Celebrate Achievement,” 12:30 p.m. (CDT)
• Undergraduate Degree Ceremony 1:30 p.m. (CDT)

“Celebrate Achievement” features live interviews with students, a concert by the UND Wind Ensemble and videos about UND.

The video streams will start shortly before each program. UND Cable Channel 3 will appear on the stream until each program begins. The programs will also be telecast live on Midco’s Cable Channel 3 in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. For the first time this year, they will be streamed on UND’s Facebook page using Facebook Live.

If you have trouble seeing the video, please contact tech support at http://techsupport.und.edu and chat with a representative or call 701-777-6305 (press 0 or remain on the line).

If you are unable to view the commencement ceremony live, an archive video will be available by Wednesday, May 17. The videos for each program are downloadable through the following links:

Graduate degree ceremony: https://vimeo.com/213580685

Celebrate Achievement: https://vimeo.com/215514556

Undergraduate degree ceremony:https://vimeo.com/213581272