During the Feb. 19 meeting of the General Faculty and Academic Senate, Rafael L. Bras, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, discussed how this year’s spring commencement ceremonies would be different from years past.

Bras explained that to accommodate the large number of undergraduate students who will walk in the ceremony in the McCamish Pavilion, two ceremonies will be held on Saturday, May 4 (at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.), instead of one.

“I encourage you all to attend, as I think the students deserve our support,” he added.

For more information about this spring’s graduate and undergraduate ceremonies, click here.

In other meeting news:

• A motion to accept a proposed 2013 Draft Faculty Handbook was presented and approved during first reading. In revising the handbook, the goal is to make the content more concise and easier to understand. For example, the first 27 sections have been reorganized into five, and bulleted lists have been added to improve clarity. A second reading and final vote is scheduled for the April 23 General Faculty and Academic Senate meetings. Click here to view a copy of the draft.

• An announcement was made that nominations for faculty governance committees are being accepted. Faculty who are elected to the committees will serve from August 2013 through August 2016. The nominating committee is in the process of finishing up the ballot (the original deadline was last week), but late nominations will still be considered for any openings. For more information, click here.

To view the meeting agenda and supporting documents from the February meeting, click here.