The University of Tennessee Health Science Center will graduate 89 new health care professionals during its virtual 2020 Winter Commencement ceremony on December 10. In addition, for the first time, a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences degree will be awarded to 456 students from the College of Pharmacy.
The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on Marching Order, a digital graduation platform. It can be accessed at this link: https://virtualgrad.marchingorder.com/uthsc/78/i/.
“We are pleased to celebrate this important milestone for our students and their families,” said Lori Gonzalez, PhD, vice chancellor of Academic, Faculty and Student Affairs at UTHSC. “This year has been one of unprecedented challenges, yet our students worked diligently to complete their program requirements. We are anxious to watch them positively impact the health of our citizens.”
During the ceremony, each of the college deans will present the names of their graduates. UTHSC Chancellor Steve Schwab, MD, will preside over the ceremony.
Those graduating include: 29 from the College of Graduate Health Sciences, 15 from the College of Health Professions, 38 from the College of Medicine, and seven from the College of Nursing.
The new Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences degree was approved by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission in January. Currently, students admitted into most colleges of pharmacy in the nation, including UTHSC, need approximately two to three years of required prerequisite coursework at a regionally accredited university or college in order to apply for admission. However, these students may not have completed their bachelor’s degree prior to matriculating into pharmacy school. UTHSC students are eligible to receive the bachelor’s degree after they successfully complete three semesters of the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum. They will then continue toward earning their doctorate through the four-year program. Going forward, the degree will be awarded during the second year of the program, but this year, third-and fourth-year students will be awarded degrees retroactively, since they are eligible.
Emily Capadalis Love (UT Knoxville, ’78), a retired senior vice president from First Tennessee Bank and president of the UT Alumni Association, will offer remarks and welcome the students as alumni. Serving almost 400,000 alumni from five different campuses, the UT Alumni Association has been active since 1836, making it one of the oldest alumni associations in the country.