UC DavisChancellor Gary S. Mayconferred degrees as graduates, certificate recipients, faculty, staff, family members and supporters gathered to mark the milestone.
This year’s graduating classes and certificate awardees included:
44 students receiving master’s degrees in nursing (whose program concluded in December)
63 future physician assistants
17 graduates earning Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees as family nurse practitioners
six graduates receiving Doctor of Philosophy degrees and
41 nurse practitioners awarded certificates to provide mental health services.
“This ceremony also comes during an important moment in the history of our school. This year, we are celebrating15 Years: Shaping What’s Next in Health Care,” saidStephen Cavanagh, dean of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. “Fifteen years ago, this school’s first classes arrived to fulfill a bold idea — attracted to a new kind of health professions school, one rooted in leadership, research, collaboration and bold system change.”
Graduates enter healthcare at a time of need
Standing before hundreds in attendance, Cavanagh traced the school’s growth since its first students arrived in 2010. At the time, the school had two programs, 33 students and no alumni. Today, its graduates serve in clinics, hospitals, communities, classrooms, labs and leadership roles across the healthcare spectrum.
Cavanagh told graduates they are entering a field shaped by workforce shortages, unequal access to care, rising complexity and fast-changing technology. The multiple challenges, he added, create a need for leaders who can think clearly, collaborate and keep people at the center of care.
As you leave here today, remember that your degree is not simply recognition of what you have achieved. It is a call to what you can contribute. Lead with compassion. Lead with curiosity. Lead with courage.—Dean Stephen Cavanagh
He directed comments to each of the five groups of graduates, noting how they are being called to care for patients and families, expand access to primary and mental health services, improve complex healthcare settings and advancing nursing science through research.
Students honored for school values
The ceremony alsorecognized five studentsselected by their peers for best exemplifying the school’s defining qualities. The School of Nursing cultivates academic excellence and addresses urgent social needs throughfive core attributes: community connection, diversity and inclusion, leadership, innovative solutions and collaboration.
Core values award winners. From left, Dean Stephen Cavanagh, Aron King, Ashley Balletto, Margaret Walsh and Aesara Rhys. Not pictured Sarah Dulaney.
As the ceremony closed, Cavanagh urged graduates to recognize their degrees as more than a sign of their achievement.
“As you leave here today, remember that your degree is not simply recognition of what you have achieved. It is a call to what you can contribute,” Cavanagh said. “Lead with compassion. Lead with curiosity. Lead with courage.”
He then reminded graduates that they represent an important part of the school’s history.
“Through your leadership, compassion, research and service,” Cavanagh said, “you will help build healthier communities and a more equitable future for those you serve.”
