UC Davis' new College of Biological Sciences has zero enrollment, but more than 800 students showed up as expected for commencement last Friday.

The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences held its commencement two days later, on Father's Day. If that were a scheduling conflict, you would hardly have known it from the turnout: Some 900 graduates and their families showed up.

And the College of Letters and Science put on the university's largest commencement, for 2,200 graduates. Sound like a nightmare? Not for the Letters and Science organizing crew.

Altogether, the university expected to award an estimated 7,335 degrees in 2005-06. Schools and colleges organized 12 ceremonies this spring, all but one of them occurring within a nine-day period. How does the university get it done?

"We start pretty early (in January) in order to get ready for June," said Maddy Rehrman, commencement coordinator for Letters and Science, which split its graduation ritual into two ceremonies last Saturday.

The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences put on two ceremonies of its own on a day normally reserved for fathers.

Seeing their children graduate "is really a present for the parents," said Claudette Oriol, commencement coordinator, so the Father's Day ceremonies are not seen as a problem. "Everyone acknowledges the parents, and everyone's happy," she said.

Still, after next year, when a new academic calendar takes effect, the university will no longer have commencements on Father's Day.

Biological Sciences had a different problem this year. "We are a college now, but we are a college without a single student," said Ken Burtis, interim dean.

Incoming biological sciences majors in 2006-07 will be the first assigned to the college instead of Letters and Science or Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Existing biological sciences majors can stay in Letters and Science or Agricultural and Environmental Sciences through graduation, or transfer voluntarily to the new college.

"We expect the vast majority to transfer," he said. "So our first substantial graduating cohort [with College of Biological Sciences on their diplomas] will be next spring."

For this year, Biological Sciences carried on as in years past when it was a division, putting on a separate commencement for bio sci majors and awarding degrees from Letters and Science (about two-thirds of the graduating class) and Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (the other third).

Nevertheless, Burtis told the assembled graduates: "Whatever it says on your diploma, you are alumni of the College of Biological Sciences." The UC Board of Regents approved the "college" designation last July; Burtis said the college became official this spring, with all the paperwork completed.

But even with the college designation in hand, this year's commencement was no more important than any other, Burtis said. "They're all special," he said.

One thing that makes them special is that they seem to go off without a hitch — a testament to good planning.

Rehrman noted some of the many details: "Invitations to faculty; student speaker applications, followed by interviews and selection; faculty presenters; stage party; volunteers."

Another task is the preparation of charts showing the lineup of students, who march into the ARC Pavilion according to major. "We try to achieve four equal columns" of seating, Rehrman said.

Oh, and then there are the tickets. Every Letters and Science student, it seems, wanted more than the six to which he or she was entitled. In the days leading up to commencement, "That's what I spend most of my time on," Rehrman said.

The fact is, for each Letters and Science ceremony, with 1,100 graduates and six guests each, the pavilion was filled.

This year's spring commencement was the seventh that Rehrman organized. And though she is set to retire June 29 after 21 years at the university, she said will return to Letters and Science to organize the 2006 fall and 2007 spring commencements.

"I love the music, all the pomp and circumstance," she said, referring to the graduation song of that name, and the ceremonies, too. "I love to watch these kids; they are all so happy and excited."

Charlene Sweeting took charge of the Biological Sciences commencement for the first time this year.

"There are so many things you think are going wrong, but they actually are fine," she said amid last Friday's commencement. "As long as the students and families are happy, that's the most important thing."