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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in Commencement

Air Force Maj. Gen. Walter D. Givhan talks value of education with TROY grads

Posted on Wednesday, 22 May 2013 in Trojan News

MONTGOMERY—U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Walter D. Givhan, a Troy University alumnus, told TROY graduates that education will help them deal with new challenges and demanding situations as they move forward with their careers.

Givhan delivered the keynote address to graduates during spring commencement for the Montgomery Campus on Monday, May 20, inside the Davis Theatre for the Performing Arts. Some 140 students took part in the 7 p.m. ceremony.

In all, 192 students earned undergraduate and graduate degrees this spring at the Montgomery Campus.

Givhan told graduates that training can prepare a person for a specific task or job, but education provides the thinking skills needed to adapt to new situations. Givhan, a 1989 graduate of then Troy State University with a master’s degree in international relations, said his TROY education proved invaluable in helping him adapt to the challenge of serving as an air liaison officer to French ground forces during Desert Storm.

“It would be my first combat experience, yet it was completely different from what I had trained to face in Europe,” Givhan said. “Fortunately, my TROY education played a major role in preparing me to adapt to this unfamiliar and demanding situation.”

Tasked with helping to incorporate the French into the international coalition and coordinate U.S. air strikes in support of French ground operations, Givhan said he relied on his educational background to help accomplish the mission.

“Accomplishing that goal required a lot of patient work in building relationships and trust, work that was informed by my TROY education and the knowledge I had gained into history, international relations and culture,” Givhan said.

Throughout his career Givhan has pursued additional advanced educational opportunities. He urged the graduates to build on the foundation of their TROY degrees to prepare for future challenges.

“If education can propel this Alabama country boy into the world of international military operations and diplomacy, imagine what it can do for you,” Givhan said. “Value education as a strategic investment, and never quit augmenting yours.”

A native of Safford, Ala., Givhan serves as Commander of the Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education and Vice Commander of Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base.

Maj. Gen. Walter D. Givhan of Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base delivers the keynote address to Troy University graduates during the spring commencement ceremony for the Montgomery Campus on Monday, May 20, at the Davis Theatre. (TROY photo/Kevin Glackmeyer)

Culver talks choices with TROY grads during Dothan commencement

Posted on Monday, 20 May 2013 in Dothan News

DOTHAN—Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver told Troy University graduates on Sunday that it’s not where you start, but the choices you make that determine one’s course in life.

Culver delivered the keynote address to graduates during the spring commencement ceremony for the Dothan Campus on Sunday, May 19, inside the Dothan Civic Center. Some 190 students received graduate and undergraduate degrees this spring at the Dothan Campus.

Culver told graduates that Yogi Berra was on to something when he famously said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

“How many people do you know who come to a fork in the road and do nothing,” Culver said. “That’s an easy choice, a safe choice, but you have made choices, and taken paths or else you wouldn’t be here today.”

Culver told graduates to always be ready to take a new path, and when choices don’t work out, to learn lessons from those mistakes.

“It's not where you start in life, it’s where you go, where you end up and how you get there,” Cuvler said.

Going forward, Culver urged graduates to look for more than just personal achievement. He said graduates should look for causes to support, and people to help, in their communities.

“You have the opportunity, I would say the obligation, to be there for others,” Cuvler said. “There are people out there who need you.”

Culver, a lifelong resident of Dothan, was first elected to the Houston County Commission as District 4 representative in 1986, the youngest person ever elected to the commission. He was appointed chairman in 1997 by then Governor Fob James to fill a vacancy, and was elected to a full term the following year. He has been re-elected three times.

Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver delivers the keynote address to Troy University graduates during the spring commencement ceremony for the Dothan Campus on Sunday, May 19, at the Dothan Civic Center. (TROY photo/Cass Davis)

Master’s degree at 17 makes Harding perhaps TROY’s youngest ever graduate ^Featured

Posted on Friday, 17 May 2013 in Trojan News

MONTGOMERY—At Troy University’s Montgomery Campus this spring, some 180 students will reach the milestone of completing a college degree, but only one of them will have earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees before he is old enough to vote.

Heath Harding of Montgomery will walk across the Davis Theatre stage Monday night to accept his Master of Computer Science degree. At 17-years-old, he is most likely the youngest degree recipient in TROY’s history.

And while his achievement may seem extraordinary, for the Harding family it’s pretty routine. Six of the family’s 10 children started college by the age of 12.

“My three older sisters did the same things, and now my two younger bothers,” Harding said. “It’s become a kind of normal. It was exciting. I’m sure I missed some things not going to high school, but I got to experience a lot of things that most people don’t get to experience.”

Harding actually started taking college classes at 10 while the family was living in California. After they moved to Montgomery, Harding enrolled at Huntingdon College, where he completed his bachelor's degree in English before moving on to TROY for his master’s degree.

Being so young in college comes with more than a few funny looks and strange moments, but Harding said that in time, most people were able to look past his age.

“There are some humorous interactions, and some funny nicknames, but it has always been positive,” Harding said. “After a while everyone gets used to you being in the classroom. People can look past your height.”

Many adult learners attend TROY’s Montgomery Campus, which meant the age gap between Harding and his fellow students was even greater, going from just a few years to decades. But smaller classes meant he got to know both students and teachers better.

“I have to say that TROY was very flexible and accepted my unique situation,” Harding said.

Adjunct instructor Dr. Fred Strickland taught Harding at TROY and said the teen fit in well in class and was up to the challenge of graduate level work.

“We do a lot of project-based assignments and he was able to contribute and did very good work,” Strickland said. “He was more than equal to the task and had the intellectual maturity to deal with software engineering.”

The Harding children have all been homeschooled by parents Mona Lisa and Kip Harding. The family’s success at getting their children through college at such a young age has garnered national attention, and the Hardings have been featured on the Today Show and CNN among other national media.

Through their website, the Hardings now advise other families on how to replicate their homeschooling strategy, which Mona Lisa said can work for almost anyone.

“We get emails from people all the time saying my child is very bright and very bored in school and misbehaving,” she said. “We urge them to consider home schooling because it is the only environment where they can really accelerate.”

For his part, Heath is quick to dismiss any thought that he must be a genius because of his academic success at a young age.

“People like to say that to me, but I really don’t feel like I am just endowed with superior ability,” he said. “I think I’ve been given a better environment. I’ve had things at home be stable. My older sisters could tutor me and help me out with calculus class. I’ve been blessed with a great environment and I think if anyone was given the same environment they would be able to achieve the same success.”

With diploma in hand, Heath Harding will join his father in the ranks of TROY alumni. Kip Harding also earned a master’s degree from TROY.

The TROY Montgomery Campus commencement ceremony will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 20.

Heath Harding of Montgomery will graduate Monday night from Troy University with a master’s degree in computer science. At 17, he is likely TROY’s youngest ever degree recipient. (TROY photo/Matt Clower)

TROY graduation set for Sunday

Posted on Thursday, 16 May 2013 in Trojan News

TROY – Dr. John R. Dew will provide the keynote address at Troy University’s commencement exercises Sunday, May 19 on Saint Simons Island.

About 50 students from Brunswick and Savannah sites will participate in the event, which begins at 3 p.m. at Strickland Auditorium, Epworth By-the-Sea.

Dr. Dew serves as Senior Vice Chancellor of Student Services and Administration at the University, after having served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness from 2007 until 2010.

Prior to joining the University, he was Director for Continuous Quality Improvement and Planning at the University of Alabama. From 1974 until 1998, he worked for Lockheed Martin Corp. as a quality and strategic planning professional in Oak Ridge, Tenn. and Paducah, Kent., including work at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

He earned his Doctorate in Education from the University of Tennessee and is the author of five books, including co-authoring Continuous Quality Improvement in Higher Education with Molly McGowan Nearing, published by the American Council on Education and Praeger Press in 2004. His scholarly publications include Managing in a Team Environment and Empowerment and Democracy in the Workplace, both published by Greenwood Press. In 1997 he published a trade book on strategic planning with Quality Resources Press, Quality-Centered Strategic Planning. In 2001 he co-authored Diagnosing and Preventing Adverse and Sentinel Events, a handbook on preventing and investigating medical errors, with Meri Curtis, published by Opus Press.

Dr. Dew was appointed by the Undersecretary of Education to serve on the Department of Education’s Rulemaking Process in 2006. He was a founding member and chair of the National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in Higher Education, and has served as the Chair of the Education Division and the Energy and Environmental Division of the American Society for Quality. Dr. Dew is a Fellow in the American Society for Quality and held an appointment from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to serve as one of the twelve Judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program for 2008-2011. In 2009 Dr. Dew was elected to membership in the International Academy for Quality, which is the international body of academics engaged in research and publication related to quality sciences. In 2011 Dr. Dew was named to the Board of Directors of the National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in Higher Education (NCCI).

Dr. John Dew

Columbus Technical College president to address TROY graduates

Posted on Thursday, 16 May 2013 in Trojan News

PHENIX CITY—The president of Columbus Technical College, J. Robert Jones, will deliver the keynote address to Troy University graduates on Friday, May 24, during a joint spring commencement ceremony for the Phenix City Campus and the Columbus/Ft. Benning site.

The ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. EST inside the Columbus Civic Center. About 314 students will receive degrees this spring from the Phenix City Campus and the Columbus/Ft. Benning site.

Jones has been president of Columbus Technical College since 1999. His tenure has seen a threefold growth in enrollment, an expanded campus and a host of new degrees and programs in high growth areas.

Prior to becoming president of Columbus Technical College, Jones served in the Department of Technical and Adult Education’s Atlanta office as Director of North Georgia Project Operations for Georgia’s acclaimed Quick Start Program.

Jones received his B.S. degree from Georgia Southern College and his M.Ed. and Ed. S. degrees from the University of Georgia. He is a native of Columbus, and has been married to his wife Pat for 46 years and they have a son, Steve of Williamsburg, Va., a daughter, Allison Ehouse of Columbus, and three grandchildren.

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