December 2021 Graduation Ceremonies Scheduled

DegreeWorks completed? Check. Cap? Check. Gown? Check. A&M Texarkana seniors are going down their graduation list for anticipated December 11, 2021 graduation ceremonies. They will be held in the Patterson Student Center at 9:00 am and 11:30 am.  “The graduation ceremonies will be divided by majors and is a ticketed event,”  says Karen Duke at the Registrar’s office. Two ceremonies with an estimated 118 graduates each ceremony are scheduled to ensure safety and social distancing measures 

Graduation ceremonies are slowly returning to pre-pandemic schedule as the university continues to follow precautionary measures. The graduation commencement committee is made up of faculty and staff, they concur on venue, time, date, and crowd size. Starting at  9:00 am the first graduation ceremony will include Applied Arts & Sciences, Adult and Higher Education, Counseling, Curriculum and Instruction, Elementary Education, Education Administration,Educational Leadership, English, General Studies, History, English, Language, Arts and Reading 7-12, Psychology, School Counseling, and Sociology. The 11:30 am graduation ceremony will finish out with the following majors; Accounting, Business Administration, Biology, Biology Composite Science 7-12, Criminal Justice, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Instructional Technology, Kinesiology, Kinesiology EC-12, Mathematics, Mass Communication, and Political Science.

Each graduate is allocated up to six tickets for their family and friends and live streaming will be available.  Since TAMUT is following state and federal guidelines for social distancing, seating is limited, thus the six ticket limit per graduate. Upon entering the Patterson Student Center, seating is first come, first serve, there is no reserved seating. The graduation ceremony will be live streamed which is important because of ticket constraints. Nubia Sanchez, prospective graduate said, “I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to get  a higher education and be the first in my family to get  a bachelor’s degree.”

Caps and gowns for Bachelors or Masters degree may be purchased at Eagle Central  Bookstore.  The deadline for ordering has passed so it is just what the store has in stock at this point. Eagle Central Bookstore on the main campus can be reached at (903) 334-6620 for more information. There are several other regalia a graduate can buy such as a class ring, photographs or an engraved brick in front of the Eagle Landing to commemorate this momentous occasion.. Cords from different clubs are given out per club and honor sashes are given the day of graduation. Students should check their ACE email for any last minute changes or updates regarding graduation. Students may also contact the graduation office by email at graduation@tamut.edu for any more information.

 When the Patterson Student Center became used for graduation ceremonies, it allowed an opportunity for family and friends to see places become a reality of where the graduates took classes, studied, learned, forged friendships and committed to finishing an educational goal. Brooklyn Stephens said, I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to attend such an amazing university close to home. A&M has given me the chance to achieve my dreams while being near the ones I love.” 

“Where’s your sign?” That is what first popped into my head when I saw that little white paper tucked under my windshield wiper. I quickly got into my vehicle and began driving around the lot, looking for signage I may have missed. I had parked in the parking lot by the residence hall, incidentally, I had been parking there for two years. Later I talked to University Police Sergeant Ed Emilla, he explained all the different avenues students are told where or where not regular parking permits are valid. It was a valuable $30 lesson for this upcoming graduating senior.

There are several ways students and faculty are informed where they are allowed to park. Either attend a transfer orientation or go to the university police web site to view what areas are included with a Texarkana A&M parking tag. When you apply for a parking tag in the business office,  the website (http://www.tamut.edu/about/administration/university-police/parking.html) is listed on the paper form. As I conversed with Sergeant Ed Emilla, he explained that when someone gets a ticket, they have several options. The first option is to appeal within seven days or secondly to pay the parking ticket within ten days. If the ticket is not paid within ten days, the fine doubles. Thankfully, the amount doesn’t not increase after that $60. It is also important to note that all fines must be paid in order to graduate from Texarkana A&M. 

After asking several students, I found this particular area of parking restriction was not common knowledge. Many had never even been to the parking website listed on paper form. How can we fix this? My initial thought would be to place Resident Parking Only signs in the dorm parking lot or perhaps inform via Squawktalk, the weekly communication email sent to Texarkana A&M students. Another couple ideas would be to place QR codes or signs by the elevators, TAMUT social media sites or on the registration form.

The University Police patrol parking lots but also are actively helping in many other areas on campus. Perhaps combined efforts between the University Police, students and those who assist in school/student relationships to work for a solution. The University police are ready to help in any situation whether it be an emergency or in this case, helping students like me understand parking permit policies.

PLACE’s next event will be a workshop on Tuesday, October 26th from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm CST. The workshop will feature Aubrey Garcia, the founder of Southern Kitchen Witchery located in Shreveport, LA. She will be teaching about locally sourced dried herbs and florals from the ArkLaTex region and Reiki energy healing in observance of Samhain (Hallowe’en), one of the four Greater Sabbats in the Wicca calendar. October’s PLACE meeting is hyflex so you are able to meet in person at UC210 or attend via Zoom. Pre-registration is required to attend on Zoom, after registering a link will be emailed for the event. 

This year’s theme of Religion, Spirituality, and the Sacred holds weekly events and also monthly roundtable discussions. The sub theme for PLACE changes each month, October sub theme is on the soul and salvation. The roundtable speakers have been local faith leaders in the Texarkana community. The roundtable speakers are encouraged to invite their local congregants to join in these events.  Dr. Jaime Cantrell, co-chair, said, “We need more programming that draws both the local community and campus community into discussions of the non-Western religious practices, beliefs, and holidays–allowing for a greater understanding and acceptance of the diversity of globalized human experiences surrounding faith-based relationships.”

PLACE was started by a group of faculty members to encourage students to not learn solely for a career or job but to encourage the students to why and how we learn. “PLACE is meant to embody what universities are for, in many ways this is meant to be the life of the mind. PLACE is to engage with those that are experts and passionate about materials that are going to be of interest to you,”  Dr. Nakashian, co-chair, said regarding PLACE.  All PLACE events are open to students, TAMUT faculty, and the surrounding community. Event schedules are advertised in the Texarkana Gazette, Facebook (@Tamutplace) or @Tamutplace on Twitter. Meetings are held once a week and have different avenues in which to participate such as roundtable discussions, workshops or to hear a guest speaker. All of the events are hyflex at this time, with the occasional Zoom meeting only if guest speakers are located in other towns or states.

Texas A&M University-Texarkana inaugurated this program in 2014, led by faculty, that centered around a different theme every school year. PLACE is an acronym for Program for Learning and Community Engagement and emerged from a faculty discussion about a unifying academic theme. PLACE is a classroom and lecture series where the program has a variety of books, art, podcasts, and songs  to engage students, faculty, and the Texarkana community. The yearly theme is integrated into many classrooms with pointed focus in IS100, a University Foundations course.

Each spring the faculty is invited to decide on two chairs and a theme for the fall semester. Some of the past theme’s have been on environmental issues, race and ethnicity, and gender issues. This year’s theme, Religion, Spirituality and the Sacred covers a wide spectrum of ideas and values. The PLACE website gives opportunities for students and the community to learn more about a variety of sources on the subject or Religion, Spirituality and the Sacred. Each faculty member can focus on this theme regardless of what type of class is being taught to enhance a wider view of other participants’ world views. 

Dr. Craig Nakashian said, “Over the years, we figured out how to integrate PLACE more effectively into the freshman curriculum.” In IS100, a freshman required class, there is a book assigned and also a resource list in which students use to present on a subject and answer questions that come from the subject matter of that week. These classes encourage students to not only learn material but to think about why they believe in their personal lives. The end goal of PLACE is to create and encourage students to be lifelong learners.

 “It is like a puzzle piece,” Deanna Harding says when describing her day job as Catalog and Curriculum Coordinator at Texas A&M University – Texarkana.  She and her team within the Registrar’s office take care of logistics of room placement, class size, and time of classes. At her second job as a franchise owner of Rhea Lana, Deanna hosts a semi-annual children’s consignment sale with around 35,000 items in October and April locally. Balancing both jobs requires a lot of work, but creates a great sense of satisfaction of helping others achieve their goals of a better life.

Scheduling Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer classes entails a lot of work considering there are over 26 classrooms at the Texarkana campus excluding labs, testing center, and nursing classrooms. Deanna must not only consider how many students enrolled in each class, but also what days and times each room is being used, degree plans, and what courses a student needs to complete to graduate. The classroom and curriculum schedule must be updated each semester and what is available for students to enroll in various classes. Deanna has worked in three different capacities at A&M since she was a high school student. The first time working was in high school in the Registrar’s office, where her mother was the Registrar. She remembers students lining up in the hallway at 5:30 in the morning. Each student held a handwritten note card to register and checking on a huge whiteboard to see if class was still open, closed, or cancelled. “Technology has come so far,” she said, describing how different registration compares to the present.

Deanna is passionate about solving puzzles to help make life better for others, which in a way led to her becoming a franchise owner of Texarkana Rhea Lana’s. Rhea Lana’s is a great way for families to sell gently used clothing items, toys, shoes, baby equipment, and the list continues. She went to her first Rhea Lana’s event in Fayetteville when her daughter was six months old. After that first sale, she was hooked, becoming a consistent consignor, and then was able to participate in Rhea Lana’s leadership team. In 2015, she was able to purchase the franchise, growing sale items from 14,000 to 35,000 items each sale.  Storing clothing racks, electronics, and various equipment takes quite a bit of storage room. “I never knew that I would own an eighteen-wheeler, it was a proud moment when I purchased the eighteen-wheeler!’ Deanna chuckled as she talked about how much storage is required for equipment during non-sale times.

Working a full-time job at Texas A&M University – Texarkana, owning and operating Rhea Lana’s, having family time can keep Deanna very busy and at times running tired. She says it is when customers at sale events tell her how much they are thankful for being able to buy nice clothes for picture day or a Halloween outfit that is not so expensive that makes it worth all the time and energy expended. “You hear those kinds of stories and that is when you’re like ok, this is worth it.’ Rhea Lana’s also encourages foster families to come on the last day and choose from donated clothes, toys, etc. for children that are in placement at no charge.” Deanna feels that helping students and helping families go hand in hand as she sees improving life choices that help so many people. A priority for Deanna is building relationships with students and faculty at college or seeing Rhea Lana’s impact on the community. Deanna is successfully accomplishing her goal of helping students and families by putting a lot of pieces of life together.

Katie Cole recently spoke at a conference and quickly pronounced herself as a hoodrat, which immediately put her audience at ease. Looks can certainly be deceiving when meeting Katie, this young lady with a solemn look. Katie goes to college online at Southern New Hampshire University, her degree will be in Graphic Design for Media Arts and Web Site Development.  She volunteers at her local church in the media department, enjoys hiking, playing dominoes on a daily basis, and listening to a variety of podcasts.

A  common thread of interest that kept surfacing as Katie expounded was her ever progressing path of learning, whether graphic design or ways to plan a counter attack in dominoes. Katie goes to college online taking one class, which runs eight weeks, per semester. She learns about different aspects of design, graphics and print. Her passion for media and design clearly shine through as she spoke about all the different aspects of her work and degree. “I knew if I got my degree, I would be able to help others in making their online presence more visible.” She endeavors to help churches on a lower budget to increase their media presence on different social media platforms. 

As Katie navigates through work and college, she tries to keep a balance by taking time to hike and  play dominoes with a focus on relaxation. If hiking alone, Katie had tips on ways to be safe but also on how to let others know your location. She uses a couple of hiking apps like Alltrails for location purposes since she once got lost on a hike and the hiking app assisted her in getting back to safety. Katie playing dominoes with family and friends sounds riskier than hiking alone.  Katie talked about playing dominoes against her dad who is a third generation domino player, so it definitely is an interesting family time game. Katie remembers all her life hearing dominoes slam down or friends just talking around the table. “As a kid watching them, it was almost like breaking bread with somebody,” Katie fondly described her childhood memories of growing up around domino games.

Katie’s face lights up in excitement when podcasts are mentioned in conversations. Katie thoroughly enjoys listening to podcasts with a particular interest in crime podcasts. Katie has a list of several podcasts that focus not only on true crimes but certain types of crimes. 

 Katie is quick to give her opinion on several cases such as the Jon Benet case since her intense interest in not just podcasts but how the criminal mind thinks. “My sister Kaycee  and I argue about this case all the time, we have debated about this case for hours.”   

Katie is looking forward to working in her field of interest but also is looking for ways to combine her interest in ways to help others. As she learns more of her trade, interests and grows in her personal knowledge, the future looks bright and successful for Katie Cole.