197 More than 1,400 SET TO PARTICIPATE IN FALL COMMENCEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 3, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Office of News and Public Affairs, 615-898-2919

MORE THAN 1,400 GRADUATES SET TO PARTICIPATE IN FALL COMMENCEMENT
AT&T’s Gregg F. Morton & State’s Director of Children’s Services Viola Miller
Will Serve as Featured Speakers for Dual-Ceremony Graduation Event at MTSU

(MURFREESBORO)—More than 1,400 degree candidates are expected to graduate during MTSU’s 96th fall commencement during the university’s upcoming commencement ceremonies, reports Dr. Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost, Enrollment Services.
On Saturday, Dec. 15, MTSU will again feature dual ceremonies and dual speakers starting at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. in Murphy Center. Of the 1,489 set to graduate, 1,289 are undergraduates and 200 are graduate students, including 187 master’s candidates, 10 education specialist (Ed.S.) degree candidates and three Ph.D. candidates.
Candidates from the College of Graduate Studies, Jennings A. Jones College of Business, and College of Education and Behavioral Science will receive their degrees in the morning ceremony. That afternoon degrees will be conferred on candidates in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, College of Mass Communication, and the College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning, said Dr. Jack Thomas, senior vice provost for academic affairs and chairman of the commencement committee.
Gregg F. Morton, who currently serves as president of AT&T Tennessee, will be the guest speaker for the 9 a.m. ceremony. A native of Aiken, S.C., he was appointed to his current post Sept. 4, 2007. However, he previously served as AT&T's vice president of legislation and chief of staff for government relations, based in Washington, D.C.
One of the world's largest telecommunications holding companies and the largest in the United States, AT&T Inc. operates globally under the AT&T brand and holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which is the No. 1 U.S. wireless services provider, with 58.7 million wireless customers.
An administrative-management graduate of Clemson University and former chairman of the school's board of visitors, Morton began his telecommunications career nearly three decades ago with BellSouth in South Carolina as a manager in Charleston before going to Washington, D.C., as that company's director of legislative affairs in the 1980s. He returned to Columbia, S.C., in the 1990s, where he was promoted to BellSouth liaison to the U.S. Telecom Association.
In addition to his most recent accomplishments, Morton also is a former chairman of the Board of Regents for Leadership South Carolina and past president of AT&T South Carolina.
Dr. Viola Miller, who was appointed commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services on Dec. 23, 2003, will be the featured speaker for the 1 p.m. ceremony. A veteran child-welfare administrator, Miller is the former secretary of families and children for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Having dedicated much of her professional career to serving children and youth in various capacities, Miller—prior to her tenure as Kentucky’s secretary for families and
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children—served as dean of Murray State University's Center for Continuing Education and Academic Outreach. She also has an academic background in special education and speech therapy.
Miller received a Bachelor of Arts in speech and hearing therapy from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La., in 1964 and a Master of Science in speech-pathology and audiology from Tulane University in 1966. She later completed a residency at Duke University Medical Center in medical speech pathology. In 1978, she earned an Ed.D. in special education from the University of Alabama.
Regarding the upcoming commencement event, Thomas said he wanted to remind all degree candidates of the importance of appropriate dress, decorum and respect for the commencement ceremony.
“We believe this is a very important day in the lives of many people,” Thomas said. “Commencement is a day that families always remember as special. It is difficult to give the ceremony the dignified atmosphere it deserves if people are using air horns or leaving before the completion of the ceremony.”
Additionally, per Thomas, the graduation committee also emphasized that students who participate in commencement will be required to stay for the entire ceremony. The ceremony should last about two hours. If candidates are planning celebration activities, please be aware of this commitment, he said.
“To make this a special day, it requires cooperation from everyone in attendance,” Thomas said. “We believe it should be a dignified ceremony, which adds to its enjoyment of all in attendance.”
On Dec. 15, the doors to Murphy Center will open at 8 a.m. for the morning ceremony and candidates are expected to be in their assigned areas, dressed in their caps and gowns, no later than 8:30 a.m. For the afternoon ceremony, the doors will open at noon, and candidates are expected to be in their assigned areas and ready at 12:30 p.m.
Officials report that students who are not in their assigned gyms at the proper times will not be allowed to participate in the ceremony. Because commencement rehearsals are no longer conducted, timely attendance is mandatory for students to receive important instructions.
• For more information about commencement or receiving a degree in absentia, please visit the Records Office Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~records/grad.htm. Questions about graduation may be directed to the Records Office at 615-898-2600.


MTSU FALL 2007 COMMENCEMENT AT A GLANCE

Who: Approximately 1,489 graduates* (1,289 undergraduates, 200 graduate students)
What: 2007 MTSU fall commencement
When: 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Dec. 15
Where: Murphy Center on the MTSU campus.
Commencement speakers:
• Gregg F. Morton, president of AT&T Tennessee, at 9 a.m. ceremony.
• Dr. Viola Miller, commissioner of Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, at 1 p.m. ceremony.

*— Approximate number as of Nov. 26, 2007.