[028] MORE THAN 900 GRADUATE FROM MTSU AT 97th SUMMER COMMENCEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 27, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Office of News and Public Affairs, 615-898-2919

MORE THAN 900 GRADUATE FROM MTSU AT 97th SUMMER COMMENCEMENT
Single-Ceremony Event Will Again be Webcast for Those Unable to Attend

(MURFREESBORO)—A projected 936 degree candidates will graduate during the 97th annual summer commencement ceremony, MTSU officials announced recently.
The single-ceremony graduation will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, in Murphy Center on the campus of MTSU, with Dr. Alfred Lutz, professor for the Department of English and the current MTSU representative of the Tennessee Board of Regents’ (TBR) Faculty Subcouncil, delivering the commencement address.
An estimated 681 of this summer’s degree candidates will be undergraduates, said Sherian Huddleston, assistant vice provost, Enrollment Services, with 255 students slated to graduate from the College of Graduate Studies. This total includes 218 master's degrees, 31 specialist in education degrees (Ed.S.) and six PhD. graduates.
Now completing a second term as president of the faculty senate, Lutz joined MTSU’s English department in 1998, where he teaches general composition and literature courses, Introduction to English Studies, Survey of British Literature, 18th Century Literature, Travel Literature and Holocaust Literature, respectively.
In addition to a term as an MTSU senator in 2004–06 and as senate president, Lutz has served on the Academic Appeals Committee; University Discipline Committee, which he also chaired; Library Committee, which he also chaired; and the Faculty Research and Creative Projects Committee. He also has served two terms as president of the MTSU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Lutz’s service in the Department of English includes membership on the Advisory Committee, Lower Division Committee, Freshman Writing Award Committee, Tenure-Track Faculty Search Committee, Graduate Committee and the Chair Search Committee, which he co-chaired.
A member of the American Association of University Professors and the Tennessee University Faculty Senates, among professional organizations, Lutz earned his Ph.D. (1993) and a Master of Arts (1987), both in English literature, from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts (1982) in history and English literature from Tübingen University in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Lutz, who is the recipient of several Faculty Research and Creative Activity Grants, has authored articles on 18th century subjects in journals such as Studies in Philology, Modern Language Quarterly, Studies in the Novel, Anglia:Zeitschrift für Englische Philologie, Studies in English Literature and Papers on Language & Literature.
Dr. Diane Miller, interim executive vice president and provost, said she 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,” Miller said. “Commencement is one of those few days that families always remember as


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special. It is difficult to give the ceremony the dignified atmosphere it deserves if attendees are using air horns or leaving before the completion of the ceremony.”
Additionally, Miller noted that 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, she said.
“To make this a special day, it requires cooperation from everyone in attendance,” Miller said. “We believe it should be a dignified ceremony, which adds to its enjoyment of all in attendance.”
At 8:30 a.m. Aug. 8, Murphy Center doors will open for the commencement
ceremony. Candidates are expected to be in their assigned areas, dressed in their caps and gowns, no later than 9 a.m. Officials report that students who are not in their assigned gym 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.
Graduation information—including how to access the graduation ceremony via streaming video the day of commencement, maps and driving directions to Murphy Center, cap-and-gown information and how to order a DVD of the summer ceremony— is available online by accessing www.mtsunews.com and clicking on the “Graduation Information” link at the top, center of the Web page.
For more information about receiving a degree in absentia, please visit the Records Office Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~records/ grad.htm . Any additional questions about graduation may be directed to the Records Office at 615-898-2600.

MTSU SUMMER 2009 COMMENCEMENT AT A GLANCE

Who: 936 graduates* (681 undergraduates, 255 graduate students)
What: MTSU’s 97th annual summer commencement ceremony.
When: 10 a.m. Aug. 8; doors open at 8:30 a.m.
Where: Murphy Center
Commencement speaker: Dr. Alfred Lutz, professor for the Department of English and the current MTSU representative of the Tennessee Board of Regents’ (TBR) Faculty Subcouncil
* — Approximate number as of July 20, 2008.

**ATTENTION, MEDIA—To secure a jpeg of Dr. Lutz for editorial use, please e-mail your request to gfann@mtsu.edu in the Office of News and Public Affairs at MTSU.


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