N.J. Online Graduate on A&M-Commerce Campus for First Time

COMMERCE, Texas – When Lemar White of Princeton, N.J. walked across the stage to receive his master of business administration degree from Texas A&M University-Commerce at Summer Commencement, he was making his first visit to campus.

White, a corporate auditor for Tyco International, took the courses online and completed the work in a record nine months. The 23-year-old earned the degree in order to advance in his career.

White took time before the afternoon ceremony where he received the diploma to meet Shanna Hoskison, director of the A&M-Commerce College of Business and Technology Advising Center. They were eager to meet each other since they had emailed each other numerous times and talked on the phone about White’s class schedule.

White said he needed one more course to finish his requirements to graduate in August and Hoskison helped him. “If not for Shanna, I wouldn’t be graduating today,” he said.

With the master’s in hand, he is now eligible for a promotion this quarter at Tyco, he said.

Originally from Barbados and a 2006 graduate of Florida International University, White decided to pursue the M.B.A. from A&M-Commerce after researching AACSB accredited universities in the nation and Texas, he said. Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International is a prestigious accreditation sought by colleges and universities.

White, who is considering relocating to Houston, was visiting the Dallas metroplex and Northeast Texas for the first time when he attended the A&M-Commerce graduation ceremony.

Only a few days before the Aug. 9 Summer Commencement, the Tyco employee’s mother, Colleen White-Fentey, encouraged her son to come to his Commencement ceremony and he took her advice.

The A&M-Commerce College of Business and Technology has one of the larger M.B.A. programs in the North Texas region and among the Top Five in the Online AACSB Accredited Schools.

GRADUATE’S FIRST TIME ON CAMPUS — Lemar White of Princeton, N.J. earned a master of business administration degree from Texas A&M University-Commerce at Summer Commencement on Aug. 9. A corporate auditor for Tyco International, White took the courses online and completed the program in nine months. He attended graduation ceremonies to receive the degree, the first time he had been on campus and in this region of Texas.