Page 10 - MGA Today - Fall 2016
P. 10
By Sheron Smith
MGA Continues Crafting Master’s Degrees,
Two New Programs Coming Soon
Terrie Lewis, a recent graduate of MGA’s Dr. Kevin Cantwell, dean, and Dr. Loretta Clayton, associate dean,
bachelor’s degree in English, plans to be are collaborating with other University departments and regional
among the first students in the University’s stakeholders to help build MGA’s master’s degree programs. The
upcoming Master of Arts in Teaching in photo shows them at the Office of Graduate Studies on the Warner
Secondary Education program. SHERON SMITH Robins Campus. SHERON SMITH
Earlier this year, after completing her bach- Campus. Middle Georgia State became a University
elor’s in English from Middle Georgia State, in July 2015 and introduced its first two graduate
Terrie Lewis got an email asking if she would programs – Nursing and Information Technology –
be interested in the University’s forthcoming Master shortly afterward.
of Arts in Teaching degree.
Dr. Kevin Cantwell is among a few faculty
“I was like, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!’ said Lewis, 52, members left whose MGA career dates to the former
who, after years of substitute teaching, decided to Macon College, a two-year school. Now he’s the first
make education a full-time career. “I planned to go dean of Graduate Studies, and he likes what he sees
into a master’s program somewhere. If it can be at so far of MGA’s evolution as a University.
Middle Georgia State, all the better.”
“Graduate education is part of the access
If the program is approved by the Southern mission of not just MGA but the University System
Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on of Georgia as a whole,” he said. “Our graduate
Colleges, MGA will roll out the Master of Arts in programs are building on that mission in the sense
Teaching in Secondary Education in summer 2017. that we want to create programs that serve specific
Another program is set to begin even sooner. With workforce needs, are relatively low cost and have
SACSCOC’s approval, the University plans to launch reasonable admissions standards. We want to
the Master of Science in Management in January remove barriers to our citizens who need graduate
2017. education for the professional roles they fill. It’s
good for them and it’s good for the region’s
The two new degrees would bring to four the economy.”
number of programs that MGA – approved by
SACSCOC as a Level III master’s degree-granting As of this fall, 18 students are enrolled in MGA’s
University – offers through the Office of Graduate Master of Science in Nursing in Adult Gerontology
Studies, which is based on the Warner Robins Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, while 55 are pursuing
10 MIDDLE GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
