Shelly
Reed (A&M-Commerce photos by Craig Buck)
(Corsicana)—Shelly Reed is a student at Navarro College who returned to continue her education after 17 years.
She is a wife and mother who plans to graduate with an associate degree this May and then begin courses in the Navarro Partnership Program.
Through the Navarro Partnership, Texas A&M University-Commerce offers courses on the Navarro campus, and Reed will be able to earn a bachelor's degree in elementary education and become a teacher.
"The partnership with A&M Commerce is a wonderful thing here in Corsicana,” she said. "I do not believe I could have traveled out of town to go to school since I have kids of my own to take care of."
Since its establishment in 1999, the Navarro Partnership has made it possible for hundreds of central Texas residents to earn bachelor's and graduate degrees. More than 300 teachers, who graduated from the partnership, are currently at work in central Texas schools, according to Bill Humbert, partnership director.
This Navarro College-A&M-Commerce initiative is making higher education accessible in an area of the state where there is a need.
The Navarro Partnership's efforts have been recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The partnership is a winner of a 2005 Star Award.
Six exemplary higher education programs received Star Awards in ceremonies in Austin last fall. The winners represent the state's "most effective efforts for closing the education gaps that challenge our state," Commissioner of Higher Education Raymond A. Paredes said.
Familiar with the higher education accessibility problem for residents of Navarro County and surrounding counties is Lary Reed, executive vice president at Navarro College.
Richard
Sanchez (left), president of Navarro College, and Keith McFarland, president
of A&M-Commerce
A public university is a two-hour drive for Corsicana area residents.
Reed, who is Shelly's father-in-law, earned all three of his degrees from A&M-Commerce by commuting two hours to the Commerce campus and then two hours to return home.
A longtime Navarro College employee, Reed recalls leaving Corsicana at 4 p.m. for a 6 to 9 p.m. class that met on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Commerce. "After class, I would use the library and computer center to do homework," he said.
"In one statistics class, it was necessary to for me to do all my homework in the Computer Center after class. I would get home around 2 a.m. and have to go to work the next day at 7:30 a.m."
Reed also spent many Saturdays away from home from 5:30 a.m. to about 6 p.m. in Commerce taking classes and doing homework.
About the hardship placed on him and his family and numerous other central Texans trying to earn college degrees, he said: "Time is very important for a person with a family. When I was driving to Commerce three times per week, my family did not see me very often, and I had two young boys and a wife who needed my time."
Determined to do something about this hardship placed on central Texas residents was Dr. Richard Sanchez, president of Navarro College. Sanchez approached several universities about the possibility of offering bachelor's and master's degrees on his campus. A&M-Commerce was one of these institutions.
On why Navarro College decided to form an initiative with A&M-Commerce, he said, "It has a very good reputation, and it seemed to have the greatest interest."
One university wanted to offer only distance education courses, and Sanchez wanted university faculty to come and teach at his campus.
Also, numerous persons in Navarro County and employees at Navarro College have degrees from Texas A&M University in College Station and A&M-Commerce, he said. "People in the community were interested in getting a flagship university to offer courses at Navarro College," Sanchez said.
These
Navarro College and A&M-Commerce personnel have worked together since
1999 through the Navarro Partnership.
At a Coordinating Board meeting, Sanchez asked others to point out the A&M-Commerce president to him, and he passed a card to A&M-Commerce President Keith McFarland asking him to meet him in the hallway. Neither man knew each other, and McFarland agreed to step outside.
That was the beginning of the Navarro Partnership and a cordial working relationship between the two. "It was one of those meetings, an exchange of a few minutes, and you have no way to comprehend where it ultimately will lead," McFarland said.
Surveys of Navarro College students and residents in the community college's service area were conducted to inquire about the need for bachelor's and master's degree course in Corsicana. Support was strong, and A&M-Commerce began offering courses.
Currently, the Navarro Partnership offers bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees in interdisciplinary studies, online bachelor of applied arts and sciences, and bachelor of science in criminal justice. At the graduate level are master of arts, master of science, and master of education in special education, master of education and master of science in elementary education, and master of education and master of science in secondary education.
"Unique" is how Sanchez describes the partnership. A&M-Commerce sought Coordinating Board approval to offer the degrees at Navarro College, hired a partnership director, and sent faculty, adviser, and assistant director to be based at the Corsicana campus. There are also student services with A&M-Commerce books in the Navarro College Library, computer lab, two-way interactive video room, and A&M-Commerce personnel visiting the campus on a regular basis.
While there are other partnerships in the state between community colleges and universities, the relationship between Navarro College and A&M-Commerce is unusual, personnel with both schools said. Rarely does a university offer degrees at a two-year institution with the students seldom, if ever, coming to the university campus, they said.
When a Navarro Partnership student graduates, a graduation ceremony is held by A&M-Commerce on the Navarro College campus. Presidents Sanchez and McFarland take turns handing out the diplomas and shaking hands with the graduates.
In May, the partnership will have its largest graduating class ever with about 120 students, said Humbert, who plays a key role in the partnership's success. "We are fortunate to have Dr. Bill Humbert as the director," A&M-Commerce's Dr. Mary Hendrix. In addition to being a faculty member, he is an adviser, mentor, and counselor to our students."
The future of the Navarro Partnership is bright, with Navarro College this semester opening a new campus in Midlothian in growing Ellis County.
Of the future, Sanchez said, "I await the day when the first doctoral candidate walks across the stage at Navarro College. That's my anticipation and my hope."