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American Graduate University Recognizes Student Excellence
By Nicole Lehner, Sat Dec 10th
The words "academic achievement" often bring to mind images of astudent in cap and gown, proudly holding aloft a hard-earneddiploma. It's true that commencement ceremonies, held annuallyunder sunny June skies, are often a college or university's onlyopportunity to acknowledge its students' exceptional academicwork. But what does a distance university--whose students arescattered not only across the United States, but quite literallyacross the globe--do to recognize its outstanding achievers?American Graduate University, one of the nation's premierdistance learning institutions, has responded to that problem byestablishing a chapter of the Delta Epsilon Tau InternationalHonor Society. Founded by the Distance Education and TrainingCenter Board of Trustees, Delta Epsilon Tau bestows honor uponstudents who have achieved a set of academic standards duringthe course of a program. Election tomembership in Delta Epsilon Tau shows that a student has made aserious commitment to self-study, and helps distinguish thatstudent among his or her peers. Marie Sirney, Vice President ofAmerican Graduate University, explains the impetus behind thisinitiative to reward graduates' demonstrated excellence. "Ournew president, Mark Ferguson, is very anxious to showcase ourgraduates who have achieved academic excellence. He was familiarwith the benefit of membership in an honor society, and so whenhe came on board, joining Delta Epsilon Tau was one of his firstpriorities." Since each learning institution is unique and hasits own grading and evaluation system, each chapter of DeltaEpsilon Tau is therefore empowered to determine its own basicselection criteria for membership. At American GraduateUniversity, only those graduates with a grade point average of3.75 or higher are eligible for nomination to the Honor Society.This enables the university to acknowledge the exceptionalaccomplishments of its students, while still maintaining theflexibility and freedom of a long-distance learning program."Our student body has grown from 125 to 680 students over thelast three years," says Sirney. "This expansion has brought toour attention the need to provide recognition to our honorgraduates." Although the recognition, which is conferredautomatically upon a graduate's eligibility, may be a new one,implementing it has already brought distinction to AmericanGraduate University. "We were encouraged by our accreditingassociation, the Distance Education and Training Council, whosponsor DET, to establish a chapter," Sirney continues,explaining that the cachet of Delta Epsilon Tau chaptership isnot limited to students, but extends also to the instructors atevery institution with a chapter. Yet students are undoubtedlythe most direct recipients of this distinction. Take TomScheetz, who was named AGU's Graduate of the Year when he earnedhis Master of Contract Management degree in 2004. In addition toachieving a 4.0 grade point average, he also had the highestscore ever achieved on a comprehensive examination whichstudents take at the end of the program. Naturally, Scheetz wasamong the first graduates to be inducted into AGU's chapter ofDelta Epsilon Tau. "I am truly honored to be included
in thisdistinct group of professionals," says Scheetz, who is now aBase Support Element Chief in the Specialized Contracting Flightat Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. He discusses just someof the benefits that his education, and now his association withDelta Epsilon Tau, have reaped: "The AGU Master of ContractManagement degree has increased my knowledge and given me a muchbroader perspective. I have no doubt the degree, and subsequentinduction into the Honor Society, will provide more options andopportunities in the future." American Graduate University is an accredited universityoffering Master's degrees, Master's certificates, andprofessional training programs in Business Management, ProjectManagement, and Contract and Acquisition Management. Itsstudents are rising professionals who are motivated andself-directed, and for whom the demands of career, family, andeveryday life preclude traditional educational programs. DeltaEpsilon Tau draws on the rich heritage of the Greek alphabet todemonstrate the commitment that a member university has made toits most outstanding students. Delta, the triangle, is thefourth letter of the Greek alphabet; in this instance, it standsfor the unity of three groups: students, institutions, and theDistance Education and Training Center. Epsilon, the fifthletter, signifies education and development, and Tau, the Greekalphabet's nineteenth letter, represents the establishment ofgood character and the recognition conferred upon one who hasworked hard in his or her field of endeavor. Together, thesethree letters, along with the symbolic Flaming Torch ofKnowledge and the words "integrity" and "excellence," comprisethe Delta Epsilon Tau emblem. This prestigious emblem takes theform of a Gold Key which may be displayed or worn with pride byits recipients. Honor graduate Tom Scheetz sees these tenets ofexcellence and integrity as perfectly compatible with AGU's30-year history of providing top-notch advanced education toadult learners, no matter where they may reside and work. "I ama strong proponent of and wish I'd consideredit years ago," he explains, adding that if he had, "I wouldn'thave put off achieving my master's degree this long." Althoughhe considered many schools, Scheetz quickly learned thatAmerican Graduate University would fit all of his needs. As heputs it, "I can't say enough good things about AGU. Theeducation, in and of itself, is a tremendous benefit. But itshould be noted the entire staff provides world-class supportand bends over backwards to be responsive and meet the needs ofstudents." Now potential students can add to these benefitsAGU's latest distinction - chaptership in Delta Epsilon Tau, theexclusive Honor Society for those enrolled in distance learninginstitutions.
To learn more about Online Educationvisit our site. For more information on American GraduateUniversity, its affiliations and its programs, visit AGU
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