East Texas

By KELLY GOOCH
Staff Writer

JACKSONVILLE -- Lon Morris College and Texas A&M University-Commerce have recently signed an agreement that one school official says will help students at Lon Morris make a smooth transfer to Texas A&M-Commerce.

Dr. Danny Potter, vice president for academic and student affairs at Lon Morris, said both schools signed the agreement Sept. 16 after he came up with the idea.

Students who graduate from the two-year, private, faith-based college go to various institutions to continue their education, but the school noticed there have been a significant number of students who transfer to Texas A&M-Commerce, he said.

Of those students who transfer there, Potter said some are drama/theater students who like the program at Texas A&M-Commerce.

Additionally, the school noticed that a transfer agreement was not already in place with Texas A&M-Commerce, he said.

Now that there is an agreement in place, Lon Morris and Texas A&M-Commerce plan to work together on the new initiative.

"We live in an environment where no institution is an island, and to be successful we must come together in partnerships," Texas A&M-Commerce president Dr. Dan Jones is quoted as saying in a news release. "Texas A&M University-Commerce is pleased to establish this partnership with Lon Morris College."

Potter said Lon Morris will determine who will be graduating and will send that list to Texas A&M-Commerce. Then, Texas A&M-Commerce will send letters out to the students on the list giving them information about transferring to the school, he explained.

Also, Lon Morris will eventually have links on its Web site for colleges the school has an agreement with, Potter said, and he thought Lon Morris should have a symbol for Texas A&M-Commerce a student could click on if they were interested in transferring there.

Potter said the goal of getting information to students is so they know exactly how their degree from Lon Morris will fit into a degree from Texas A&M-Commerce.

"(That way) you don't get any surprises when you transfer," he said.

The Texas A&M-Commerce Web site currently has an area where someone can see what a course equivalent would be if they went from Lon Morris to Texas A&M-Commerce.

The agreement also entails Texas A&M-Commerce making visits to Lon Morris to meet with faculty and students and making information about scholarships and other financial aid opportunities available.

Potter said Texas A&M-Commerce will visit Lon Morris' Jacksonville campus at least once a semester and will also most likely provide Lon Morris students with brochures and other literature about scholarships and financial aid.

Although having students graduate is important, Potter said "as important is that they transfer into a senior institution and succeed."

He said as of this fall, there are 341 students and that the college currently has agreements with other schools, including the University of Texas at Tyler and Southwestern University.

Lon Morris offers three degrees: an associate of arts, an associate of science and an associate of fine arts.

For more information, visit www.lonmorris.edu/.

For information on A&M-Commerce, visit www.tamu-commerce.edu/home/.