Inspired by her daughter’s success, woman enrolls in UT Tyler’s first fully online bachelor’s degree program

Published 4:13 pm Wednesday, June 15, 2016

When Joy Shogry, 55, heard about The University of Texas at Tyler’s first fully online completion bachelor’s degree program and saw her daughter graduate, “I thought, hmm, I might just need to finish out my degree,” she said.

Her mother and grandmother both got their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in their late 50s.

“So I thought, ‘I’ll carry on the tradition,’” Joy said. She saw how UT Tyler’s new online bachelor of applied arts and sciences degree program suited her daughter, Mary.

It caters to working adults who have a number of different credit hours and see the value in finishing their four-year degree, but are not able to make it happen in a traditional college classroom environment, Kristie M. Allen, BAAS coordinator, said.

Mary, 24, was awarded her BAAS degree with a focus in entrepreneurship. “My ultimate goal is to own my own business. I feel like these classes and flexibility and the mixture of classes I took prepared me for that,” she said.

Getting her online degree in May was a far more successful outcome than her first experience of attending UT Tyler, then as a traditional student attending classes on campus.

That time, Mary Shogry had no idea what she wanted to be when she started at UT Tyler after having worked as a pharmacy assistant for three years following high school.

“I kind of flip-flopped around … took journalism classes, English classes and finally settled on business, but as I got into business, I loved the management side of things, but math is not how my brain works. Once I hit that, I thought, ‘I need to go a little bit different direction, something that’s more customized to how I learn and excel in,’” Mary said.

She had a lot of credit hours and found that those hours would apply toward a BAAS degree which she could finish in a reasonable amount of time. Now she is looking for an entry-level full-time job within a company with the opportunity for promotion while she works on a master’s degree.

The flexibility of the online bachelor’s program allowed her to work and help with taking care of her grandparents and have time with her nephew, Mary said.

Her mother, Joy, decided to seek the same online BAAS degree. “I work full time. I have a family. I have a grandchild. I do not have time nor could I afford to quit work and go back to school full time and finish my degree,” she said.

Joy had started college in her youth, attending Bethany Nazarene College, Tyler Junior College and UT Tyler, but had stopped to raise her family and home school her children. She also worked in the medical field for 15 years as an administrative secretary, front office supervisor and handled insurance. She is now an administrative assistant.

The online degree program “fits me perfectly,” Joy said. “I can work on it a little at a time online and finish my degree even while I’m working and raising a family and playing with a grandchild or taking care of my parents.”

The BAAS degree she is seeking has a focus on psychology since she hopes to become a school counselor.

Even if I stay here the rest of my life as an administrative assistant, I want to say that I have finished my degree,” Joy said.

Students in the BAAS degree program have the opportunity to take courses on campus, but most work full time so attending classes is not an option for them, Ms. Allen said.

UT Tyler started the BAAS program last spring because of a need in the community for an online program that serves working adults, she said.

“The world is moving in the direction of online classes and there are number of people who are nontraditional students,” Ms. Allen said.

The BAAS plan utilizes transfer credit from community colleges and other universities to provide a shorter route to completing a bachelor’s degree than many traditional programs, Ms. Allen said.

Students pursuing the BAAS degree have the opportunity to acquire college credit for their work experience through prior learning assessment, a process in which an individual’s learning through on-the-job experiences, corporate training, military training or experience, volunteer work or self-guided study is evaluated for granting college credit.

“In addition to the flexible nature of this degree program and its ability to utilize transfer credit, the cornerstone of this program is the 21st Century job skills course sequence,” Ms. Allen said. “This curriculum is based on soft skills that are pertinent in a wide variety of employment settings. These courses range from ethical decision making to creativity and innovation in the workplace. Students also have the opportunity to take coursework in areas such as entrepreneurship, retailing, psychology, health studies and wellness.”

There were 179 students enrolled in the BAAS program this spring and about 20 graduated.

Twitter: @Betty_TMT