UWG News Archive

Graduation Speakers

December 13, 2004

CARROLLTON, GA - The University of West Georgia will conduct two commencement ceremonies on Saturday, Dec. 18. Students from the Graduate School and undergraduates from the Richards College of Business will obtain their diplomas at 9:30 a.m. while undergraduate students from the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education will march at 1 p.m. Both ceremonies will take place in the HPE Building on campus.

The morning graduation ceremony will feature UWG students Stephanie Miller, Danette Smith, Gözde Çöklü and Rachel Mack as speakers

Miller, an Arts and Science undergraduate, manages the CSX peer-tutoring for the Computer Science Department. The daughter of Steve and Lucy Miller of Albany, Miller is majoring in MS/Applied Computer Science and expects to graduate in May 2005.

Smith, a Marietta native, is a guidance counselor at Moses Middle School in the Paulding County School District. With a 3.9 grade point average (GPA), she is the second student to earn the degree of Doctor of Education from the UWG’s Doctoral program in School Improvement. Her research on now to improve teaching by involving teachers in critical friends’ groups has already improved instruction in the schools where she works.

Further, her school-based research is impacting teaching practice nationally through her conference presentations and through two chapters she has had accepted for publication in a forthcoming book entitled The Whole Faculty Study Group Fieldbook: Improving Schools and Enhancing Student Learning, to be published by Corwin Press.

Çöklü, a native of Istanbul, and daughter of Tayyar Çöklü and Nevin Çöklü, is an International Student club member at UWG. Çöklü has been a graduate research assistant at the Richards College of Business (RCOB) since August 2003 and maintains a GPA of 3.98.

Mack, with a 3.9 GPA, has been on the Dean’s list every semester since her enrollment at UWG. A native of Jonesboro, Mack is an Ingram Scholar, a Hope Scholar, a Gates Millennium Scholar, and a recipient of the W. Glenn Moore Memorial Scholarship in Economics. She has served as the president and secretary-treasurer of the Honors College since August 2002, and has been active in residence life as a resident assistant for the Honors College and the Advanced Academy of Georgia. She is a member of Phi HonorSociety and has served as the campus college bowl coordinator for the past two years.

The afternoon graduation ceremony will feature Toma Omonuwa, Sunitha Shenoi, Allison Buckner and Matthew Huckeba.

Omonuwa, native of Douglasville and daughter of Dr. Smith Omonuwa, is currently an undergraduate majoring in Chemistry. She has a 4.0 GPA and has been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship, Presidential Scholarship and is a Lois Martin Scholarship of Minority Achievement Award recipient. Omonuwa has also been on the Dean’s List every semester since her enrollment at UWG. She is a member of the Student Advisory Committee to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Shenoi, native of Bangalore, India and daughter of Govinda and Premalatha Shenoi, is currently an undergraduate majoring in Computer Science. She won second prize at the 18th annual Consortium for Computing Science in College Conference. In September, Shenoi was one of only 10 students nationwide to receive the $1,000 Upsilon Pi Epsilon Computer Science Award.

Buckner, native of Jackson and wife of Drew Buckner, majors in Early Childhood/ Elementary Education and has a 3.3 GPA. She is a Hope Scholarship and Hope Promise Teacher Scholarship recipient and was on the Dean’s List in 2003. She is a member of the West Georgia Baptist Student Union, SPAGE, and co-organizes Purity conferences for middle and high school girls.

Huckeba, native of Carrollton and son of Joey and Eleanor Huckeba,, is an undergraduate majoring in Early Childhood/ Elementary Education with a 3.11 GPA. He has received the Hope Scholarship as well as the Hope Promise Teacher Scholarship. Huckeba is a volunteer for underprivileged children in the community and an active member of Faith Baptist Church in Fairplay, Ga.

-30-