Troy University and SEGi University and Colleges held the inaugural commencement ceremony in the partnership between the two on July 15 at the Kota Damansara Campus in Malaysia.

The ceremony recognized graduates from Fall 2017 and Spring and Summer 2018. In all, 52 graduates received diplomas in the areas of psychology, communication arts and business with 37 students taking part in the ceremony.

Partnerships such as the one TROY enjoys with SEGi play an important role in the University’s internationalization efforts, said Dr. Earl Ingram, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academics.

“International partnerships are important as a key dimension of Troy University as an international university,” Dr. Ingram said. “Faculty members who teach at our international locations become more aware of the need for an international component within their courses, and they bring those back to the classrooms at TROY. These partnerships also provide a portal for TROY students at those international sites to come to TROY to finish their programs of study. With that, our faculty and students in TROY benefit from what those international students bring to the campus experience.”

While business degree programs have been a mainstay of TROY’s offerings at international location, the SEGi partnership, which began in 2014, expanded the field of degree programs to include communication arts and psychology, Dr. Ingram said.

“This partnership has broadened the opportunities for faculty from an array of disciplines to gain that experience of teaching internationally,” he said.

Along with Dr. Ingram, Troy University was represented at the ceremony by Dr. Judson Edwards, dean of the Sorrell College of Business, Dr. Phillip Mixon, associate professor of economics and finance, and Dr. Joe Teng, associate professor of information systems.

Officiating at the ceremony on behalf of SEGi were: Dr. Lisa Tan Saw Poh, CEO of SEGi’s Group of Colleges, Dr. See Hoon Peow, principal of SEGi’s College Kuala Lumpur, and Dr. Veronica Chua, head of academics for SEGi’s College Kuala Lumpur.

Known as one of the largest private higher education providers in Malaysia, SEGi serves 25,000 students in five major campuses located in Kota Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, Subang Jaya, Penang and Sarawak.