{"id":220098,"date":"2023-02-08T16:25:53","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T21:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=220098"},"modified":"2023-02-13T15:14:34","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T20:14:34","slug":"making-time-for-more-degrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2023\/02\/08\/making-time-for-more-degrees\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Time for More Degrees"},"content":{"rendered":"

From African American Studies and Biotechnology to Psychology and Social Science, Montclair State University Adjunct Professor Joseph Segriff has an interest \u2013 and a degree \u2013 in it. Many of the 24 college degrees he\u2019s earned from 13 colleges and universities over the last 35 years adorn his living room walls. To date, he\u2019s attained three doctorates, one post-master\u2019s Education Specialist degree, six master\u2019s, two bachelor\u2019s and 12 associate degrees, not to mention many certificates.<\/p>\n

Why so many degrees?<\/p>\n

\u201cI like being a lifelong learner,\u201d says Segriff, who has taught at Montclair for four years. \u201cI like continuing my educational pursuits as a thinker and a learner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Segriff, who teaches two classes of Fundamentals of Speech in the School of Communication and Media, adds: \u201cIt’s like the Buddhists say, \u2018The important time is now, the important place is here.\u2019 And there’s nowhere I’d rather be than in a seat in a classroom or in front of students teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, Segriff\u2019s well-versed on a variety of subjects and finds psychology and biology particularly interesting. \u201cPsychology addresses human issues in a way that biology doesn’t. But biology demands of itself, a certain degree of exactitude.\u201d It also demands lots of math courses, which he admits are \u201cnot my strong suit,\u201d particularly pre-calculus. He jokes that he\u2019d rather get \u201cthe needle\u201d than take pre-calc again.<\/p>\n

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The coursework is no cakewalk for the learned professor. \u201cI work really hard, and I hardly ever miss a class,\u201d he says.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A loquacious learner<\/h2>\n

Segriff\u2019s supervisor, Assistant Professor Marylou Naumoff, coordinator of the School of Communication and Media\u2019s Fundamentals of Speech Program<\/a>, recalls that their first conversation during his job interview lasted about an hour and a half. \u201cHe’s very loquacious. He’s so smart and has so many interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Segriff says he knew early on he wanted to stay in academia. He\u2019s worked primarily part time as an adjunct, which allows him time to take classes, study and write papers (he once wrote six in one night).<\/p>\n

It probably also helps that in addition to his part-time work schedule, he sleeps only three to four hours a night, something he says he\u2019s done for the past 40-plus years. \u201cSo, I’ve been able to get a lot of work done,\u201d he says, adding, \u201cI have an enormous amount of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Segriff says he\u2019s never sought degrees for jobs or money. \u201cIt’s kind of like stepping into your own shadow, and instead of escaping yourself, you become more of the self you imagine yourself to be. I think that has a lot to do with my educational journey and why I pursued more degrees. It’s just part of who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Montclair Adjunct Professor Joseph Segriff says obtaining degrees is \u201cjust part of who I am.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While his many degrees are one measurement of learning, self-efficacy \u2013 or his belief in his ability to be able to get it done \u2013 is his ultimate goal. \u201cSelf-esteem, for me, is not that important,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat’s really important is self-efficacy. And if you don’t have self-efficacy, in my view, you don’t own your accomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Segriff\u2019s love of learning, Naumoff says, is an admirable reminder of what a liberal arts education is all about. \u201cIt\u2019s the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge\u2019s sake and just a true intellectual thirst and curiosity that I find so wonderful and refreshing. Joseph embodies all of those values that we, as a university system, are trying to preserve and uphold and also still make relevant in a contemporary context. I love that Joseph is pursuing his passion, taking advantage of all the opportunities he can find just to learn more. It’s not like he has this specific end goal of getting a tenure track job. He just wants to keep feeding that brain of his.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Montclair Adjunct Professor Joseph Segriff says his more recent focus on community college degrees is due to economics and his varied interests.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Degrees of knowledge<\/h2>\n

In the pursuit of that brain fuel, Segriff has most recently earned a dozen associate degrees, including 10 from 2020 to 2022, and seven in 2022 alone. Coursework was both in person and online.<\/p>\n

A breakdown of Segriff\u2019s degrees as of February 2023 include:<\/p>\n