Business degree gives students more flexibility
A not-so-new bachelor’s degree in business allows distance education students to pick the plan that is best for them while sticking to the requirements, said Joslyn Heiniger, an advisor for the College of Business.
The program is offered through USU Regional Campuses and Distance Education.
This opportunity has been around since fall of 2005 but is being emphasized right now, Heiniger said. It is designed for non-traditional students who are working full- or part-time towards the completion of their degree, she said.
USU Vice Provost Steven Hanks said the greatest strength of this degree is its flexibility. It gives students the opportunity to decide for themselves, which is “a tremendous improvement from past programs.”
Heiniger said before this program was developed, students had to wait for a two-year cycle to start or finish their degrees. Now all classes are available on an annual basis.
Ronda Menlove, vice provost of regional campuses and distance education, said, “Distance education programs allow people to achieve goals they never thought they could reach.”
Offering online or interactive satellite classes allows the college to take the classes to the students instead of requiring them to come to campus, she said. Students wanting a specialized business degree can attend campus for only two semesters and take the specific courses needed, she said.
Heiniger said the program was started as a way to “better serve students off-campus.” It works for a variety of students, she said, and allows them to take as little as six to nine credits a semester.
Michael Mathie, a graduate of the program at the USU Richfield campus said, “This undergraduate business program has helped me fulfill educational goals that would have been otherwise impossible, or extremely difficult, while working full-time to support my family.”
He said he rarely had trouble filling his schedule and was able to take five straight semesters of full-time credits with classes that started after 5 p.m. Mathie said he is now attending law school in Idaho.
“I was worried that I wouldn’t get accepted to law school since I didn’t take classes on a campus or in person,” he said, “but over the past six weeks, I have met and spoken with many students and realized my courses and overall degree are no different from theirs.”
Kim Stookey, currently in the program, said she never would have started on a degree were it not for distance education.
“The business classes were small, and the professors were accessible,” she said. “The professors were well-organized and ready to teach through this method. The staff was outstanding, and there was always a focus on the highest quality experience for the student.”
She said she is excited to continue her education and plans to enter the MBA program in the fall.
-shanmccl@cc.usu.edu