UW-Platteville Distance Education Blog

The Southern Wisconsin Association for Continuing Higher Education (SWACHE) has announced its annual Reaching for the Stars Scholarship. To apply, download the scholarship materials, print the application, criteria and scholarship requirements, and submit the application form to Lakeland College by March 30.

To be eligible for the scholarship, students must

• Have completed at least 1 semester of study at a SWACHE institution (like UWP)
• Have a minimum GPA of 2.5
• Demonstrate through a type written essay of 500 words or less how this scholarship will benefit you and/or help you achieve your academic goals

Application materials must be submitted by March 30 to Lakeland College (A direct mailing address is included in the scholarship guidelines). You work hard to achieve success, and this is one great way to be recognized for your hard work, so apply today.

By Ian Clark

UWP's BS in Criminal Justice degree earned a top 20 spot in GetEducated.com's Best Buys in Online Colleges list in the law, legal and justice studies category.

According to GetEducated.com, the Best Buy designation earned by UWP Distance Education indicates that they offer a high quality online bachelor's program with tuition rates well below national averages.

"Being recognized by GetEducated.com demonstrates that at UW-Platteville, we are not only providing an affordable product, but a structurally sound program too," says Amy Nemmetz, program coordinator for the Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Online.

To read the whole article, go to our News Release page.

By Ian Clark

Now is the time to give UWP Distance Education the recognition you feel it deserves. This year, Corporate Report: Wisconsin Business Magazine is leaving the Best of Wisconsin Business Awards up to the customers and consumers—and in our case, students. They are letting voters choose who they want to recognize in a bunch of different categories, so support all your favorites.

To cast your ballot and help UWP win this prestigious award:

1. Go to 2010 Best of Wisconsin Business Awards - Nominations.
2. Click the flashing button "CLICK HERE NOW" to vote.
3. You do not need to answer all the questions unless you want to.  Click the "SUBMIT" button at the bottom of the first page to go to page #2.
4. On page #2, find question #18, “What is the best school in Wisconsin for online education?” and type "UW-Platteville Distance Education" in that blank.
5. Click the "SUBMIT" button at the bottom of page #2 to go to page #3 of the questions.
6. Click the "SUBMIT" button at the bottom of page #3 to complete the voting process, and then you will see a confirmation message thanking you for voting.  That's it!

You don't have to provide any personal information and there’s no risk of receiving spam. Your support counts, so help us out; vote today!

By Kelly Curtiss

When tackling any major task, those who do it successfully will tell you that you need to prepare, plan and organize yourself. These three items I believe can be applied to any life event, such as planning for

• an open house for a high school graduation
• your big wedding day
• the welcoming of a new child into a family
• a family vacation
• earning a degree

All of these events require you to think ahead. What is my main focus and goal? What kind of obstacles might I have to be ready for? How will I handle these issues should they arise? How am I going to make this happen? Who is here to help me?

Even in the pursuit of higher education, these ideas and question should be evaluated each semester. Many of you know that it is not easy to go back. But you have a goal. You may have obstacles, but in the end you have kept yourself organized, knowing what the goal is and what you are going to do to keep yourself moving forward.

If you haven’t done so already, make it a priority to sit down and talk with your advisor about where you want to go, how you plan to get there, and ask for their support. We enjoy working with our students and seeing them earn their academic goals!

By Christine Storlie

I'm too tired to study when I get home from work. I want to spend time with my family this weekend and have some fun. It seems like I’m going to be working on this degree forever.

These are comments that I hear on a regular basis from students I teach and advise. While earning my Ph.D. at a distance, I learned several useful techniques that helped me keep things in perspective and stay on top of everything that I had going on. Here are four factors that will influence your success:

Control
Control means taking on a reasonable workload, so that you can successfully balance your course load, family and career. Don’t give in to the temptation to procrastinate on an assignment and then do it at the last minute with the least amount of effort possible. Stay up after you put the kids to bed and finish that paper because tomorrow has its very own to-do list. Set up a study schedule and stick to it, so that you are making progress in your courses on a regular basis. Use self-discipline to complete your assignments and group activities in a timely manner, in order to successfully complete the course. Lastly, take responsibility for your decisions and follow through with your commitments. Students that are able to take control of their lives are much more likely to succeed in their educational endeavor.

Motivation
Another major factor influencing your progress is motivation. If you ever feel your motivation declining, take a step back and recall the main reason you entered the program. Thinking about the benefits the degree will give you in your career can give you the motivation you need. Students with a degree earned at a distance are prized by employers who will recognize your competence and the strength of your character developed by the challenges of earning such a degree.

Support
To successfully complete a degree at a distance, you’ll need the support of at least one person. You need someone to believe in what you are doing. While moral support is important, there are other kinds of support that are also invaluable, including child care, financial support and help with chores. The broader the network of support among friends, family and even coworkers and employers, the easier it is for motivated students to finish their coursework.

Self-assessment
If you can reasonably assess your own strengths and weaknesses, you will fare well in a distance education environment. Self-assessment leads to appropriate action. Time and effort are precious commodities to adults with multiple responsibilities and can be best used by students who understand themselves and can manage their time well.

 By Ian Clark

Shawn Belling, online adjunct instructor for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Online, will be heading to Melbourne, Australia to present at the Project Management Institute Global Congress — Asia Pacific region. The congress will begin Feb. 22. PMI, a not-for-profit membership association for project management professionals with globally recognized standards in more than 180 countries, holds a global congress yearly in each region. The three regions include Asia Pacific; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and North America.

As an instructor in UWP’s Master of Science in Project Management Program, Shawn will present his paper titled “When Agendas Override Objectives,” which outlines how hidden customer and interoffice agendas can interfere and even hijack projects and their managers.

To present at a PMI Global Congress, those who wish to participate must submit an academic paper detailing a subject relevant to project management. After a thorough screening process, those papers that are found to be exceptional are asked to present.

"Once you get accepted that first time, it is a lot easier to stay tied into that presenting pipeline and be asked back to present," says Shawn, who has been a credentialed Project Management Professional for six years. "Having the opportunity to present original thinking to large groups of colleagues and peers is a really great experience."

This will be Shawn’s third time presenting at a PMI Global Congress. In 2008, he presented in Sydney, Australia and again in Oct. 2009 in Orlando, FL. He has also presented at other PMI seminars, and plans to speak at the Success in Project Management Conference in June of 2010 to be held at UWP.

Shawn, besides teaching for UWP online classes, also teaches for the University of California-Irvine and Lakeland College, and is a project manager at Promega Corporation in Madison, which sells products to the life science industry.

"I just treat it like I have two jobs," says Shawn. "I have to be highly organized, so it's good to be a project manager. When I have speaking opportunities like this, I obviously have to make adjustments, but I really enjoy what I’m doing."

By Ian Clark

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville's online division received its second military friendly award this fall by a military education magazine. Military Advanced Education selected UWP as a top school in their “3rd Annual Guide to Top Military Friendly Colleges and Universities,” a journal about higher education for service members of the armed forces. The first award came in October from G.I. Jobs Magazine.

"We're delighted this guide has become a valuable resource for service members and the larger network of educational professionals involved in higher education," says MAE editor, Mark Fitzgerald.

From community colleges to nationally known centers of higher learning, MAE's annual guide provides potential students with information about colleges and universities across the nation who they consider to be military-friendly. Among the attributes considered in evaluating any school’s degree of military friendliness are the quality of its academics, the on-campus and online advice and support it provides to veterans and their families, and the sophistication and effectiveness of its distance learning programs.

"We're very happy to receive the distinction and be able to provide a valuable service to soldiers, sailors, and airmen" says Les Hollingsworth, marketing director for the Distance Learning Center and field artillery instructor in the Wisconsin Army National Guard. "Service members have unique educational challenges and it's important that universities step up and be able to help them overcome those obstacles."

Military Advanced Education is the only magazine produced specifically for service members seeking to take advantage of the military education benefit. MAE covers issues and trends in distance learning and education as they specifically relate to military life, including innovative programs, military educational policy, financial aid and coursework that offer special opportunities for military personnel.

UWP offers multiple degrees that are designed for working adults and can be completed entirely online. For more information about UWP's Distance Learning Center, go online at www.uwplatt.edu/disted.