Program Coordinators
Marge Karsten
Susan Hansen
 

For more than 20 years, UW-Platteville's Bachelor of Science in Business Administration has been available at a distance via print-based courses to Wisconsin residents whose job, family, or other responsibilities prevented them from attending classes on campus. In October 1996, UW-Platteville received permission to extend its business degree to nonresidents. 

During the following year, plans were made to deliver the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration via web-based courses. Currently, 14 courses needed for the major are available online, and two of those also are available at the graduate level. Remaining online courses needed to finish the undergraduate business degree will be available by the end of this year.

Besides the baccalaureate degree, UW-Platteville offers two nine-credit certificate programs, one in Human Resource Management and the other in Organizational Leadership and Human Performance. These certificates are designed for those who want specialized expertise in certain areas, but who are not interested in earning an entire degree.

Now students have two ways in which they can complete a degree--either through self-paced, individualized study using print course manuals or online through web-based courses that emphasize interactive activities.  To use the interactive activities the way they were intended, a small group of students, or cohort, must progress through the course on approximately the same schedule. For this reason, the Department of Business and Accounting has decided to
offer online courses in cohort groups beginning in Fall 2000. Students should check the UW-Platteville Distance Education Home Page for course availability information.

Student may choose the course delivery method that best suits them. They may take some print and some web-based courses. For more information about taking both online and print courses, please contact your academic advisor.
 

Program Coordinators Profile

Marge Karsten is currently serving as Interim Chair of the Department of Business and Accounting. In 1998-99, she was director of the Extended Degree Program in Business Administration. Marge is an associate professor and has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville since 1981. 

Her publications include "Gender Issues in Management" in 1992 and "Management and Gender: Issues and Attitudes" in 1994. She also has published case studies and articles dealing with various human resource management topics. Marge has written, for inclusion in reference books, biographical sketches of selected women in business and government, and a summary of women's progress as managers in major United States' corporations. Her current research interests include the spillover of domestic violence into the workplace and students' assessment of college professors' teaching effectiveness.

Susan Hansen, a lecturer in business administration, teaches management courses on campus and for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Extended Degree Program. Before coming to UW-Platteville in 1991, Susan held the position of Controller in Kansas City. Susan also held management positions in the manufacturing sector for a number of years in central Kansas and west Texas.

Susan received her Bachelor of Art degree from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, and her Master of Business Administration from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Her areas of specialization are management and finance. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in International Business. Susan has presented numerous papers on team management at national conferences. She is active on the department's Internship Committee, Curriculum Committee, and the Business Advisory Board.
 

Course Withdrawal/Extension Policy for Print-Based Courses

Until the beginning of the seventh month of your contract enrollment plan, you may withdraw from a print-based course without having a W appear on your official transcript if you submit a written request to withdraw to the student-faculty coordinator, Deb Kenny. Your written request must be received in the Distance Learning Center by the fifth day of the seventh month of your contract enrollment plan. For example, if you have a contract starting date of January 5, your request to withdraw must be received by August 5th if you would like to withdraw without having a W appear on your transcript. 

You should make a written request to withdraw if you know for sure that you will not be able to complete all or certain courses on your contract enrollment plan. Withdrawing from a course or courses at the seventh month is a good way to keep your academic record "clean" if you know that it will be impossible for you to complete all the courses on your contract enrollment plan in 12 months (i.e., the original contract enrollment plan time) or 18 months (i.e., the contract enrollment plan time plus extension time). You will receive a reminder about the withdrawal policy at the sixth month of your contract enrollment plan.

Before the end of the twelfth month of the contract enrollment plan, you may either (1) withdraw from any courses that you have not completed, in which case a W will appear on your official transcript, or (2) request a six-month extension. Both status options may be requested on the student status report, which is a document that the Distance Learning Center staff sends you in the eleventh month of the contract enrollment plan. You must return the student status report to the Distance Learning Center before your contract enrollment plan expiration date. The Distance Learning Center cannot honor extension requests that are received after the contract enrollment plan expiration date. 

If, at the twelfth month, you have not completed all the courses on your contract enrollment plan and do not want to be withdrawn from those courses, you must request an extension.  You will be automatically withdrawn from any courses for which you have not received a final grade if you do not request an extension. A W will be recorded on your official transcript for any course that you have not completed at the twelfth month of your contract enrollment plan if you do not request an extension. Extensions are offered on a course-by-course basis, not by the contract enrollment plan, so be sure to request an extension for every course that you need additional time to complete. 

At the eighteenth month (the end of the extension period), you will receive a grade of A-F; a W can be granted at this stage only in rare instances. To be considered for the policy exception, you must send a written rationale to the student-faculty coordinator. To be eligible for the policy exception, you must be earning a passing grade in the course(s) in question and must make the request before the expiration date of the extension. 
 

Examination Request Reminder for Print-Based Courses

When you are ready to take an examination, contact the Distance Learning Center by phone (1.800.362.5460) between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays, and provide the staff with the following information: 

1. Course name and number
2. Examination number
3. Your instructor's name
4. Textbook author
5. Textbook edition or copyright date 

Students in online courses must request their examinations online at the course site.
 

Address and Fax Change Reminder 

We would like to remind Extended Degree Program students that our address has changed. We are no longer located in Pioneer Tower. Please direct your correspondence to us at the following address:

Our new fax number is 608.342.1071. You may still use the previous fax number (608.342.1466) to fax to the business and accounting faculty.
 

Faculty Summer Availability

The spring semester officially ends on Tuesday, May 16, 2000. Contact your instructors to learn what their summer availability will be. Not all faculty are required to keep office hours in the summer.