Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE- Ann Martin has two young children at home, so when she first considered earning her graduate degree she knew that a flexible schedule was a must. The Spring, Texas resident learned about University of Wisconsin-Platteville's distance learning program through US News and World Report's listing of distance education schools. She knew she was interested in a graduate degree, but she didn't necessarily want a MBA. She thought that UWP's Master of Engineering degree might offer exactly what she was looking for.

The online graduate engineering program was Martin's first experience with distance education. She soon discovered that, although she missed the face-to-face interactions between professors and classmates, she liked not having to be in a particular place, at a particular time - especially since she works fulltime. " I have had some great professors that really made an effort to know their students," she notes. "Also, with the amount of group work I've done, I have made some great friends. Overall, I am very pleased and satisfied with my experience."

As a project manager/ mechanical product engineer at Hewlett Packard in Texas, Martin found herself using her coursework daily. "It is very easy to see the techniques used in System Engineering Management," she says. " Also, I apply the techniques of Design for Manufacturability to future designs. "

Martin was gratified to learn that she wasn't completely on her own in the online classroom. "One thing that I learned this past semester is that you can still have study groups at a distance," she explains. "Instant messaging is a wonderful tool. Several of us would get together once a week and discuss the lesson and make sure everyone understood."

She also discovered that she had support at home. "Fortunately, I have a wonderful husband," Martin says. "Generally, I would either do my schoolwork during lunch at work or at home after my kids went to bed at 8 p.m. But, there were times I stayed late at work to study or started as soon as I got home. I don't think I would have been able to manage the two classes per semester workload without him."

Now that Martin has earned her graduate degree in engineering, she plans to catch up on projects at home, remodel her bathroom and work on her yard. She also wants to do some fun things, including working with stain glass and cross-stitching.