Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE- Being a single parent did not leave Shannon Angelidis with a lot of free time. So when she decided to pursue a master's degree in criminal justice, she knew right away that her lifestyle would make attending classes on a campus nearly impossible. She had tried it before and knew it just wouldn't meet her needs. When she moved to California to accept a new job in the federal probation system, Angelidis began thinking about an online master's degree program.

"I was a single parent of a 5-year-old in a new job. It was a lot," she said. "I definitely needed the flexibility of this program. I might have six hours I could work on homework one night, and then not be able to do anything for two or three days."

Angelidis, who had never taken an online course before, found what she was looking for in the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's online Master of Science in Criminal Justice program. A friend of hers from Indiana was in the program, and she decided to give it a try.

Totaling 30 credits offered entirely online, the Master of Science in Criminal Justice program is a comprehensive, highly interactive solution for professionals who want a graduate degree or are looking for skills to advance to higher-level positions in their profession. Students are able to tailor the program to fit their knowledge and skills and meet their individual career goals.

In addition to finding that the program provided useful, relevant material, Angelidis said she was impressed with the level of personal attention she received throughout the program. "My advisor, Dr. (Cheryl Banachowski-)Fuller ... I don't know how she does it all," she said. "Anytime I was e-mailing her, she'd e-mail right back. She was always available."

Angelidis, who is using her new master's degree in her current job, says a lot of responsibility goes along with earning a degree online, as it is a very challenging experience. "You have to stick with it and do a little bit each night," she said. "This online program was more challenging than traditional programs I had tried. It was more work.... definitely! But, it was work that I could schedule in whenever I could."

Angelidis graduated this past May. She was able to attend commencement, which meant setting foot on the UW-Platteville campus for the very first time. "It was great," she said. "The campus was a lot bigger than I thought it would be," she added.

For more information on this program, and UW-Platteville's other online degree and certificate programs, call toll free at 1-800-362-5460, send an e-mail to disted@uwplatt.edu or log on to: http://www.uwplatt.edu/disted/online.html.

Prepared by: Amy Pikalek, UW-Extension, pikalek@conted.uwex.edu

Contact: Darla Banfi, marketing coordinator, Distance Learning Center