Space Studies at UND - A Student's Comments

Mark A. Sykes · May 9, 2001

While surfing JPL's Solar System Ambassador site this last astronomy day, I happened to notice one bio which mentioned University of North Dakota's online Master in Space Studies program (http://www.space.edu). I don't recall anyone else giving a report on that program, so I wrote the Ambassador and asked for her input. Happily, JPL picks their representatives well; enclosed herein is her comments on space studies at UND.

UND Space Studies student Wendy O'Toole:
Hello Mark!

I have been very impressed with UND's Space Studies Distance Learning
program. I had never taken a Distance course before, and my assumptions was
that it would be very impersonal. It is not. I feel as if I know my
instructors and the other people I am in school with better than I did
taking graduate courses in a "live" classroom.
Instructors teach the course on-campus the semester before they teach it
on-line. The on-campus course is taped, and the tapes are sent to distance
students the next semester. The tapes are required viewing, and information
on the tapes is incorporated into papers, presentations, and discussions.
One per week we have a "live" class session with our instructor and the
other students in the class. These chats are limited in participant number
and occur at different times of the week so that you can sign-up for a class
time that fits your schedule. The chats are in addition to the tapes and
required reading, and are the instructor's way of evaluating your progress,
clarifying the topics, and stimulating thought in current space issues,
technological developments, and policy decisions. Before you graduate, you
must do your 997 Capstone AT UND (North Dakota) in the summer (North Dakota
is very cold in the winter!)
I feel that I have had a very positive experience with UND's Space Studies
Department and will miss it when I graduate. They are planning PhD classes,
and I would definitely recommend their distance program to anyone.

You may post this for me if you like.

My background: I have a BS in math and science, work for the US Air Force
in aerospace, serve as a Jet Propulsion Lab Solar System Ambassador to help
educate the public about space science, and am pursuing a Masters of Science
in Space Studies from University of North Dakota.

Wendy O'Toole
Dayton, OH
USA
Click to expand...

Mark A. Sykes

P. S. - Wendy works clear around the world from where I live in the neigboring city of Huber Heights.

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