Article in Jacksonville, AL newspaper

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by bmills072200, Jun 18, 2010.

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  1. bmills072200

    bmills072200 New Member

    I just graduate in April with my MBA from JSU and someone from the distance education department decided to do a story on my experience. There is a mention about degreeinfo.com

    The article is set to run on Tuesday, June 22nd.
     
  2. bmills072200

    bmills072200 New Member

    Apparently the file was too big to attach... here is the text...

    Town and Gown
    By: Dr. Bill Meehan

    Going the Distance

    You haven’t seen Ben Mills at a Jacksonville State University football game. You haven’t seen him at any JSU sporting event, for that matter. You’ve never sat across from him in a class, or bumped into him at the library. Chances are, you didn’t recognize his face when he walked across the stage on April 30 to receive his Master’s Degree in business administration.

    He’s part of this campus, though. He is but one of the students at JSU who take all of their courses solely online, and when he graduated, he made history as the first-ever student to receive an MBA completely online.

    “Distance education is first and foremost designed for people who cannot come, for whatever reason, and have the traditional college experience,” says Misty Cobb, director of distance education. “They may be working or they may have children. The possibilities for why they may need this situation are really endless.”

    For Ben, his desire to take online classes stemmed from several different reasons. He first found out about JSU’s online MBA program through an online forum on degreeinfo.com.

    “It’s a kind of message board forum where people talk about different degree options and programs, and especially about lesser known programs that are not nationally advertised,” Ben says.

    After reviewing the program at JSU, Ben discovered that it was affordable, accredited and could be completed online. This made JSU the perfect fit for him, and allowed him to still continue working at his job in North Carolina, and still have lots of time for his family.

    Ben has been married for ten years to his wife, Sasha. Together, they have four children: Adam, 7; Luke, 5; Lily, 3; and are expecting their fourth child to arrive in November. Adam has cerebral palsy and is autistic, so with the opportunity to attain his MBA online, it allowed Ben time to still spend time with all of his family, and made him available for the extra time that Adam may need.

    Ben found the program to be flexible, but says it was still challenging and interactive.

    “Many people are negative about 100% online MBA programs, because you don’t have the team aspect of face-to-face programs,” Ben says. “But I think the professors did a really good job at finding ways to do collaboration within the classes and interactive group projects.”

    When it came time for Ben to complete his oral examination, the professors at JSU got creative. Instead of doing the examination in person, Ben went to a local community college in South Carolina that offered up a classroom so that he could meet with JSU professors via teleconference.

    “My advisor, Dr. Louise Clark, was so helpful in finding things that work,” Ben says. “The professors were really flexible with finding ways to accommodate people who have different schedules. They really seem comfortable with adapting and changing some of their ways in order to make it work for students who are far away. I was really, really impressed with the faculty.”

    The first time Ben stepped foot on the physical campus of JSU was on April 30, just hours before walking across the stage at graduation. For the first time, he was able to look around and see the other faces that make up JSU. For the first time, he was able to look at the beautiful campus that made it possible for him to achieve the degree he so desired, without giving up what was precious to him.

    While Ben’s story is a heartfelt one, there are several others who choose to take online classes, and all have a story.

    “It’s easy to not think about what you don’t see every day,” Cobb says. “It’s still sort of an isolated experience, yet very rewarding. We have a bunch of students who are constantly saying thank you for the opportunity they have been giving to take online classes.”

    Now that faces are being put to distance education, JSU can remember the extended family they serve each day through the opportunity of online classes.

    Julie Skinner, a student worker in the Office of Public Relations, contributed to this article.
     
  3. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Fantastic! Congratulations to you. How cool; you are a part of their history. The article is quite favorable towards DL too. That's the kind of publicity we need.
     
  4. dlcurious

    dlcurious Member

    I agree, the footnote part is really cool. Congratulations on your accomplishment!
     
  5. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Congratulations, Ben. Good article, great accomplishment.

    I've been mulling over resuscitating my book on distance MBAs, and this gives me further incentive.
     
  6. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    Ben, please add my "congratulations" to those already received.

    A new book by John Bear? I'm certainly all for that!
     
  7. bmills072200

    bmills072200 New Member

  8. muaranah

    muaranah New Member

    Congrats! Although earning the degree was the greater validation, this additional recognition was also great for you to receive.
     
  9. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

    Congrat's......sweet shout out to DI! Chip has got to love that.
     

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