Army Educator Dr. Pamela Raymer - KMI Media Group
Army Educator Dr. Pamela Raymer - KMI Media Group
Army Educator Dr. Pamela Raymer - KMI Media Group
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Journal of Higher Learning for Today’s Servicemember<br />
<strong>Army</strong><br />
<strong>Educator</strong><br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Pamela</strong><br />
<strong>Raymer</strong><br />
Director<br />
<strong>Army</strong> Continuing<br />
Education System<br />
U.S. <strong>Army</strong> Human<br />
Resources Command<br />
PRSRT STD<br />
U.S. POSTAGE<br />
PAID<br />
LEBANON<br />
JCT., KY<br />
PERMIT # 805<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com<br />
May 2012<br />
Volume 7, Issue 4<br />
Online Honesty O Credit by Exam O Health Care Degrees<br />
iCollege Commencement
Some people only See a camp.<br />
We See a campuS.<br />
Since 1947, we’ve been creating learning opportunities—from a<br />
hotel ballroom in Wiesbaden to online classes at sea, to forward<br />
bases in Afghanistan. Today, University of Maryland University<br />
College (UMUC) offers more than 100 bachelor’s and master’s<br />
programs entirely online. We’re on base or on-site in more than 25<br />
countries, because we can turn just about anyplace into a campus.<br />
at your Service Since 1947<br />
� University of Maryland University College is the nation’s largest public university. �<br />
877-275-UMUC • military.umuc.edu/accomplish • enroll now
Military advanced education<br />
Features<br />
5<br />
<strong>Army</strong> Women's FoundAtion<br />
8<br />
10<br />
18<br />
23<br />
University Roundtable: Health Care Degrees<br />
An ever-growing field, health care offers transitioning<br />
servicemembers the opportunity to apply their years of medical<br />
experience to a civilian career and to continue on a path of<br />
service.<br />
Honoring <strong>Army</strong> Women<br />
On March 13, 2012, the <strong>Army</strong> Women’s Foundation hosted its<br />
4th annual <strong>Army</strong> Women in Transition Symposium and Hall of<br />
Fame luncheon to honor <strong>Army</strong> women who served in Vietnam.<br />
The foundation also awarded seven Legacy Scholarships.<br />
By Maura McCarthy<br />
Virtual Integrity<br />
There is no arguing the fact that maintaining academic<br />
integrity in a virtual classroom environment can be a bit of a<br />
concern. While critics often cite the ways one might cheat the<br />
system as a reason for dismissing its relevance, professors and<br />
administrators who work in the world of cyber schooling see<br />
things quite differently.<br />
By J.B. Bissell<br />
Counting Credits<br />
Earning credit by examination is a smart strategy for students<br />
looking to capitalize on work and life experience, as well as prior<br />
coursework. For veterans and military students, CLEP, DSST and<br />
institution-specific exams provide the opportunity to save time<br />
and money while working toward their diplomas.<br />
By Kelly Fodel<br />
Graduating Global Information Leaders<br />
Military and civilian leaders view the National Defense<br />
University’s iCollege as the premier institution for acquiring the<br />
knowledge necessary to be successful in the information age. In<br />
a ceremony on Friday, April 27, the college honored the newest<br />
class of 200 graduates.<br />
By Maura McCarthy<br />
May 2012<br />
voluMe 7 • issue 4<br />
cover / Q&a<br />
16<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Pamela</strong> <strong>Raymer</strong><br />
Director<br />
<strong>Army</strong> Continuing Education System<br />
U.S. <strong>Army</strong> Human Resources Command<br />
departMents<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
14<br />
25<br />
26<br />
27<br />
Editor’s Perspective<br />
Program Notes<br />
People<br />
Class Notes<br />
CCME Grapevine<br />
Money Talks<br />
Calendar, Directory<br />
university corner<br />
28<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Andrea Allen<br />
Interim Dean<br />
School of Adult and Continuing Education<br />
Barry University
Military advanced<br />
education<br />
voluMe 7, issue 4 May 2012<br />
Journal of Higher Learning for Today’s<br />
Servicemember<br />
editorial<br />
Editor<br />
Maura McCarthy mauram@kmimediagroup.com<br />
Managing Editor<br />
Harrison Donnelly harrisond@kmimediagroup.com<br />
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Laura Davis laurad@kmimediagroup.com<br />
Copy Editor<br />
Laural Hobbes lauralh@kmimediagroup.com<br />
Correspondents<br />
Celeste Altus • J.B. Bissell • Kelly Fodel<br />
Kenya McCullum<br />
art & design<br />
Art Director<br />
Jennifer Owers jennifero@kmimediagroup.com<br />
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a proud MeMber oF<br />
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Military Advanced Education<br />
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EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE<br />
Although some in Congress had already introduced legislation to<br />
address the educational challenges unique to veterans and servicemembers,<br />
on April 27 President Obama took the lead on the issue and signed<br />
an Executive Order aimed at protecting the nation’s servicemembers<br />
from deceptive practices by some higher education institutions and to<br />
help servicemembers make more informed financial decisions when<br />
enrolling in school. The president noted that “even though the vast<br />
majority of schools do the right thing, we need to guard against the<br />
bad actors who don’t.” Regardless of what side of the aisle you sit on,<br />
protecting servicemembers from predatory and deceptive targeting is the<br />
right thing to do.<br />
The Order directs the administration—specifically the Departments<br />
Maura McCarthy<br />
Editor<br />
of Defense, Education and Veterans Affairs—to develop Principles of Excellence to strengthen oversight,<br />
enforcement and accountability within federal military and veterans education benefits programs. Among<br />
other goals, these Principles will increase oversight by requiring that students be provided with meaningful<br />
information regarding the true cost of their degree through a Know Before You Owe form, which outlines<br />
tuition and fees, availability of federal financial aid, estimated student loan debt and information on graduation<br />
rates. Additionally, new rules will be established regulating the presence of recruiters on military installations,<br />
and the VA will undertake efforts to register the term “GI Bill” to prevent its fraudulent use by some<br />
online schools when marketing their websites. In order to help future students make informed educational<br />
decisions, the VA, DoD and Department of Education will develop improved metrics for tracking student<br />
outcomes, such as completion rates for veterans. Lastly, enforcement and accountability will be increased by<br />
the establishment of a centralized complaint system for those receiving education benefits.<br />
Last year, over half a million veterans and over 300,000 servicemembers pursued higher education<br />
thanks to the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Tuition Assistance. However, in his weekend address where he discussed<br />
the Order, the president emphasized that “it’s not enough to just help our veterans and servicemembers<br />
afford school—we need to make sure they have all the tools they need to make an informed decision when it<br />
comes to picking the right program.” Military Advanced Education strives to be a valuable tool for veterans<br />
and servicemembers who are making important decisions<br />
regarding their education and future.<br />
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PROGRAM NOTES<br />
Prior to President Obama's Executive<br />
Order aimed at protecting veteran and military<br />
students, Senator Patty Murray, chairman of<br />
the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, joined<br />
with Senators Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Mark<br />
Begich (D-Ark.), and Iraq and Afghanistan<br />
veterans from across the country to unveil the<br />
GI Bill Consumer Awareness Act of 2012. The<br />
bill, which was introduced in the Senate, will<br />
give servicemembers and veterans using the<br />
GI Bill and other VA education benefits access<br />
to information that would help them make<br />
informed decisions about the schools they<br />
attend so they get the most out of the benefit.<br />
This bill would also require that VA and<br />
DoD develop a joint policy to curb aggressive<br />
recruiting and misleading marketing aimed<br />
at servicemembers and veterans using the<br />
GI Bill.<br />
“The Post-9/11 GI Bill has offered tremendous<br />
opportunity to so many veterans since<br />
it was passed in 2008,” said Senator Murray.<br />
“But like any benefit, we need to constantly<br />
monitor and improve on it to ensure that our<br />
veterans are getting the treatment that they<br />
deserve. This bill is designed to ensure that<br />
The National Defense<br />
University’s Information<br />
Resources Management College<br />
(NDU iCollege) received the prestigious<br />
Elearning! 100 Award for<br />
innovation at the Elearning! 100<br />
Awards dinner, held on March 20,<br />
2012, at the Hilton Alexandria Old<br />
Town hotel, located in Alexandria,<br />
Va. <strong>Dr</strong>. Paulette Robinson, assistant<br />
dean of teaching, learning,<br />
and technology for the NDU<br />
iCollege accepted the award on<br />
behalf of the college. Finalists<br />
are evaluated against three<br />
GI Bill Consumer Awareness Act of 2012<br />
our veterans have the facts to make their own<br />
decisions and to defend themselves from being<br />
taken advantage of. We can’t allow them to<br />
get anything less than the full potential of this<br />
benefit—because so much is riding on it.”<br />
The GI Bill Consumer Awareness Act of<br />
2012 complements veterans’ educational<br />
assistance programs by requiring VA to<br />
provide beneficiaries with easy-to-understand<br />
information about schools that are approved<br />
for GI Bill use. The bill requires:<br />
• Information Availability: Calls for<br />
disclosure of, among other data, statistics<br />
related to student loan debt, transferability of<br />
credits earned, veteran enrollment, program<br />
preparation for licensing and certification,<br />
and job placement rates.<br />
• Information Dissemination: Requires<br />
VA to provide educational beneficiaries<br />
with easy-to-understand information about<br />
schools that are approved for GI Bill benefit<br />
use.<br />
• Staffing and Training: Requires<br />
educational institutions to have at least<br />
one employee who is knowledgeable about<br />
NDU Earns Innovation Award<br />
criteria: Aberdeen’s Best-in-Class<br />
Learning and Development study,<br />
Elearning! <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong> (EMG)<br />
Learning Culture index, and<br />
overall organizational performance.<br />
The award submissions<br />
were open to government, corporate<br />
and nonprofit organizations.<br />
This is the second year in<br />
a row that the NDU iCollege has<br />
received this coveted award. The<br />
Elearning! 100 Award recognizes<br />
100 (60 corporate and 40 public<br />
sector organizations), for their<br />
outstanding learning culture,<br />
innovation, and collaborative<br />
efforts that drive excellence and<br />
performance.<br />
The NDU iCollege is a<br />
DoD educational institution.<br />
Although a majority of the<br />
students come from DoD (military<br />
and civilian), the college<br />
also accepts other federal, state<br />
and local government students,<br />
private sector students and<br />
international military students.<br />
Education is focused around<br />
CIO, CFO, cyber security, cyber<br />
leadership, enterprise architec-<br />
Compiled by KMi <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong> staff<br />
benefits available to servicemembers and<br />
veterans. This legislation further requires<br />
that academic advising, tutoring, career<br />
and placement counseling services, and<br />
referrals to Vet Centers are available and<br />
that institutions offer training to faculty<br />
members on matters that are relevant to<br />
servicemembers and veterans.<br />
• Curbing Misleading Marketing and<br />
Aggressive Recruiting: Requires VA and<br />
DoD to develop a joint policy on aggressive<br />
recruiting and misleading marketing aimed<br />
at servicemembers, veterans and other<br />
beneficiaries.<br />
• Educational Counseling: Makes<br />
educational counseling available to more<br />
beneficiaries.<br />
In 2012, over 590,000 servicemembers,<br />
veterans and other beneficiaries are expected<br />
to enroll in educational institutions using the<br />
Post-9/11 GI Bill. The VA is expected to spend<br />
over $9 billion in 2012 on Post-9/11 GI Bill<br />
payments and over $2 billion for the nearly<br />
400,000 beneficiaries of VA’s other education<br />
programs.<br />
ture, IT project and program<br />
management, and the government<br />
information leadership<br />
(GIL) Masters of Science<br />
Degree program. The NDU is the<br />
nation’s premier center for Joint<br />
Professional Military Education.<br />
It is an accredited graduatelevel<br />
institution that provides<br />
an educational and research<br />
environment to prepare future<br />
leaders of the armed forces<br />
and civilian agencies for highlevel<br />
policy, command and staff<br />
responsibilities.<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 3
PROGRAM NOTES<br />
Colonel Dennis W.<br />
Devery (Ret.), former<br />
commander of New Jersey<br />
National Guard, has been<br />
named as acting vice<br />
president for planning<br />
and research at Thomas<br />
Edison State College, in<br />
New Jersey.<br />
Frank Chong, deputy<br />
assistant secretary for<br />
community colleges at<br />
the U.S. Department of<br />
Education, has been named<br />
president/superintendent of<br />
Santa Rosa Junior College,<br />
in California.<br />
Andrea Backman,<br />
director of new program<br />
development and<br />
academic approvals at the<br />
University of Virginia's<br />
School of Continuing<br />
and Professional Studies,<br />
has been chosen as<br />
chief academic officer of<br />
Rasmussen College, in<br />
Minneapolis.<br />
Michael A. <strong>Dr</strong>iscoll,<br />
provost and executive vice<br />
chancellor of the University<br />
of Alaska Anchorage, has<br />
been selected as president<br />
of Indiana University of<br />
Pennsylvania.<br />
Bruce Jarrell, executive<br />
vice dean at the University<br />
of Maryland School of<br />
Medicine, has been named<br />
chief academic, research<br />
officer and senior vice<br />
president at the University<br />
of Maryland in Baltimore.<br />
Mark Volk, executive vice<br />
president of Lackawanna<br />
College, in Pennsylvania,<br />
has been chosen as president<br />
there.<br />
James Limbaugh, vice<br />
president for strategy, planning<br />
and policy at Angelo<br />
State University, in Texas,<br />
has been appointed chancellor<br />
of Montana State<br />
University-Northern.<br />
Joyce Ester, associate<br />
vice president for student<br />
services at Bakersfield<br />
College, in California, has<br />
been appointed as president<br />
of Kennedy-King College,<br />
one of the City Colleges of<br />
Chicago.<br />
Lyle D. Roelofs, provost<br />
and dean of the faculty<br />
and professor of physics at<br />
Colgate University, in New<br />
York, has been selected as<br />
president of Berea College,<br />
in Kentucky.<br />
Kim Schatzel, dean of<br />
the College of Business at<br />
University of Michigan-<br />
Dearborn, has been chosen<br />
as provost and vice president<br />
at Eastern Michigan<br />
University.<br />
Compiled by KMi <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong> staff<br />
New Jersey Establishes Landmark Teaching Program for Veterans<br />
Legislation establishing the nation’s first<br />
condensed teaching certification program<br />
designed specifically for a veteran cohort was<br />
signed by New Jersey Acting Governor Kim<br />
Guadagno. The program was initiated through<br />
legislation sponsored by Senator James Whelan<br />
(D-Atlantic) and Assemblywoman Mila Jasey<br />
(D-Essex). The VETeach pilot will be housed at<br />
the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and is<br />
slated to launch in September 2012.<br />
“Stockton College is proud to host the<br />
inaugural VETeach class. The signing of this<br />
law further demonstrates the commitment of<br />
Governor Christie and Acting Governor Guadagno<br />
and the Legislature in seeking innovative ways<br />
to support the transition of our veterans,” said<br />
Stockton President Herman J. Saatkamp. “As<br />
a result of the passage of this legislation, with<br />
strong bipartisan support, veterans in New Jersey<br />
and across the United States will have access to<br />
one of the most innovative programs available for<br />
those seeking a teaching degree.”<br />
4 | MAE 7.4<br />
PEOPLE<br />
VETeach is the first of a number of education-to-employment<br />
initiatives being developed<br />
by Operation College Promise (OCP) in collaboration<br />
with partner colleges and universities.<br />
OCP is researching condensed degree programs<br />
that optimize the distinct skills honed in the<br />
military in fields with potential for long-term<br />
employment.<br />
“OCP would like to extend our sincere<br />
thanks to Senator Whelan and Assemblywoman<br />
Jasey for sponsoring this initiative to accelerate<br />
our mission of developing condensed degree<br />
plans for student veterans,” said Wendy A. Lang,<br />
director of OCP. “Today, with the signing of this<br />
legislation by Acting Governor Guadagno, New<br />
Jersey is sending a powerful message of mutual<br />
commitment to the veteran community that<br />
their service to our nation is acknowledged<br />
with viable education and employment<br />
options. The VETeach pilot program will do<br />
just that.” The legislation, S-1026, creates a<br />
36-month teacher preparation pilot program.<br />
Veterans who successfully complete the<br />
program will receive a bachelor’s degree and<br />
satisfy the necessary requirements to apply<br />
for a certificate to teach kindergarten through<br />
grade 8. Stockton plans to prepare future<br />
educators in the critical fields of science,<br />
technology, engineering and math.<br />
Veterans under the Post-9/11 GI Bill are<br />
receiving the most generous package of benefits<br />
since World War II; however, the time<br />
constraints of the measure—36 months—<br />
limit the ability of student veterans to pursue<br />
professions—such as teaching—which have<br />
requirements that exceed the traditional fouryear<br />
degree plan.<br />
“I could have benefitted from this<br />
program; I would have been a better prepared<br />
teacher. I hope many veterans take advantage<br />
of this opportunity to better the students of New<br />
Jersey,” noted Sergeant Matthew Generally, a<br />
Stockton graduate and member of the New<br />
Jersey <strong>Army</strong> National Guard.<br />
Compiled by KMi <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong> staff<br />
Liang Chee Wee, interim<br />
president of Northeast<br />
Iowa Community College,<br />
has been named to the<br />
position on a permanent<br />
basis.<br />
Shannon Beets, vice<br />
president of institutional<br />
effectiveness at Sierra<br />
Nevada College, has been<br />
promoted to executive<br />
vice president and provost<br />
there.<br />
Richard Cox, chief<br />
operating officer at Jones<br />
International University,<br />
in Colorado, has been<br />
promoted to president<br />
there.<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com
University Roundtable:<br />
Health Care Degrees<br />
MAE posed the following question to Adelphi University, Northeastern College of Professional Studies and the University of Phoenix:<br />
Armed with one of many available degrees in health care, a servicemember increases the ability to leverage his or her practical experience and transition<br />
to a civilian career. What degrees do you offer and how do your programs prepare students for gainful employment in the health care industry?<br />
Adelphi University offers a variety of programs that can assist transitioning<br />
military personnel into health care careers. The university has<br />
welcomed veterans to campus for decades. Adelphi was transformed<br />
in the 1940s when the university welcomed WWII veterans to campus.<br />
Today, the university president is a veteran and an advocate for the new<br />
GI Bill and we have a strong alumni veterans network. Adelphi is committed<br />
to offering academic and support programs, valuable resources<br />
and transitional services designed to meet the unique needs of currently<br />
enlisted military personnel and military veterans. Since 2010,<br />
the university has been named a military-friendly school.<br />
Adelphi welcomes the opportunity to assist all qualified active,<br />
reserve and veteran members of the military in their academic plans<br />
and preparation for the future and we offer a wide variety of policies,<br />
procedures and services for veterans. These include a waiver of application<br />
fees, specialized pre-enrollment advising for veterans, late admissions<br />
and reduced penalties for early withdrawal. We have admissions<br />
advisers who are very familiar with the Post-9/11 GI Bill and identifying<br />
funding sources available for veteran college students. Adelphi is also<br />
recognized as a proud participant of the Yellow Ribbon Program, which<br />
is designed to assist veteran students with their college financing.<br />
In the field of health care, our programs can connect a veteran’s<br />
military training to a civilian career. To begin with, the Adelphi School<br />
of Nursing offers baccalaureate and master degree programs in nursing,<br />
Northeastern University College<br />
of Professional Studies (CPS) is committed<br />
to providing career-focused<br />
undergraduate and graduate educational<br />
programs that are designed to accommodate the complex<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Patrick R. Coonan, Ed.D., R.N., NEA-BC, FACHE<br />
Dean of the School of Nursing<br />
Shawn O’Riley<br />
Executive Director of University College<br />
Adelphi University<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Brian Murphy Clinton, Ed.D.<br />
Executive Director, Enrollment Management<br />
Northeastern University College of Professional Studies<br />
nurse administration, education and nurse practitioner, as well as<br />
a doctoral program in education or health systems. We also offer<br />
degree in health care related fields like social work, psychology, health<br />
education, health administration and public health.<br />
Adelphi’s University College, the adult undergraduate degree<br />
program for nontraditional students returning to college to complete<br />
their degrees later in life, allows credit for life experience, including<br />
basic and other military training programs. University College offers an<br />
undergraduate degree in emergency services administration that can<br />
be completed entirely online. In addition, the college offers graduate<br />
and post-baccalaureate programs in emergency management, health<br />
information technology and a post-baccalaureate pre-med program.<br />
For most military personnel who are interested in obtaining degrees<br />
that can lead to health careers, Adelphi recommends starting in an<br />
undergraduate degree program in University College where they can<br />
maximize their credit for military experience. Veterans can complete<br />
an associate degree in University College and then seamlessly transfer<br />
to several health care baccalaureate fields of study including nursing,<br />
social work, psychology, emergency services administration, education<br />
and business. For veterans with undergraduate degrees, Adelphi offers<br />
a variety of master’s programs in many fields that can connect their<br />
military experience with a graduate degree in a health care related field.<br />
For example, military nurses with a baccalaureate degree could pursue<br />
a master’s level program in nursing, public health, health information<br />
technology and emergency management.<br />
lives of returning students, working adults, military students<br />
and veterans on a global scale. With a broad portfolio of program<br />
offerings, the college focuses on providing an academic<br />
experience that meets the evolving needs of students’ career<br />
and personal goals.<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 5
CPS grants veterans access to a range of degree programs that<br />
correspond to the thriving health care industry. The degree programs<br />
are taught by accomplished scholars and practitioners who prepare<br />
students by integrating their valuable real-world experience into program<br />
curriculum and everyday class learning, providing students with<br />
a rich academic experience.<br />
With an awareness of other life commitments, the college<br />
allows students to complete their degrees at an accelerated pace<br />
in programs such as the Fast-Track Bachelor of Science in finance<br />
and accounting management, Fast-Track Bachelor of Science in<br />
health management, Fast-Track Master of Science in leadership,<br />
Fast-Track Master of Science in project management, or at the<br />
their own pace through programs such as the Master of Science in<br />
nonprofit management and Master of Science in regulatory affairs<br />
for drugs, biologics and medical devices. Through these programs,<br />
students are equipped with a world-class education that builds their<br />
experience in leadership and management, and prepares them for<br />
a variety of professions in the health care industry such as medical<br />
and health services manager, insurance underwriter, social or<br />
community service manager, health care administrator, regulatory<br />
affairs specialist, associate scientist, biotechnician, change control<br />
specialist, technical engineer, stability specialist, medical affairs<br />
The health care industry encompasses<br />
a broad range of professions,<br />
from doctors and nurses to health care<br />
administrators. In any area of health<br />
care, as with most industries, advanced education can lead to<br />
increased salary, enhanced career opportunities and greater job satisfaction.<br />
Yet for nurses, in particular, the benefits of higher education<br />
have never been more pronounced.<br />
The Institute of Medicine’s report, “The Future of Nursing,”<br />
outlines several recommendations for transforming the nursing profession.<br />
Among them is an increased emphasis on higher education. The<br />
report calls for 80 percent of the nation’s more than 3 million nurses<br />
to hold baccalaureate degrees by 2020. Currently, 50 percent hold<br />
such a degree. The report also recommends doubling the proportion of<br />
nurses with doctoral degrees. Currently, less than 1 percent of nurses<br />
hold doctorates, while 13 percent hold graduate degrees. Clearly,<br />
there is a movement toward greater education for nurses. The key for<br />
nurses, then, is choosing a program that provides them with the specific<br />
education most needed to advance their skills and their careers.<br />
For 27 years, University of Phoenix has been a leader and innovator<br />
in post-licensure nursing education, graduating more post-licensure<br />
professionals every year than any other program. Our more than<br />
40,000 alumni work in just about every sector of health care—in hospitals,<br />
regulatory environments and universities, as CEOs and CNOs,<br />
legal nurses, instructors, unit directors, administrators and as clinical<br />
practitioners. Why do so many esteemed nursing professionals choose<br />
to school with University of Phoenix? The answer is simple: University<br />
6 | MAE 7.4<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Pam Fuller<br />
Dean of the College of Nursing<br />
University of Phoenix<br />
associate, research associate, quality systems engineer and quality<br />
assurance associate.<br />
Within the classroom, students build their analytical, conceptual<br />
and quantitative skills by working to problem-solve with classmates<br />
that come from diverse backgrounds and hold different perspectives.<br />
Through their classroom work, students are given the opportunity to<br />
develop a valuable network of professional contacts.<br />
As an optional component to several bachelor’s and master’s<br />
degree programs, students can apply their classroom knowledge<br />
and build real-world experience in the health care industry through<br />
the college’s co-op and internship program. Students who choose to<br />
complement their degree program with a co-op or internship are able<br />
to explore career interests and network with potential employers.<br />
As a member of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC)<br />
and participant in the Yellow Ribbon program, the university is committed<br />
to serving military students and veterans. Qualifying veterans<br />
who enroll at the university will receive grant aid that covers most to all<br />
of the university’s tuition and fee charges, depending on the selected<br />
degree program. With no application fee, eight start terms, flexible<br />
course formats, and campuses in Charlotte, N.C., and Boston, the<br />
College of Professional Studies provides students with an education<br />
that is uniquely aligned with their career goals.<br />
of Phoenix College of Nursing provides high quality, practical education<br />
in a format that meets the needs of today’s working nurses and<br />
military servicemembers.<br />
University of Phoenix College of Nursing offers two undergraduate<br />
programs, both of which are designed to take practicing<br />
nurses through their baccalaureate degree: Licensed Practical Nurse/<br />
Licensed Vocational Nurse to Bachelor of Science in nursing and RN<br />
to Bachelor of Science in nursing. At the graduate level, the university<br />
offers Master of Science in nursing degrees with a host of concentrations<br />
as well as doctoral degrees.<br />
All of our programs provide leading evidence-based practice, innovative<br />
curricula and a caring network of health care educators, student<br />
support professionals and alumni. University of Phoenix’s 1,400<br />
faculty are experienced licensed nurses and health care professionals<br />
who bridge theory and practice with instruction focused on critical<br />
thinking and leadership. Courses are taught online, at local campuses<br />
or in immersive simulation labs.<br />
At University of Phoenix College of Nursing, we say “a more<br />
educated nurse is a safer nurse.” We believe that nurses should not<br />
have to choose between employment and education. Our classes are<br />
offered at convenient times or online so that nurses can enter the<br />
classroom without putting their careers on hold.<br />
As employer demand for advanced nursing education grows, it<br />
will be those nurses who combine both experience and education who<br />
have the best opportunities for career progression. At University of<br />
Phoenix, we offer nurses the opportunity to pursue education without<br />
compromising their career experience. O<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com
Preparing you to SERVE and LEAD…<br />
online or in class<br />
A military-friendly institution with programs<br />
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Earn up to 30 college credits from experiential learning,<br />
licensures, certifications, or military service •<br />
Certifying officials and advisors available statewide •<br />
Online programs available<br />
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Classes offered throughout the state in: Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Collier,<br />
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benefits, financial aid, and grants available to eligible students<br />
AMERICA’S<br />
BEST<br />
COLLEGES<br />
2011
<strong>Army</strong> Women's FoundAtion<br />
8 | MAE 7.4<br />
Honoring <strong>Army</strong> Women<br />
The <strong>Army</strong> Women’s symposium exAmined The chAnging missions And roles of<br />
<strong>Army</strong> Women TrAnsiTioning To civiliAn life.<br />
By mAurA mccArThy, mAe ediTor<br />
More than 200 attendees gathered on Capitol Hill on<br />
March 7, 2012, to honor <strong>Army</strong> women at the U.S. <strong>Army</strong><br />
Women’s Symposium and Hall of Fame Luncheon. The<br />
theme of this year’s symposium, “Changing Missions,<br />
Changing Roles,” fostered dialogue among federal legislators,<br />
government agencies, academia, business and<br />
nonprofits and highlighted the successes as well as the<br />
collaborations and partnerships needed to facilitate the<br />
transition of <strong>Army</strong> women out of the military. As Major<br />
General Janet Cobb, assistant deputy chief of staff, G-4<br />
(Operations), noted in her keynote address, “All wars end.<br />
During the last 10 years of persistent combat, women<br />
have had their war come to an end. Women on active duty<br />
rotate to new units—or they leave the military. National<br />
Guard and <strong>Army</strong> Reserve women have their war come to<br />
an end as well—their DD 214 says so. They quickly demobilize.<br />
They all pack their duffle bags and black footlockers<br />
and return—where? And to what circumstance of life?”<br />
All women who served in Vietnam were inducted<br />
into the Hall of Fame this year. Between 1959 and 1975<br />
approximately 7,500 women served in Vietnam; 6,200<br />
were nurses, all were volunteers. Reflecting on the role of<br />
women in the <strong>Army</strong>, Major General Cobb said, “Women<br />
in the <strong>Army</strong> or in the military is a subject we really don’t<br />
talk about much, but it is evident. Retired general officers<br />
and senior field grade officers sit among you here. I walk<br />
the Pentagon halls—now a major general and former<br />
specialist four—passing an African-American woman<br />
wearing an Air Force flight suit, leather flight jacket and<br />
senior pilot wings; a female Marine aviator and female<br />
gunny; an Asian female Navy Lieutenant wearing gold<br />
dolphins; female soldiers wearing jump wings, combat<br />
action badges, air assault badges, pilot wings, purple<br />
hearts, and on the sleeve of their <strong>Army</strong> service uniforms<br />
a stack of overseas service bars.” Women who served<br />
during World War II, Korea and Vietnam blazed the trail<br />
that today’s servicewoman can follow, taking on roles<br />
that many view as a normal part of their job but that<br />
decades ago were unthinkable. Cobb noted that as of the<br />
end of January 2012, the number of <strong>Army</strong> women who<br />
had deployed to the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters—with<br />
many women deploying multiple times and to both<br />
theaters—totaled 138,703, including National Guard and<br />
Reservists.<br />
Following the Hall of Fame induction, the foundation<br />
presented seven Legacy scholarships, which provide<br />
financial support for the pursuit of an undergraduate<br />
degree. The scholarships, awarded to <strong>Army</strong> women and<br />
their dependents, are based on merit, academic potential<br />
community service and need. This year’s scholarships<br />
were awarded to Sabrina Higdon, Joy Cassagnol, Chief<br />
Warrant Officer 3 (Ret.) Nancy Christiano, Specialist Maia<br />
Dihan, Amber Gibson, Specialist (Ret.) Latoya Lucas and<br />
Yamese Wyrick. O<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com
1. 2.<br />
3. 4.<br />
5. 6.<br />
1. Maj. Gen. Janet Cobb<br />
2. Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, Surgeon General of the U.S. <strong>Army</strong><br />
3. WJLA's Leon Harris and Gen. Richard A. Cody, USA (Ret.), of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc.<br />
4. Gen. Cody<br />
5. Angela Messer, Senior Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton<br />
6. Brig. Gen. Dee McWilliams of the <strong>Army</strong> Women's Foundation and Gen. Cody present an award to<br />
Mary Yoshioka.<br />
P8. Local Women who served in Vietnam with West Pointers
Virtual Integrity<br />
do online courses pose A greATer risk To AcAdemic honor codes?<br />
By J.B. Bissell<br />
mAe correspondenT<br />
The opportunity to attend college classes online<br />
“The same academic code and trust levels are<br />
has made earning a degree possible for count-<br />
in place for both the physical and online classless<br />
dedicated students who otherwise may have<br />
rooms,” said Hunt Lambert, associate provost,<br />
struggled to fit the necessary courses into their<br />
Colorado State University OnlinePlus. “Academic<br />
hectic schedules. There’s no arguing that generally<br />
integrity is important in every course, regardless<br />
speaking, online learning is a positive step toward<br />
of the delivery mode.” End of story, or at least it<br />
a more educated workforce. With that said, there’s<br />
should be. Unfortunately, for every group of com-<br />
also no arguing the fact that maintaining academic<br />
mitted-to-excellence learners who believe in and<br />
integrity in a virtual classroom environment can be<br />
understand the importance of honest schoolwork,<br />
a bit of a concern. Critics of this particular mode<br />
there are one or two people who want to skirt their<br />
of delivery often cite all the ways one might cheat Hunt Lambert responsibilities, and online sessions—since they<br />
the system as a reason for dismissing its relevance.<br />
lack the physical presence of a teacher and are<br />
Yet professors and administrators who work in the world of cyber built around assignments that are always completed at home—<br />
schooling see things quite differently.<br />
seem ripe for scholastic bamboozlement.<br />
10 | MAE 7.4<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com
Interestingly, when it comes to cheating, there doesn’t seem<br />
to be much difference between brick-and-mortar seminars and<br />
virtual ones. “With 40 years of distance delivery experience,”<br />
Lambert continued, “we do not appear to have a more significant<br />
problem than on campus in classrooms. Those who are determined<br />
to cheat, cheat in both. Those who are honest are honest<br />
in both.” Kristin Bittner, an instructional designer at the Penn<br />
State World Campus, agreed. “Research on the topic has found<br />
that academic dishonesty is the same in online and<br />
traditional classrooms. I think the main difference<br />
is perception. People assume that there is more<br />
opportunity to cheat online than in the traditional<br />
classroom environment.”<br />
One of the assumptions people often make is<br />
that there is no way to know for sure who is participating<br />
in the virtual discussions, whether it’s really<br />
the student who signed up for the class or somebody<br />
else. “The only way to be certain in every case<br />
is to watch every student take every possible action<br />
in an online environment,” Lambert said. “Unless<br />
you are always watching, there is never 100 percent<br />
certainty that the person commenting in a discussion<br />
board is actually the person who owns the<br />
account under which the post is made.” Lambert,<br />
though, isn’t so sure this is all that dissimilar from<br />
what could happen in a traditional college setting.<br />
“We do not believe that it is any different than a<br />
classroom of 30 or more students where the faculty<br />
member does not know the individuals,” he said.<br />
That might sound strange at first, but picture<br />
a stereotypical university lecture hall: The professor<br />
paces back and forth, simultaneously talking<br />
and scribbling important bits of information on<br />
a whiteboard. The teaching assistant, sitting to the side, readies<br />
the necessary material for the next part of the lesson. The<br />
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Kristin Bittner<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Shannon Farris<br />
students—there might be 30 of them, or 50, or maybe a few<br />
hundred—all perched in their stadium-style seating, jot down<br />
what they feel are the most significant remarks and observations<br />
about that day’s session. It’s nearly as easy to disappear into that<br />
shuffle as it is to remain anonymous online, and Lambert’s not<br />
the only one who thinks so. “Just as in a traditional mass lecture<br />
course, when taking attendance for class participation, typically<br />
not all students have their IDs checked to ensure the person in<br />
that seat is the person on the roster,” explained<br />
Bittner. “For assignments such as online threaded<br />
discussions, I’m not sure schools can ever be 100<br />
percent certain that the student posting the work<br />
is the one who enrolled in the course. The key is<br />
emphasizing the value of integrity—to encourage<br />
students to always do the right thing.”<br />
leArning curve<br />
In order to do the right thing, new learners<br />
need to know exactly what that means, what<br />
defines integrity in the world of academia, and it’s<br />
up to instructors to teach them. “Managing academic<br />
integrity is about awareness, ensuring that<br />
students understand what kinds of behavior are<br />
considered violations of academic integrity, and<br />
educating them about plagiarism,” Bittner said.<br />
“Explain citation rules and ‘fair use’ guidelines,<br />
show examples of plagiarism, and emphasize that<br />
proper research skills will be important in their<br />
future careers. Some faculty even require students<br />
to pass a plagiarism quiz before they are permitted<br />
to submit any writing assignments.”<br />
An initial quiz is a great way to get students<br />
headed in the right direction. Then, once they’re on the correct<br />
path, a few subtle—and some not-so-subtle—reminders can help<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 11
guarantee that they stay there. “We have exact definitions of what<br />
academic integrity is and what constitutes plagiarism in our<br />
syllabi, but how do you ensure that students in an online class<br />
read it?” said <strong>Dr</strong>. Shannon Farris, a psychology professor at Saint<br />
Leo University. “You start with making an announcement saying<br />
to ‘please read your syllabus and pay particular attention to the<br />
academic policy that we have that will address what cheating is,<br />
what plagiarism is, and if you’re found guilty of that, you’ll get<br />
a zero, or it could mean expulsion.’ But what I find most helpful<br />
for students is repeated exposure.”<br />
By repeated exposure, Farris is not suggesting that students<br />
are constantly reminded that they’ll fail the course or maybe get<br />
kicked out of school if they get caught cheating. No, he’s talking<br />
about taking a proactive role in their learning and working with<br />
them so that integrity becomes second nature. “Bring it up in the<br />
online discussions,” he said. “It takes a lot of meaningful contact<br />
to help students understand what academic integrity is and what<br />
it isn’t. Ask questions such as ‘Are you citing your material correctly?<br />
Are you using the correct style?’ Let them know, ‘You<br />
didn’t cite it correctly here; let’s review that.’ Reminding them<br />
can help because they’re getting multiple practices. One thing<br />
that I’ve found with plagiarism is that the majority of students<br />
aren’t doing it intentionally,” Farris continued. “They just don’t<br />
know enough about the writing style that they’re supposed to be<br />
I DON’T TAKE CLASSES.<br />
I EXPERIENCE THEM.<br />
At CTU we know the sacrifices you make. Your<br />
education shouldn’t be one of those sacrifices. We<br />
offer support designed specifically for current and<br />
veteran military personnel and their families.<br />
Contact us at 877.764.1555 or<br />
visit coloradotech.edu/military to learn more.<br />
Find disclosures on graduation rates, student financial obligations and<br />
more at www.coloradotech.edu/disclosures.Not all programs are available<br />
to residents of all states. CTU cannot guarantee employment or salary.<br />
131-30502 271299 04/12<br />
12 | MAE 7.4<br />
Military Advanced Education recognized CTU as one of<br />
the top universities serving the educational needs of the<br />
Armed Forces from 2008 - 2012.<br />
using and they’re unintentionally plagiarizing. Some professors<br />
will say, ‘go to the manual,’ but that’s not enough.”<br />
scholAsTic securiTy<br />
Unfortunately, some folks do cheat intentionally. Online administrators<br />
understand this, and also realize that fair or not, they’re<br />
under more scrutiny to control it<br />
than more traditional programs.<br />
“Because federal regulations address<br />
online students directly there is<br />
more pressure on online programs<br />
and the faculty who teach online,”<br />
said <strong>Dr</strong>. Deb Gearhart, director of<br />
Troy University’s eTroy program.<br />
Just as technology has advanced<br />
so that students can study from a<br />
distance, though, there have also<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Deb Gearhart<br />
been improvements to the security<br />
of the overall delivery. “Although<br />
an online environment doesn’t put<br />
the student and faculty in physical<br />
proximity to each other,” explained<br />
Thomas Dalton, assistant vice president<br />
of Enrollment Management at<br />
Excelsior College, “the use of technology<br />
and simply paying attention<br />
on the part of faculty provide ways to<br />
address this difference in locations.”<br />
Similar to other institutions, Dalton<br />
and his colleagues have established<br />
Thomas Dalton<br />
specific guidelines to address the<br />
definition of integrity and explain what plagiarism is and make<br />
clear the penalties for running afoul of the rules. “Policy wording<br />
alone, however, doesn’t assure everyone will be honest in their<br />
academic activities any more than it will assure that they will be<br />
honest in other endeavors,” he said. “What we have done, and continue<br />
to do, is remain vigilant for potential policy violations and to<br />
exercise appropriate sanctions when breaches occur.”<br />
How are these breaches detected? The answer sounds like<br />
something out of a James Bond movie. “There have been a number<br />
of technological advancements in recent years that can be used to<br />
confirm a student’s identity,” Dalton explained. “From challenge<br />
questions and video web-proctoring to advanced biometrics, such<br />
as keystroke, voice and handwriting analysis. Using these techniques,<br />
authentication can and does take place at different points<br />
during an academic term.”<br />
There are third-party operations that can help sniff out cheating,<br />
too. Turnitin.com, for example, scans student papers for<br />
potential plagiarism problems, and the “Penn State World Campus<br />
partnered with Kryterion to provide online proctoring for highstakes<br />
exams in select courses,” Bittner said. “It greatly simplifies<br />
and increases the integrity of the process. Students purchase a<br />
special camera and can schedule their exams online. They install<br />
specific software, complete biometric authentication (photo ID and<br />
keystroke analysis), and are monitored in real time by a certified<br />
Kryterion online proctor.”<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com
Still, as exciting as using biometrics to verify a test taker<br />
sounds, sometimes, it just comes down to common sense.<br />
“‘Old-fashioned’ attentiveness on the part of our faculty plays an<br />
important role,” Dalton said. “Active instructor involvement and<br />
engagement is essential.” This includes not relying<br />
on the same projects year after year. “Faculty can<br />
modify their assignments to make plagiarism more<br />
difficult,” Bittner explained. “For example, provide<br />
very specific topics for research assignments, and<br />
require that students turn in an outline, then<br />
an annotated bibliography with references from<br />
within the past five years, and have students submit<br />
drafts before the final paper. Professors could<br />
require papers on very recent current events, or<br />
require students to write from a specific point of<br />
view.”<br />
The more interaction a teacher has with a<br />
particular student—whether it comes in the form of email communication,<br />
an online threaded discussion or the rough draft<br />
of a short, seemingly low-priority response paper—the easier it<br />
is to notice when something seems off in a substantial writing<br />
project or final exam. As Gearhart said, “Much of the management<br />
is in the hands of the instructor who observes the student’s<br />
work and behaviors, both in the traditional classroom and online<br />
classroom, and the instructor can tell where there are academic<br />
integrity concerns.”<br />
cheATing The sysTem<br />
Even with password-protected assignments and genuine professor<br />
diligence, those concerns do still exist, primarily because<br />
of people who set out with the sole purpose of cheating the<br />
system. “They’re the greatest challenge,” acknowledged Dalton.<br />
“The Department of Education [DOE] and its Office of Inspector<br />
General [OIG] have identified fraud rings around the country<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Rick Shearer<br />
that have targeted distance learning institutions.” The main<br />
target, of course, is money, in the form of a financial aid scam<br />
in which someone receives monetary assistance and then “disappears.”<br />
“We’ve taken a proactive approach and hosted a session<br />
of The Presidents’ Forum,” said Dalton. “The DOE<br />
and OIG participated, along with several distance<br />
education institutions and fraud prevention software<br />
vendors.”<br />
Perhaps ironically, another one of the greatest<br />
threats to online academic integrity comes in<br />
the form of technology itself, the very thing that<br />
makes it possible to learn remotely. “The larger<br />
threat is the impact of the Internet and all the<br />
sharing sites, not the delivery mode of the course,”<br />
said Colorado State’s Lambert, and he’s not alone<br />
in this opinion. <strong>Dr</strong>. Rick Shearer, the director of<br />
Penn State World Campus Learning Design, said,<br />
“The biggest challenge we face is keeping up with the vast array<br />
of new technologies and how they may provide ways for students<br />
to cheat that were not possible previously. We try to use technologies<br />
in such a way to assure that students cannot easily cheat and<br />
to assure academic integrity, but there is always something new.”<br />
This brings us back to the fact that there really isn’t much difference<br />
between onsite lessons and those conducted in cyberspace,<br />
because as Bittner pointed out, “All students are online, whether<br />
they are taking courses in traditional face-to-face classrooms<br />
or via the Web,” and no matter where they find themselves, the<br />
definition of academic integrity doesn’t change. O<br />
For more information, contact MAE Editor Maura McCarthy<br />
at mauram@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives<br />
for related stories at www.mae-kmi.com.<br />
WE ARE MISSION READY<br />
Readiness is critical to you. Select a university that is prepared to meet your needs. One with a rich<br />
heritage of military support, one that offers a variety of quality academic programs, one that can travel<br />
with you around the world, and one that understands the needs of students who wear the uniform.<br />
Educate the mind to think, the heart to feel, the body to act.<br />
- TROY Motto 1887<br />
“One of the Top Universities for Troops...” - Military Times<br />
“Ranked Among Top Schools in the Nation” - Forbes Magazine<br />
In class • Online • Within reach • www.troy.edu • Find us on:<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 13
CLASS NOTES<br />
Physician Assistant Program to<br />
Serve Rising Demand<br />
Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) is launching a Physician<br />
Assistant (PA) program leading to a Master of Medical Science degree.<br />
The 25-month program begins in January 2013 with a first class of<br />
30 students, pending approval for provisional accreditation. The Tufts<br />
program is the only PA program in Massachusetts offered by a medical<br />
school and one of only three medical school-affiliated programs in New<br />
England.<br />
The PA program will help meet the growing demand for primary<br />
care providers, triggered by efforts to contain health care costs and by the<br />
continuing shortage of primary care providers. The U.S. Department of<br />
Labor projects a 39 percent growth in PA jobs by 2018. The Massachusetts<br />
Medical Society’s 2011 Physician Workforce Study reported severe physician<br />
shortages in internal and family medicine, both primary care<br />
specialties, for the sixth consecutive year.<br />
Tufts University School of Medicine has the infrastructure and<br />
resources to respond to this growing demand because it already trains<br />
physicians in a first-rate learning environment, noted Aviva Must, Ph.D.,<br />
dean of the Public Health and Professional Degree Programs, and chair<br />
of the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at TUSM.<br />
Tufts has developed the curriculum, selected faculty and signed agreements<br />
with clinical affiliates throughout eastern Massachusetts.<br />
During their first year, students will follow a 27-course curriculum<br />
over three semesters, including training in anatomy, physical diagnosis,<br />
internal medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, women’s health, behavioral<br />
medicine, surgery and rehabilitation medicine. In their second year,<br />
students will rotate through a 48-week schedule at affiliated hospitals,<br />
private practices and clinics. The clinical practice rotations include<br />
emergency medicine, inpatient medicine, ambulatory medicine, behavioral<br />
medicine, surgery, pediatrics, geriatrics and rehabilitation medicine,<br />
as well as electives in fields of specific interest. PAs practice medicine<br />
under the supervision of physicians and surgeons, often working as part<br />
of a health care team taking medical histories, examining patients,<br />
prescribing medications, interpreting lab tests and X-rays, and diagnosing<br />
and treating patients with acute and chronic illnesses. PAs work<br />
in a variety of medical settings including hospitals, health maintenance<br />
organizations, community clinics, nursing homes, physician offices and<br />
public health agencies.<br />
14 | MAE 7.4<br />
New Program Will Meet<br />
Financial Industry’s Needs<br />
in North Dakota<br />
The South Dakota Board of Regents approved Northern State University to<br />
offer a master’s degree in banking and financial services, building on its successful<br />
undergraduate programs in that field. “This graduate-level degree expands<br />
Northern’s curriculum to better meet the workforce needs of the banking and<br />
financial services industry in South Dakota and the Midwest region,” said Regents<br />
President Kathryn Johnson. A Master of Science degree will prepare students for a<br />
competitive market upon graduation, she said, and also provides current professionals<br />
in the field the skills needed to advance their careers.<br />
NSU already offers bachelor and associate degrees, a minor, and certificates in<br />
the banking and financial services program. This action also authorizes the new<br />
graduate degree for distance delivery, allowing bankers from across the country<br />
to earn this credential online. The board also approved online delivery for several<br />
of its existing degrees, including master’s degrees in leadership and administration,<br />
teaching and learning, instructional design in E-learning, and training and<br />
development in E-learning. Officials said putting these degrees online expands<br />
educational opportunity to more students who find themselves place bound due<br />
to work or family considerations.<br />
Academic Partnership to<br />
Address Workforce Needs<br />
University of Phoenix and Northern Virginia Community College<br />
(NOVA) announced an innovative alliance that will provide new<br />
educational opportunities in health care, information technology<br />
and criminal justice. The alliance was formalized at a special signing<br />
ceremony at NOVA’s Annandale Campus. Through the new agreement,<br />
University of Phoenix and NOVA will work with area business,<br />
academic and diversity leaders to identify workforce needs and develop<br />
focused curriculum and specific career pathways to meet those area<br />
workforce skills gaps. Students will have the opportunity to earn an<br />
associate degree at NOVA and seamlessly transition to a bachelor’s<br />
degree program at one of University of Phoenix’s seven D.C. Metro area<br />
locations or online.<br />
In addition to a tuition discount, NOVA students will have the<br />
opportunity to potentially convert prior training and work experience<br />
into college credit through Prior Learning Assessment at University of<br />
Phoenix. Through a new University of Phoenix transfer policy, credits<br />
earned through an associate of arts degree at NOVA will transfer to<br />
University of Phoenix and satisfy general education course requirements<br />
so students can immediately begin working toward a bachelor’s<br />
degree in their field of study. University of Phoenix and NOVA will<br />
also explore transfer trends to ensure the alliance is meeting local<br />
employer demands.<br />
Through its Community College Center of Excellence, University of<br />
Phoenix works with community colleges to build educational partnerships<br />
that bring in area business, academic and diversity leaders to<br />
identify workforce needs.<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com
First of Its Kind Civil Engineering Program<br />
in Indiana<br />
The Indiana Commission for Higher<br />
Education approved the proposed Bachelor<br />
of Science degree in civil engineering technology,<br />
which the College of Technology<br />
at ISU will begin offering this fall. Several<br />
ISU officials say the program is the first<br />
of its kind in Indiana. The new program<br />
is different from civil engineering, which<br />
deals with mostly theoretical concepts and<br />
design, because people with degrees in civil<br />
engineering technology work more in the<br />
application area, said Robert English, associate<br />
dean in the ISU College of Technology.<br />
ISU faculty members analyzed different<br />
industries and collaborated with several<br />
organizations to determine anticipated<br />
workforce needs over the coming decade,<br />
and they determined that multiple industries<br />
will have a growing need for people with a<br />
background in civil engineering technology.<br />
The new offering will utilize several<br />
courses already offered in the construction<br />
management and mechanical engineering<br />
technology programs, with the rest of the<br />
classes to be new courses specifically for the<br />
program.<br />
As part of the initiative, ISU also entered<br />
into an agreement with Ivy Tech Community<br />
College. Ivy Tech graduates who complete<br />
their associate degree in design technology<br />
will be able to finish the final two years<br />
at ISU to receive the bachelor’s degree in<br />
civil engineering technology. Indiana State<br />
worked closely with the Indiana Department<br />
of Transportation to develop the program.<br />
The program will be accredited by the<br />
Accreditation Board for Engineering and<br />
Technology; Sims noted that, based on the<br />
organization’s website, it will be the only<br />
such four-year program in Indiana.<br />
Students Teach Technology<br />
to Senior Citizens<br />
IDG’s Computerworld Honors Program<br />
announced Pace University as a 2012<br />
Laureate. The annual award program honors<br />
visionary applications of information technology<br />
promoting positive social, economic<br />
and educational change. Five years ago, Pace<br />
professor <strong>Dr</strong>. Jean F. Coppola developed the<br />
university’s “Gerontechnology Program”<br />
which instructs students how to teach senior<br />
citizens basic computer skills including use of<br />
email, Skype, Wii, Google search, and instant<br />
messaging, among others. Partners on the<br />
project, <strong>Dr</strong>s. Sharon Stahl Wexler and Lin <strong>Dr</strong>ury<br />
(Pace Nursing faculty) prepare the students<br />
for instructing the seniors with “sensitivity<br />
training” that includes simulation glasses<br />
to replicate vision problems and popcorn in<br />
students’ shoes to mimic mobility issues and<br />
help them empathize with older people. With<br />
baby boomers aging and a society increasingly<br />
dependent on technology, Professor Coppola’s<br />
program is filling a growing need.<br />
The students teach at numerous<br />
community organizations in Westchester<br />
and New York City including United Hebrew<br />
of New Rochelle, Henry Street Settlement,<br />
and Hallmark of Battery Park City. Pace’s<br />
Gerontechnology program is different from<br />
others for several reasons: In addition to<br />
the sensitivity training, an interdisciplinary<br />
team works on this project including nurses<br />
and tech gurus, social science educators and<br />
statistical data experts. Pace also collaborates<br />
closely with the Westchester Department of<br />
Senior Programs and Services, Westchester<br />
Community College (Prof. Barbara Thomas)<br />
and Fordham University (<strong>Dr</strong>. Janna Heyman)<br />
for expert data analysis and social work<br />
research experience.<br />
Moreover, this program has very strong<br />
ties to a growing list of community partners<br />
including The Wartburg, MAZII in Brooklyn,<br />
and Cerebral Palsy of Westchester. This year,<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Coppola and her colleagues, Pace professors<br />
Mark Surabian and <strong>Dr</strong>. Sandra Flank,<br />
received a Thinkfinity grant from the Verizon<br />
Foundation for “Integrating the iPad into<br />
the Educational Technology Curriculum<br />
and Community: Facilitating Accessibility<br />
Awareness and Experimental Learning.”<br />
Compiled by KMi <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong> staff<br />
New Computer<br />
Science-Based<br />
Cybersecurity<br />
Program<br />
George Washington University’s School<br />
of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS)<br />
has developed a new graduate degree<br />
program in cybersecurity. The program will<br />
launch in fall 2012, seeking to meet the<br />
burgeoning global demand for experts able<br />
to confront the growing threat of cyber<br />
crime.<br />
“Robust cybersecurity is a matter of<br />
national and international importance,<br />
because of the potential impact of security<br />
breaches on national security and the<br />
global economy,” said David Dolling, dean<br />
of SEAS. “The SEAS understands the crucial<br />
need to educate technical experts in cybersecurity,<br />
and we’ve responded by creating<br />
a unique graduate program that prepares<br />
students to become future cybersecurity<br />
leaders by giving them both the technical<br />
skills to address core cybersecurity issues<br />
and the ability to approach cybersecurity<br />
with a systems management mindset.”<br />
The program provides core knowledge<br />
of cybersecurity and of computer science as<br />
it relates to cybersecurity. In addition to the<br />
required courses, including algorithms and<br />
applied cryptography courses, the program<br />
offers a lot of room for individual customization.<br />
The university began accepting<br />
applications for the program in March.<br />
Students will be able to choose a path<br />
of study that emphasizes more technical<br />
CS aspects of security, such as network<br />
security and E-commerce security, as well as<br />
standard CS courses such as networks and<br />
databases. Cybersecurity-related courses<br />
will also be available and offered across<br />
the university in areas including forensics,<br />
law, policy and security systems management.<br />
There also are thesis and non-thesis<br />
options. All degree-related courses from the<br />
Department of Computer Science will be<br />
offered by night and many by day at GW’s<br />
Foggy Bottom campus, making the program<br />
accessible to part-time students. Students<br />
also will be able to complete the degree<br />
from GW’s Virginia Science and Technology<br />
campus.<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 15
<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Pamela</strong> <strong>Raymer</strong><br />
Director<br />
<strong>Army</strong> Continuing Education System<br />
U.S. <strong>Army</strong> Human<br />
Resources Command<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Pamela</strong> <strong>Raymer</strong> has over 29 years of federal government<br />
service working in various supervisory positions in education and<br />
training. As director of <strong>Army</strong> Continuing Education System (ACES)<br />
since November 2011 at the Human Resource Command at Fort<br />
Knox, Ky., she manages the voluntary education program along with<br />
serving as the functional chief representative for education counselor<br />
careerists. Some of her previous positions include chief, Education<br />
Division, JROTC at Fort Knox, dean of academics at the <strong>Army</strong> Management<br />
Staff College at Fort Belvoir, Va., and quality assurance<br />
director at the Armor and the Fires Center at Fort Knox and Fort Sill<br />
respectively. Her assignments also include serving as the education<br />
director at USNAF Atsugi, Japan. She has over 23 years as a university<br />
instructor in both resident and online programs. Her Ed.D. in<br />
supervision with a subspecialty in training and development is from<br />
the University of Louisville. Some of her professional affiliations<br />
include Phi Kappa Phi, a national honors society, and the American<br />
Association of University Women in McLean, Va.<br />
Q: Could you provide an overview of <strong>Army</strong> Continuing Education—<br />
for example, structure and size?<br />
A: This program provides services to soldiers in <strong>Army</strong> Education programs<br />
that include Tuition Assistance [TA], basic skills, educational<br />
counseling, academic and <strong>Army</strong> Personnel testing, <strong>Army</strong>/American<br />
Council on Education Registry Transcript System and Credentialing<br />
Opportunities On-Line for enlisted and officer personnel of the active<br />
and reserve components, staffing, and program management/administration/operations<br />
for all programs and services at 70 active <strong>Army</strong><br />
education centers, 16 reserve education offices at regional readiness<br />
commands and 54 National Guard state and area commands <strong>Army</strong>wide.<br />
Our Education Incentives Branch ensures that all soldiers and<br />
veterans receive their educational entitlements under the various GI<br />
bills, transferability of education benefits, <strong>Army</strong> College Fund and<br />
Department of <strong>Army</strong> Loan Repayment Programs for the reserves and<br />
the active <strong>Army</strong>. We had 286,783 TA enrollees in fiscal year 2011 for<br />
637,216 enrollments.<br />
Q: What are your responsibilities as director?<br />
A: I oversee the voluntary education program and support services for<br />
the <strong>Army</strong> worldwide. The work of the education centers with direct<br />
oversight of the counselors in the field falls under the Installation<br />
Command headquartered at San Antonio, Texas. Franco Serafinelli is<br />
the director of that program.<br />
16 | MAE 7.4<br />
Q&A<br />
Supporting the Development of Soldier-Students<br />
<strong>Army</strong> <strong>Educator</strong> Q&A<br />
Q: How does your past experience as a college instructor shape your<br />
decision-making as director of ACES?<br />
A: With almost 25 years of college and university teaching experience,<br />
I understand two sets of customers—the students and the educational<br />
institutions. I know how students feel about starting an undergraduate<br />
program. The undergrad students I taught were largely soldiers who<br />
were making their first entry into the college world and needed lots of<br />
support to believe they could be successful in a college program. They<br />
were always disciplined and focused but had doubts initially about being<br />
ready to take classes, so the <strong>Army</strong> and the schools needed to provide lots<br />
of support in the beginning to help them overcome that hurdle. Education<br />
counselors also need to help soldiers identify their readiness for<br />
an academic program. Remedial programs may be necessary to ensure<br />
success before soldiers begin an advanced education program. Then we<br />
should provide tools for them to make good decisions independently as<br />
they progress through their degrees. Preparing the soldier for re-entry<br />
into the civilian world should always be a goal—whether it occurs after<br />
first enlistment or retirement. From a faculty member’s perspective,<br />
I also understand better the issues that educational institutions face.<br />
Q: What military education initiatives do you find most promising?<br />
A: While there will always be a need for counselors to provide face-toface<br />
services, I’m excited at the possibilities that technology can offer.<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com
Counselors are needed to promote educational programs and advise<br />
the soldier on academic plans as well as to assist with the myriad of services,<br />
programs and tools available. But as I indicated earlier, we should<br />
promote the development of independent thinkers and problem-solvers<br />
who can achieve their educational goals with limited support. That<br />
should be a component of lifelong learning. Technology is available now<br />
to accomplish much of what we want to do but in trying to maximize<br />
use of available funds, we are taking a phased approach. Our first steps<br />
are in converting many of our processes to digital apps and exploring<br />
the benefits of social media such as Twitter. We also need to help others<br />
feel ready and comfortable to embrace these technology initiatives.<br />
Q: At CCME, you spoke about the need to focus on outcomes—not<br />
input—when it comes to measuring quality in education. Could you<br />
expand upon that?<br />
A: Input measures are relatively easy to compute; how many visitors<br />
did we have at the education center? Outputs can be relatively easy as<br />
well: How many degrees were completed, how many tests were taken?<br />
Outcomes, though, are the “so what?” What did we get out of the visits,<br />
the degree completions and the tests? Did soldiers get promoted, did<br />
they get a job, did they earn more money, were they better performers?<br />
These measures are not easy to compute but we must continue to focus<br />
on them as we make tough decisions on funding for specific programs.<br />
Q: Could you discuss the transition from e<strong>Army</strong>U to Go<strong>Army</strong>Ed and<br />
its implications for soldiers’ education?<br />
A: The transition from e<strong>Army</strong>U to Go<strong>Army</strong>Ed will have no measureable<br />
impact upon soldier education. When the decision to sunset<br />
e<strong>Army</strong>U was made in 2011, fewer than 1,400 soldiers had active<br />
e<strong>Army</strong>U enrollments. Go<strong>Army</strong>Ed, which is built upon the system<br />
architecture developed for e<strong>Army</strong>U, provides all soldiers, active component,<br />
<strong>Army</strong> National Guard, and <strong>Army</strong> Reserves with the same 24/7<br />
web-based services that existed with e<strong>Army</strong>U. These include: online<br />
course registrations, online course withdrawal, the ability to monitor<br />
annual TA usage and their educational record, receive email alerts from<br />
Go<strong>Army</strong>Ed, and seek assistance for an <strong>Army</strong> counselor or their school<br />
using the Customer Relations Management [CRM] tool with our Letter<br />
of Instruction [LOI] schools. Soldiers attending non-LOI schools have<br />
the additional requirement to coordinate their class registration and<br />
withdrawals with their home school and cannot escalate CRM cases to<br />
them. All of our partner schools, both LOI and non-LOI, have the ability<br />
to electronically invoice the <strong>Army</strong> for payment through Go<strong>Army</strong>Ed<br />
and can post grades to the soldier’s record and create CRM cases to<br />
resolve issues involving soldier educational activities. After 2003, all<br />
soldiers, whether e<strong>Army</strong>U participants or those using the <strong>Army</strong>’s<br />
regular TA program were subject to the DoD annual tuition ceiling and<br />
semester hour cap.<br />
Q: How would you describe the <strong>Army</strong>’s game plan for the education<br />
of its force? What are your goals for degree attainment?<br />
A: No one should generalize too much, but one way to view degree<br />
completion is to consider the differences between soldiers in civiliantype<br />
Military Occupation Specialties [MOS] and those in combat arms<br />
MOSs. Some soldiers by virtue of their MOSs and associated technical<br />
training can leave the <strong>Army</strong> with a solid set of technical skills that<br />
equips them to be more employable than others. These MOSs are in<br />
such occupations as engineering, law enforcement and vehicle maintenance.<br />
Other soldiers especially in the combat arms, do not have<br />
those civilian type MOSs that equip them as well for a return to the<br />
civilian workforce. These soldiers do have great leadership and management<br />
skills, and as with all soldiers, are disciplined with a strong<br />
set of work values. Even though truck drivers in the <strong>Army</strong> may not<br />
want to be truck drivers when they get out of the <strong>Army</strong>, combat arms<br />
soldiers are at greater disadvantage than soldiers in other occupations<br />
that translate more easily to civilian jobs. To that end, a combat arms<br />
soldier needs a degree program that is skill-based or very focused<br />
to give them a strong set of employable skills, while other soldiers<br />
may just need the diploma to help them get a job. This challenge<br />
is one that education counselors and educational institutions must<br />
recognize when assisting soldiers with selection of degree plans and<br />
schools as well as identifying those credentialing or certificate programs<br />
that can make the soldier more employable.<br />
Q: How will the <strong>Army</strong> Learning Model 2015 shape <strong>Army</strong> Voluntary<br />
Education in the coming years?<br />
A: The <strong>Army</strong> Learning Model focuses on increasing the thinking<br />
and problem-solving skills of soldiers to increase their adaptability<br />
and flexibility. Voluntary education programs are very supportive<br />
of development of these competencies, whether in a credentialing<br />
or advanced education program. It is important that schools have<br />
curricula that support these competencies. To that end, redesigning<br />
courses to include independent and collaborative problem-solving<br />
activities versus lectures is important.<br />
Q: How is the <strong>Army</strong> working to improve transition support?<br />
A: In the voluntary education arena, a two-day education course will<br />
be available to assist transitioning soldiers. We also anticipate an<br />
increased interest in education center counseling services as soldiers<br />
make decisions before transitioning out of the <strong>Army</strong>.<br />
Q: In your opinion, what are the most significant challenges facing<br />
military education and how is the <strong>Army</strong> preparing to address them?<br />
A: Availability of funds for TA and other services such as testing along<br />
with an adequate number of field counselors is always an issue. The<br />
transition will promote education, and as we promote programs,<br />
we increase participation. While <strong>Army</strong> has supported off-duty educational<br />
programs for the value it brings while soldiers serve and<br />
when they exit the service, funding all programs will continue to<br />
be a challenge. We must be very efficient while being effective with<br />
the programs and services we do provide. Technology is one area we<br />
hope to leverage.<br />
Q: Since assuming your role in November, what is the most important<br />
lesson you’ve learned?<br />
A: The demand for actionable data is huge. As the <strong>Army</strong> makes decisions<br />
about a number of programs, the need for data that helps us<br />
assess what we’re getting for our dollars is very important. We have<br />
lots of data but it isn’t always in the right sets. We are working on<br />
ways to improve our decision-making ability with data collection and<br />
data analysis to be better prepared to advise senior leadership when<br />
making these critical decisions. O<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 17
eArning crediT By exAminATion is A smArT sTrATegy for sTudenTs looking To<br />
cApiTAlize on Work And life experience, As Well As prior courseWork.<br />
By kelly fodel<br />
mAe correspondenT<br />
Tom Kidd has had a long and successful career in the military,<br />
serving for 20 years in the Air Force and 14 years as a civilian.<br />
Along the way, he took college classes here and there, but soon<br />
realized he was accumulating a mishmash of credits and was not<br />
on his way to earning a particular degree. “My schedule precluded<br />
me from going to traditional school,” said Kidd. “I was deploying<br />
places and moving around too much. So during that time I was<br />
exploring other options and stumbled upon Excelsior College.<br />
They were very interesting because there was an opportunity to<br />
consolidate all my prior learning into a degree.”<br />
That is exactly what Kidd did, earning 28 credits by examinations<br />
using Excelsior College Examinations. The college also<br />
accepted 52 exam credits Kidd had earned from DANTES and the<br />
College Level Examination Program (CLEP), as well as credits<br />
he earned in traditional school. Ultimately, he graduated from<br />
Excelsior with a Bachelor of Science in liberal arts and now serves<br />
as the director of Strategic Spectrum & Wireless Policy for the<br />
Department of the Navy. “I basically tested out of my bachelor’s<br />
degree,” Kidd said.<br />
18 | MAE 7.4<br />
Like Kidd, many other veterans and servicemembers find<br />
value in CLEP, DSST and institution-specific exams, achieving<br />
degrees and even saving time and<br />
money while working toward their<br />
diplomas. “Completing standardized<br />
exams is a very popular way for<br />
adult learners to earn credit,” said<br />
Bob Frederick, military transfer<br />
coordinator at Charter Oak State<br />
College. “For some it is validating<br />
knowledge already acquired<br />
through experience and training<br />
while others are well suited for this<br />
Bob Frederick<br />
style of independent learning. By<br />
taking exams, students may earn<br />
credits quickly and cost effectively that can be applied toward<br />
completion of a college degree. This is particularly beneficial for<br />
students with room in their degree plans for free electives and<br />
desire to take advantage of prior learning.”<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com
clep<br />
“CLEP gives students the chance to receive college credit<br />
for things they already know—things they learned through life<br />
experiences, on-the-job training, internships, or even independent<br />
or self study,” <strong>Dr</strong>. Constance Tsai,<br />
director, CLEP Academic Initiatives<br />
at the College Board, explained.<br />
“Students of a wide range of ages<br />
and backgrounds are able to demonstrate<br />
their mastery of college-level<br />
material by earning a qualifying<br />
score on a CLEP test.”<br />
Developed by the College Board,<br />
CLEP is the most widely accepted<br />
credit-by-examination program,<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Constance Tsai<br />
available at more than 2,900 colleges<br />
and universities. About a third<br />
of the tests administered each year are to the military. Military<br />
servicemembers take CLEP exams for free; DANTES funds one<br />
attempt for exam title. Students who take CLEP tests that meet<br />
general education requirements (e.g., Analyzing and Interpreting<br />
Literature, College Algebra, American Literature, College Composition<br />
and History of the United States) are able to meet their<br />
basic requirements earlier, and are thus able to move into courses<br />
in their chosen majors faster. A satisfactory score on any of the 33<br />
CLEP exams can earn students three to 12 college credits.<br />
Tsai advised that test takers prepare for the exams by checking<br />
out exam preparation resources on the CLEP website. One of the<br />
greatest benefits of using the study guides on this site, which are<br />
developed and published by the College Board, is that they allow<br />
students to prepare for their exams on a flexible schedule. She also<br />
recommends that students check with their college’s admissions<br />
office to find out about credit transfer policies and timelines in<br />
order to ensure CLEP exams are taken in a timely fashion, and that<br />
test scores can be submitted and evaluated in time for enrollment.<br />
dAnTes And dssT<br />
DANTES sponsors a wide range of examination programs to<br />
assist servicemembers in meeting their educational goals including<br />
credit-by-exams like CLEP and DSST; entrance tests such as<br />
ACT, GMAT, GRE, LSAT and SAT; and other exams like the GED<br />
or Praxis.<br />
Formerly known as the DANTES Standardized Subject Test,<br />
the DSST program is an extensive series of 38 examinations in<br />
college subject areas that are comparable to the final or end-ofcourse<br />
examinations in undergraduate courses. The American<br />
Council on Education (ACE) recommends three semester hours<br />
of credit per test. DANTES funds paper-based DSST testing for<br />
eligible servicemembers and civilian examinees at Base Education<br />
Offices and at National Test Centers offering the internetbased<br />
testing DSSTs. If the servicemember does not pass the<br />
first (free) exam, they are responsible for the cost of retesting.<br />
Therefore, being prepared the first time they take it is important<br />
because they obtain three to 12 semester hours without going<br />
into the classroom and without paying for a college course.<br />
These examinations are administered on over 500 military<br />
installations by the DANTES test control officer (TCO) at the base<br />
education center or the base-sponsored National Test Centers.<br />
Test takers can also check with the local college or university’s<br />
testing office for availability. Taking advantage of the credit-byexam<br />
program can help with expediting their degree completion.<br />
TCOs can log into the DANTES TCO Portal and download study<br />
guides and fact sheets for exams such as CLEP and DSST.<br />
Demetra Malone, exams program manager at DANTES,<br />
also recommends that students use the Online Academic Skills<br />
Course, which allows free access to an online study course<br />
designed to check skill level and provides study guides, printable<br />
sample tests, resources, articles and related links for various<br />
examinations. “Servicemembers must first visit with their education<br />
counselor or academic adviser to identify examinations<br />
that apply towards their degree plan of study,” Malone said. “The<br />
counselor can assist them with strategies to reduce the amount<br />
of college credits required to achieve an educational goal and<br />
how to transfer college credits to their colleges and universities.”<br />
AcAdemic Advising<br />
Working with an academic adviser or counselor at your particular<br />
school is imperative for a student seeking to earn creditby-exam.<br />
Every school has different guidelines and restrictions, so<br />
counseling will assist in making sure you are on the right path. At<br />
Charter Oak State College, for example, “there is a six credit residency<br />
requirement—the three credit Cornerstone Seminar and a<br />
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www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 19
three credit Capstone course,” said Frederick. “Theoretically, all<br />
remaining credits required for the degree could be earned from<br />
exams. Practically speaking, students are limited by the breadth<br />
of degree requirements or the number of exams available in their<br />
chosen field of study to complete a concentration.”<br />
Frederick said that those in the military who are just starting<br />
their degree programs usually choose the five CLEP general<br />
exams, as they will provide a solid starting point toward general<br />
education requirements and carry the most credits per exam.<br />
These general exams cover subject matters such<br />
as college composition, math and history. Many<br />
Charter Oak military students, particularly the<br />
senior enlisted, seek available exams in the management<br />
disciplines that are representative of<br />
their backgrounds and career objectives.<br />
Charter Oak State College accepts the majority<br />
of recommendations made by ACE; for the<br />
credits to be transferable, a student must earn<br />
the minimum score recommended by ACE on an<br />
insTiTuTionAl exAms<br />
While earning credit-by-exam with tests like CLEP and DSST<br />
is popular, they are not the only options for college students<br />
seeking to earn credits. Many colleges and universities, such as<br />
Thomas Edison State College (TESC), offer their own institutionspecific<br />
exams. Some students who come to college already having<br />
college-level learning, or with the ability and discipline to<br />
prepare on their own, have used TECEP (Thomas Edison State<br />
College Examination Program) and other forms<br />
of prior learning assessment, like portfolio assessment,<br />
to complete half or more of their degree<br />
requirements.<br />
“TESC does not limit the number of credits<br />
earned by examinations but there are a few<br />
important points to make regarding this topic,”<br />
said Marc Singer, vice provost, Collegiate Credit<br />
Assessment Center at TESC. “First, students can<br />
transfer up to 90 credits that are earned through<br />
exam. While the passing score is considered to be<br />
a grade of ‘C’ or higher and can be used appropri-<br />
Marc Singer<br />
exams from a single ACE-reviewed source, such<br />
as CLEP or DSST. Students who want to transfer<br />
ately in any category of their degree plan, some<br />
more than 90 credits through exam programs<br />
exam scores have equivalent letter grades. In this case, the let- must take those exams through multiple exam providers. Also,<br />
ter grade would appear on the student’s record and included in most degree programs at TESC have capstone requirements that<br />
their GPA.<br />
cannot be satisfied via a credit-by-exam. We recommend that<br />
Frederick offered this advice to military students: “Don’t students check with an adviser to make sure that the exams they<br />
underestimate the level of knowledge required to take an exam want to take will fit into their degree program.”<br />
and be well prepared. Military servicemembers are provided Singer explained, “A team of mentors, who teach the equiva-<br />
funding for many exams, but if a passing grade is not achieved, lent courses, develop and review each exam. For TECEP, we<br />
a student must wait six months for a retake and may be required collect data on the exam questions and replace or update the<br />
to pay the cost of the re-taken exam. Of course, don’t forget to questions that don’t perform well (if students all choose the same<br />
contact your education services office to discuss exam registra- wrong answer, for instance, or if something becomes outdated)<br />
tion and to utilize any exam resources available in the office. when it’s necessary. We always have multiple versions of each<br />
Finally, identify the college you plan to attend at the point of exam for security reasons, and we overhaul the exams entirely<br />
exam registration. This will guarantee that an official score pretty regularly.”<br />
report will be sent to that college so you won’t need to request Test prep assistance for each TECEP exam is provided through<br />
it later. This will save both time and money.”<br />
a test description document that is several pages long. Test<br />
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TESC3985-65_DeployToHome_MilAdvEd.indd 1 4/23/12 2:37 PM<br />
20 | MAE 7.4<br />
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descriptions provide a list of topics covered on the test, the<br />
approximate weighting of each topic on the exam, sample<br />
questions, and suggestions for review and study materials. CLEP<br />
and DSST provide similar materials on their websites. No faculty<br />
or staff guidance is provided by credit-by-exam programs as these<br />
require self-study. In fact, Singer said servicemembers should<br />
be wary of companies that try to sell you a guaranteed test prep<br />
program for any of these credit-by-exam programs. “There are<br />
several shady organizations out there that have taken advantage<br />
of members of the military, to the tune of thousands of dollars,”<br />
he said. “If you’re not sure about a prep program, ask us or the<br />
College Board or DSST.”<br />
Excelsior College also offers its own institution-specific exams<br />
in addition to accepting other credits via exams like DSST or<br />
CLEP. “Excelsior College Examinations (ECEs) and UExcel exams<br />
(collaboratively developed between Excelsior and PearsonVue) are<br />
also widely available to anyone,” said <strong>Dr</strong>. Mika Hoffman, executive<br />
director, Center for Educational Measurement at Excelsior College.<br />
“Unlike CLEP and DSST, ECEs and UExcel exams are the only<br />
ones developed by an accredited college for which a letter grade<br />
is awarded and reported on a college transcript. Also, unlike the<br />
other exams, ECEs are available for upper-level as well as lowerlevel<br />
courses.”<br />
Benefits from these exams aren’t limited to a student’s transcript;<br />
a significant advantage is clear when looking at the costbenefit.<br />
“Exams are generally less expensive than a typical college<br />
MILITARY<br />
IS OUR MIDDLE NAME.<br />
course. An Excelsior College Examination or UExcel Exam worth<br />
three credits can cost as little as $95 per exam (not per credit).<br />
So if cost is a factor, exam-oriented students can substantially<br />
lower the costs of earning a degree. Speaking of cost, Excelsior<br />
recently introduced a new way for students to earn a bachelor’s<br />
degree in liberal studies almost entirely by examination, and we<br />
call this the $10K Degree. If someone with little or no college<br />
credit on his/her record follows the path we guide them along,<br />
the total cost will be no more than $10,000, guaranteed,” Hoffman<br />
explained.<br />
Excelsior College Examinations are developed according to<br />
national standards to assure that the exams measure what they<br />
are designed to measure and that the results are reliable. There<br />
are four major stages in the development of each Excelsior College<br />
Examination: developing a test plan; writing and editing<br />
test questions; evaluating, pretesting and revising items; and<br />
assembling test forms and conducting standard-setting. Faculty<br />
and content experts are involved in these various stages and it<br />
is only after having gone through this thorough and rigorous<br />
process are the exams used by students to earn credit. Excelsior’s<br />
examinations are reviewed by the American Council on Education’s<br />
College Credit Recommendation Service, which provides<br />
course equivalency information to facilitate college credit award<br />
decisions. Content guides are available free of charge for all<br />
of Excelsior’s exams. Hoffman said military students typically<br />
pursue Excelsior’s bachelor’s degree in liberal studies, so their<br />
Terrence Warner | TSgt, USAF (Ret.) | Graduate, School of Security & Global Studies<br />
Our military roots run deep. From Dyess AFB to Afghanistan, AMU is dedicated<br />
to educating those who serve. With access to quality courses, unrivaled support,<br />
and a book grant for undergraduates, we stand behind our community— 65,000<br />
military members strong.<br />
Learn More at www.amuonline.com/MAE<br />
Art & Humanities | Business | Education | Management | Public Service & Health | Science & Technology | Security & Global Studies<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 21<br />
Some photos courtesy of the DoD.
test choices tend to reflect interest in subjects such<br />
as history, psychology, sociology, cultural issues<br />
and other similar topics.<br />
For Kidd, his choice to pursue his degree via<br />
exam was a decision he is thankful to have made.<br />
However, he warns people to not underestimate the<br />
dedication required to study for exams. He said if<br />
you cannot handle the stress of studying on your<br />
own with the potential of failure, this may not be<br />
the path for you. You need to know your personality<br />
and have the self discipline required for this kind of<br />
testing because you are going to put in nearly the<br />
same hours as you would if you earned a degree<br />
the traditional way. That said, Kidd summarized,<br />
“It is a great way of getting the task accomplished<br />
with minimal disruption to your life. It is a great<br />
opportunity and I would encourage people to do it<br />
and get some credits out of the way.” O<br />
DISCIPLINE.<br />
HONOR.<br />
COURAGE.<br />
The currency of your<br />
college tuition.<br />
Northeastern University is proud to honor<br />
your service by participating in the Yellow<br />
Ribbon program. Earn your degree at the<br />
College of Professional Studies with minimal<br />
out-of-pocket tuition expenses or fees.<br />
• Doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate<br />
degrees and certificates<br />
• Fast-Track programs that lead to degree<br />
completion in just 12 to 18 months<br />
• On-campus and online classes designed for<br />
flexibility and convenience<br />
• For a complete list of DSST test titles available at<br />
National Test Centers, visit www.getcollegecredit.com. For<br />
descriptions of each DSST test, visit www.getcollegecredit.<br />
com/resources.html#factsheets.<br />
• Students may access DANTES Online Academic Skills<br />
Course (OASC) from any computer through the DOD MWR<br />
Library program at www.nelnetsolutions.com/dod .<br />
• A free online tutor service is available for all military and<br />
their family members who require tutoring in specific<br />
subject areas at www.tutor.com/military. This program is<br />
funded by the DoD MWR Library Program, Yellow Ribbon<br />
Reintegration Program and Navy General Library Program.<br />
• For a complete list of CLEP exams available, visit<br />
http://clep.collegeboard.org/exam.<br />
• For CLEP Study Guides and other resources, visit<br />
http://clep.collegeboard.org/test-preparation.<br />
For more information, contact MAE Editor Maura McCarthy<br />
at mauram@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives<br />
for related stories at www.mae-kmi.com.<br />
You can start an application any time.<br />
Next classes begin July 2 nd and July 30 th .<br />
Learn more by calling us at 1-800-686-1143 or visiting<br />
us online at www.northeastern.edu/discovercps.<br />
12-14205_NEU_Adv Military Edu Print Ad_v09_7.375x5.25.indd 1 4/17/12 11:34 AM<br />
22 | MAE 7.4<br />
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Graduating Global<br />
Information Leaders<br />
miliTAry And civiliAn leAders vieW The nATionAl defense<br />
universiTy’s icollege As The premier insTiTuTion for Acquiring The<br />
knoWledge necessAry To Be successful in The informATion Age.<br />
By mAurA mccArThy, mAe ediTor<br />
The National Defense University’s Information Resource Management<br />
College (NDU’s iCollege) honored 200 graduates in a<br />
ceremony on Friday, April 27. A hub for educating and connecting<br />
global information leaders, the iCollege attracts students from the<br />
Department of Defense, federal agencies, state and local government,<br />
and the private sector, as well as from international defense<br />
ministries. Offering 11 graduate certificate programs including<br />
Cyber Security, Enterprise Architecture, Chief Information Officer,<br />
an Advanced Management Program and a Master of Science in Government<br />
Information Leadership, the iCollege prepares leaders to<br />
direct the information component of national power by leveraging<br />
information and technology.<br />
Critical to the professional development and education of information<br />
leaders is collaboration and partnerships, both of which the<br />
iCollege successfully leverages. The college benefits greatly from<br />
partnerships with government and industry; for example, Lockheed<br />
Martin, KPMG, CF Day & Associates, DISA and the Department of<br />
Energy provide faculty members to the institution at no cost to the<br />
college. “An individual of that caliber is probably worth $200,000<br />
or $250,000 a year and we can’t thank these organizations enough.<br />
These people bring not [only] their expertise but their connections<br />
and best practices, tying together the federal sector with the private<br />
sector, which we are going to need more of moving forward,” noted<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Robert Childs, chancellor of the iCollege.<br />
The power and potential of an education lies not only in the<br />
knowledge gained, but also in the relationships forged in pursuit<br />
of this knowledge. As <strong>Dr</strong>.<br />
Childs emphasized, “As<br />
we withdraw our forces from<br />
overseas, the relations we have<br />
with other countries largely will be<br />
conducted by personal relationships versus formal relationships;<br />
this is going to be extremely critical moving forward. Coalition<br />
warfare, partnerships and national security—the era coming now<br />
has been unmatched in the past and we’re going to have to do<br />
more.” Seeds of these relationships are often sowed through education,<br />
and this year’s graduates included international students<br />
from the Saudi Arabian National Guard, Armenian <strong>Army</strong>, Ministry<br />
of the Interior of the Czech Republic, Canadian Department of<br />
Defense, Republic of Korea, Bulgarian <strong>Army</strong>, Armenian <strong>Army</strong> and<br />
the Taiwanese <strong>Army</strong>.<br />
The rapid advancement of technology is redefining the<br />
way the government does business, and the iCollege is leading<br />
the way in merging technology and information for strategic<br />
advancement. In his commencement address, Under Secretary<br />
of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer Robert F.<br />
Hale asserted the importance of IT professionals for the efficient<br />
functioning of the DoD. “We couldn’t begin to accomplish our<br />
many goals without IT support. The IT business environment is a<br />
critical factor in helping us sustain a modern business operation.<br />
The support of graduates like you is critical; we depend on IT to<br />
keep track of our resources. Defense financing and accounting<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 23
services reports to me; they do 170 million financial accounting<br />
transactions a year and make millions of pay transactions.<br />
We need IT to do it just as much as we need electricity. None of<br />
our priorities could be realized without effective and secure IT<br />
systems.”<br />
Both Childs and Hale stressed that the graduates’ work was<br />
far from over: The challenges of the classroom will be replaced<br />
by the challenges of the workroom and students must apply the<br />
lessons learned at NDU to their organization. “There are a lot of<br />
storm clouds out there: DoD downsizing and budget constraints<br />
for example. I’ve been in government service for over 40 years<br />
and many people say that these things come and go. Well, this<br />
problem isn’t going to come and go. Things are going to be drastically<br />
different and we’re going to have to take a look at how we<br />
reshape our organizations, how we realign our organizations and<br />
our roles within these organizations. This is role you’re all going<br />
to have to play when you go back to your organizations. How we<br />
face the crisis says a lot about us and I think you’re all going to<br />
have opportunities to act,” Childs reflected.<br />
Domestic graduates hail from the Department of the <strong>Army</strong>,<br />
Defense Information Systems Agency, Department of Homeland<br />
Security, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration,<br />
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Department<br />
of the Air Force, United States Navy, <strong>Army</strong> National Guard,<br />
Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of State, National<br />
Defense Radio Establishment, United States Marine Corps,<br />
Complete your degree at home or abroad with Ashford University. Discover a supportive<br />
learning community designed for you to go to school while you serve. At Ashford, no matter<br />
your role or your career goals, you’ll build the skills that matter.<br />
Even deployment doesn’t mean your education is over – you can continue while deployed or pick<br />
up where you left off when you return. To learn about all your benefits, contact Ashford today.<br />
Call 800.406.5385 or visit military.ashford.edu/mae today.<br />
Department of Treasury, Federal Trade Commission, Department<br />
of Veteran Affairs, United States Joint Forces Command,<br />
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Bureau of Engraving<br />
and Printing, United States Central Command, Defense Security<br />
Service, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, United<br />
States Coast Guard, United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, National<br />
Defense Radio Establishment, Department of Housing and Urban<br />
Development, National Security Agency, White House Communications<br />
Agency, Food Safety Inspection Service, United States<br />
Transportation Command, Defense Security Service, Department<br />
of Energy, Navy Engineering Logistics Office, Department<br />
of Defense, Department of the Interior, Department of Health<br />
and Human Services, Defense Finance and Accounting Service,<br />
Federal Bureau of Investigations, NASA Office of the Inspector<br />
General, National Guard Bureau Joint Staff, National Security<br />
Agency, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, United States<br />
House of Representatives, Department of Defense Washington<br />
Headquarters Services, Delphi-ITM, Environmental Protection<br />
Agency, Sandia National Laboratories, Lockheed Martin Corporation<br />
and Booz Allen Hamilton Incorporated. O<br />
For more information, contact MAE Editor Maura McCarthy<br />
at mauram@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives<br />
for related stories at www.mae-kmi.com.<br />
You make sacrifices for our nation. Fortunately, education<br />
doesn’t have to be one of them.<br />
Accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association (ncahlc.org).<br />
Benefits subject to eligibility. Visit military.ashford.edu for complete eligibility requirements.<br />
400 North Bluff Blvd. Clinton, IA 52732<br />
12AUAM0301 • AC-0255<br />
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24 | MAE 7.4<br />
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CCME GRAPEVINE<br />
The Six-Year Graduation Rate: One Size Does Not Fit All<br />
By michAel heBerling<br />
Part of the CCME mission is to serve as a<br />
forum to discuss those legislative and regulatory<br />
issues that impact voluntary military<br />
education. One issue that clearly falls into<br />
this category is the heightened emphasis<br />
placed on graduation rates. In 1990, Congress<br />
passed the Student Right-to-Know Act.<br />
As a result, the Department of Education<br />
(DOE) requires all institutions participating<br />
in Federal Title IV programs to report the<br />
graduation rate for their first-time, fulltime,<br />
degree seeking students within six<br />
years of starting. This is commonly referred<br />
to as the “six-year graduation rate,” which<br />
has unfortunately morphed into a “one-sizefits-all”<br />
proxy to measure how good, or bad,<br />
a school is academically. Politicians and the<br />
media laud schools with high graduation<br />
rates and pummel those with low graduation<br />
rates.<br />
Unfortunately, there are a number of<br />
major flaws with this barometer of academic<br />
excellence. First, transfer students are not<br />
included in the calculation even though<br />
nearly 60 percent of all college graduates<br />
will attend two or more schools. Part-time<br />
students, who make up 50 percent of the<br />
student body, are not included either. Students<br />
who drop out but later return are<br />
excluded, as are students who enroll in<br />
the spring or summer semesters. In other<br />
words, schools that cater to nontraditional<br />
students are at a distinct disadvantage with<br />
the DOE’s measure of academic excellence.<br />
Nationally, only 56 percent of all the<br />
students at four-year colleges graduate<br />
within six years. Breaking down the graduation<br />
rates by the financial aid categories of<br />
“dependent” and “independent” (which are<br />
analogous to traditional and nontraditional)<br />
students helps to illustrate the shortcomings<br />
of the one-size-fits-all benchmark. Students<br />
classified as “dependent” (where aid<br />
eligibility is a function the parents’ financial<br />
status) have an overall six-year graduation<br />
rate of 63 percent. A typical “dependent”<br />
student is the 18-year-old student who goes<br />
directly to college from high school while<br />
the “independent” student is over 24, married,<br />
with dependents, on active duty, or a<br />
veteran and has a six-year graduation rate of<br />
only 22 percent. This is according to College<br />
Board data for the 2003-09 timeframe.<br />
Schools that actively seek out dependent/<br />
traditional students will receive high marks<br />
from the DOE. The following table shows<br />
that some schools have been able to knock<br />
their graduation rates “out of the park.” Also<br />
shown is the freshman acceptance rate, which<br />
is rarely reported with the six-year graduation<br />
rate. The data indicates a strong correlation<br />
between graduation rates and freshman<br />
acceptance rates: Universities with low freshman<br />
acceptance rates will have a very high<br />
six-year graduation rate.<br />
compAring grAduATion rATes WiTh<br />
AccepTAnce rATes<br />
School<br />
Six Year<br />
Graduation<br />
Rate<br />
Freshman<br />
Acceptance<br />
Rate<br />
Harvard University 98% 7%<br />
Yale University 98% 9%<br />
Duke University 95% 19%<br />
Northwestern<br />
University<br />
95% 26%<br />
University of Virginia 93% 38%<br />
UCLA 90% 27%<br />
University of<br />
California, Berkeley<br />
University of<br />
Michigan<br />
University of<br />
California, San Diego<br />
University of North<br />
Carolina, Chapel Hill<br />
88% 25%<br />
88% 52%<br />
84% 43%<br />
83% 40%<br />
Sadly, there are signs to indicate that the<br />
six-year graduation rate policy is having some<br />
unintended consequences. Consider the case<br />
of Wayne State University. According to the<br />
Detroit News, it is Michigan’s “only urban<br />
university and it serves a unique constituency.<br />
A large number of its students are commuters<br />
who also work, many in full-time jobs. A<br />
significant percentage is older than the typical<br />
college student, having gone back to school<br />
after starting a career or taking a more prolonged<br />
approach to completing school.” With<br />
the lowest graduation rate among Michigan’s<br />
public universities, Wayne State University’s<br />
incoming President Allan Gilmour said that<br />
“a change in admissions can be expected.”<br />
Schools like Wayne State University<br />
that provide educational opportunities for<br />
America’s nontraditional students should be<br />
praised—not castigated. This holds true for<br />
those schools that cater to the nontraditional<br />
military students as well. The six-year graduation<br />
rate policy is forcing many schools<br />
to re-visit their diverse missions. Currently,<br />
schools that place a premium on enrolling<br />
only the most affluent and academically<br />
promising students are rewarded. Such a<br />
policy that serves to reduce access to postsecondary<br />
education is clearly at odds with<br />
our history of providing equal opportunity<br />
and social mobility for our citizens.<br />
In the Chronicle of Higher Education,<br />
Paul Attewell and David Lavin wrote, “…<br />
traditional students, whose needs and experiences<br />
still drive public policy, make up<br />
less than a quarter of today’s undergraduate<br />
population. We need to focus on what higher<br />
education is, not what it once was.” On April<br />
11, the DOE announced that it will start to<br />
incorporate part-time and transfer students<br />
into the graduation rate calculations, yet<br />
details were not provided and while this is a<br />
good start, it does not go far enough. It is still<br />
a one-size-fits-all metric. Open enrollment<br />
schools that provide educational opportunities<br />
to predominantly nontraditional students<br />
will still be negatively compared with highly<br />
selective schools by politicians and the news<br />
media.<br />
What is needed is a way to measure<br />
schools with similar missions and similar<br />
student demographics such as traditional/<br />
nontraditional ratios and the percentage of<br />
students needing developmental or remedial<br />
education. A more fundamental question<br />
needs to be asked: Why is the six-year graduation<br />
rate the academic “gold standard” in<br />
the first place? Other measures, such as job<br />
placement, should at least be considered. Is<br />
a previously unemployed community college<br />
student who is able to secure a job after taking<br />
only five courses a success or a failure?<br />
From the community college’s perspective,<br />
this is a failure—because the DOE classifies<br />
it as a failure. From the student’s perspective,<br />
however, obtaining a job is a tremendous success<br />
story. O<br />
Michael Heberling is the CCME vice<br />
president.<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 25
MONEY TALKS<br />
$50,000 Awarded in CyberPatriot<br />
Scholarships<br />
The Northrop Grumman Foundation, sponsor<br />
of the Air Force Association’s (AFA) CyberPatriot<br />
program, presented more than $50,000 in scholarships<br />
to students on the winning teams of<br />
the CyberPatriot IV National Finals Competition,<br />
helping the nation’s future cyber defenders further<br />
their education. The CyberPatriot IV National<br />
Finals Competition was held outside Washington,<br />
D.C., on March 23. The AFA’s CyberPatriot program<br />
is the largest high school cyber defense competition<br />
and is designed to excite, educate and<br />
motivate students toward careers in cybersecurity.<br />
The final competition brought 24 teams<br />
from around the country together to compete in<br />
two different divisions. The All Service Division<br />
included students from Junior Reserve Officer<br />
Training Corps (JROTC) and Civil Air Patrol (CAP)<br />
programs. The Open Division was made up of<br />
public, private and home-schooled high school<br />
teams. This year, the CyberPatriot competition<br />
included two additional teams from the Manitoba<br />
Province in Canada who competed parallel to the<br />
American teams as the first international exhibition<br />
teams.<br />
The winners of the CyberPatriot IV National<br />
Finals Competition from the All Service Division<br />
were: first place, the Colorado Springs Cadet<br />
Squadron, Civil Air Patrol, Colorado Springs, Colo.;<br />
second place, John R. Rogers High School, Air<br />
Force JROTC, Spokane, Wash.; and third place,<br />
Clearfield High School, Air Force JROTC, Clearfield,<br />
Utah. The Open Division winners were: first place,<br />
Alamo Academies, San Antonio, Texas; second<br />
place, Lewis and Clark High School, Spokane,<br />
Wash.; and third place, Palos Verdes Peninsula<br />
High School, Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.<br />
Each student on the winning teams received<br />
a portion of the total scholarship amount. First<br />
place winners were each awarded $2,000; second<br />
place winners each received $1,500; and third<br />
place winners each got $1,000. In its second year<br />
as the presenting sponsor, the Northrop Grumman<br />
Foundation and Northrop Grumman Corporation<br />
have not only made a generous financial donation,<br />
but invested time, talent and resources to<br />
assist in mentoring CyberPatriot students. This<br />
is also the second year Northrop Grumman is<br />
offering internship opportunities nationwide<br />
for competitors. Last year, 11 CyberPatriots<br />
worked side-by-side with cyber pros at Northrop<br />
Grumman; this year the company is expanding to<br />
nearly 30 opportunities.<br />
This is the fourth year of AFA’s CyberPatriot<br />
competition, which was held during the 2011-2012<br />
school year and included more than 1,000 teams<br />
representing all 50 states, and U.S Department of<br />
Defense Dependent Schools in Europe and the<br />
Pacific. This year’s competition represents a 53<br />
percent increase in participation. The competition<br />
began in October 2011 and included three virtual<br />
competition rounds over four months to qualify<br />
for the in-person final competition round.<br />
Veterans Program Receives<br />
$1.2 Million Donation<br />
Outward Bound for Veterans, a nonprofit<br />
program that aids returning servicemembers<br />
and recent veterans through challenging<br />
wilderness trips, received a significant boost<br />
recently with a $1.2 million donation from<br />
Holiday Retirement. The donation funds an<br />
entire trip—including flights, food, lodging,<br />
supplies and instructors—for 600 veterans<br />
of Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Originally<br />
developed for Vietnam War veterans, Outward<br />
Bound trips encourage healing and rebuild<br />
confidence for veterans struggling to readjust<br />
to civilian life. Participants are given the<br />
opportunity to escape daily routines and share<br />
26 | MAE 7.4<br />
unforgettable experiences with other veterans<br />
in some of the country’s most stunning locations.<br />
Home to approximately 12,000 veterans<br />
and spouses, Holiday Retirement’s communities<br />
collected donations during a three-month<br />
fundraising effort. Holiday Retirement then<br />
matched every dollar donated. “Veterans are<br />
such a major part of our communities, and<br />
this was an excellent opportunity for us to give<br />
back to a newer generation of veterans in a very<br />
meaningful way,” said Mark Prince, Holiday<br />
Retirement’s executive sponsor of the Outward<br />
Bound campaign.<br />
Compiled by KMi <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong> staff<br />
Hiring Our Heroes<br />
Campaign Set to Expand<br />
in 2012<br />
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our<br />
Heroes program and RecruitMilitary announced that<br />
they will collaborate on 50 hiring fairs for veterans and<br />
military spouses from April through December 2012.<br />
RecruitMilitary partnered with Hiring Our Heroes on<br />
19 events in the program’s first year. The increase in<br />
2012 will allow Hiring Our Heroes to expand to host 400<br />
events in its second year.<br />
“RecruitMilitary has been a tremendous partner<br />
since we launched Hiring Our Heroes a year ago,<br />
and we’re thrilled to have this relationship grow even<br />
stronger going forward,” said Lieutenant Colonel Kevin<br />
Schmiegel (Ret.), founder and executive director of the<br />
U.S. Chamber’s Hiring Our Heroes program. “To make<br />
a difference in the staggering unemployment rates<br />
facing the veterans community, we need organizations<br />
like ours to work together. I have no doubt that Hiring<br />
Our Heroes and RecruitMilitary can demonstrate to<br />
employers that hiring a veteran isn’t just the right thing<br />
to do, it’s the smart thing to do.”<br />
To increase the number of exhibitors and maximize<br />
career opportunities for the job seekers, RecruitMilitary<br />
will continue to offer companies that are members of<br />
the Chamber and local chambers a 10 percent discount<br />
on the cost of their exhibition booths. Additionally,<br />
RecruitMilitary will continue further price reductions<br />
for small businesses (businesses that have less than 50<br />
employees), and even lower rates for veteran-owned<br />
small businesses.<br />
In March 2011, the Chamber, in conjunction<br />
with the National Chamber Foundation, launched its<br />
Hiring Our Heroes program, a nationwide effort to<br />
help veterans and military spouses find meaningful<br />
employment. The Chamber started the program to<br />
improve public-private sector coordination in local<br />
communities, where veterans and their families are<br />
returning every day. To date, Hiring Our Heroes has<br />
hosted 138 hiring fairs in 45 states and the District<br />
of Columbia, helping more than 9,000 veterans and<br />
military spouses find employment. Working with its<br />
federation of state and local chambers and public,<br />
private and non-profit partners, the Chamber established<br />
a network of committed employers, large and<br />
small, that understand the value of hiring veterans and<br />
military spouses. This includes the 27 companies that<br />
comprise the Veterans Employment Advisory Council,<br />
which represent 25 million jobs in America and have<br />
access to vast networks of millions more small business<br />
suppliers, clients and customers.<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com
The advertisers index is provided as a service to our readers. <strong>KMI</strong> cannot be held responsible for discrepancies due to last-minute changes or alterations.<br />
RESOURCE CENTER<br />
advertisers index<br />
American Military University .................................................................................................................... 21<br />
www.amuonline.com/mae<br />
Ashford University ....................................................................................................................................... 24<br />
www.military.ashford.edu/mae<br />
Barry University ..............................................................................................................................................7<br />
www.barry.edu/ace<br />
Central Michiagan University ................................................................................................................... 19<br />
www.cmich.edu/military<br />
Colorado State University Online Plus .................................................................................................... 11<br />
www.csuonlineformilitary.com<br />
Colorado Technical University .................................................................................................................. 12<br />
www.coloradotech.edu/military<br />
Northeastern University ............................................................................................................................. 22<br />
www.northeastern.edu/discovercps<br />
Thomas Edison State College ................................................................................................................... 20<br />
http://tesc.edu/militaryinfo<br />
Troy University.............................................................................................................................................. 13<br />
www.troy.edu<br />
University of Maryland University College .............................................................................................C2<br />
http://military.umuc.edu/accomplish<br />
University of Phoenix ..................................................................................................................................C4<br />
www.phoenix.edu/mil<br />
calendar<br />
June 4-8, 2012<br />
GEOINT Community Week<br />
Washington, D.C.<br />
www.usgif.org<br />
June 27-29, 2012<br />
Military Child Education Coalition 2012<br />
Annual Conference<br />
Grapevine, Texas<br />
www.militarychild.org/annual-conference<br />
July 23-27, 2012<br />
DoD Worldwide Education Symposium 2012<br />
Las Vegas, Nev.<br />
www.ww2012.com/common/home.action<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com MAE 7.4 | 27
Q: To begin with, could you please provide<br />
a brief overview of your school’s history,<br />
mission and curriculum?<br />
A: Barry University is a private, Catholic<br />
institution with a history of academic<br />
excellence in the Dominican tradition.<br />
In 1982, the Frank J. Rooney School of<br />
Adult and Continuing Education [ACE] at<br />
Barry University evolved from a consortium<br />
between Barry University and Embry-Riddle<br />
Aeronautical University. Since then, ACE<br />
has provided working adult students with<br />
undergraduate and graduate degree programs.<br />
In addition, ACE offers non-credit<br />
and certificate programs which recognize<br />
the educational and professional needs of<br />
the adult learner. Our degree and certificate<br />
programs are designed for students who,<br />
because of family and work responsibilities,<br />
seek a program with multiple delivery<br />
options and a student population of fellow<br />
professionals.<br />
Q: What is your school’s background in<br />
military education?<br />
A: Compared to many other schools that<br />
cater to the military, ACE is relatively<br />
new to the game. However, our “military<br />
friendly” activity includes: providing Public<br />
Safety scholarships to active duty members;<br />
accepting the American Council on<br />
Education’s recommendations on military<br />
training/schools; providing flexible transfer<br />
policies to minimize the loss of prior<br />
credit; and affording students the benefits<br />
of a portfolio program that grants credit for<br />
experiential learning. We are also a member<br />
of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges<br />
[SOC] Consortium.<br />
Q: What makes your school unique in the<br />
benefits and programs you offer to military<br />
service members?<br />
A: Adult learning is self-directed learning<br />
using critical thinking skills, and application<br />
of these skills to problem solving. As a<br />
28 | MAE 7.4<br />
UNIVERSITY CORNER Military Advanced Education<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. Andrea Allen<br />
Interim Dean<br />
School of Adult and Continuing Education<br />
Barry University<br />
learner accumulates experience, abilities to<br />
critically analyze a situation and formulate<br />
a solution become more refined. This accumulated<br />
wealth of knowledge continues to<br />
expand throughout all situations and is the<br />
essence of the purpose of ACE.<br />
ACE not only applies practitioner<br />
approaches in the classroom, but also<br />
acknowledges a learner’s accumulated<br />
wealth of knowledge through our highly<br />
respected Experiential Learning portfolio.<br />
This process allows for a self-reflection of<br />
accomplishments, and a tangible evaluation<br />
and application of this learning towards<br />
their ultimate goal of an advanced degree in<br />
the form of academic credits. Military servicemembers<br />
have extensive resources from<br />
which to draw, including but not limited to<br />
DANTES, DD 214, certifications, licenses,<br />
all of which may be part of their military<br />
careers, and can also serve an additional<br />
purpose of accelerating the completion of<br />
their academic career as well.<br />
Q: What online degree and certificate programs<br />
do you offer and how do these<br />
distance learning programs fit in with the<br />
lives of active duty and transitioning military<br />
personnel?<br />
A: ACE has chosen those degrees most<br />
applicable to the needs of our adult learners.<br />
Those that provide the greatest opportunity<br />
for our military servicemembers to apply<br />
their unique experiences to enhance their<br />
academic experience with us include the<br />
Master of Administration [MAA] and the<br />
Master of Public Administration degrees,<br />
which are both designed for fully online<br />
delivery.<br />
Q: What are some of your school’s main<br />
goals in meeting the future challenges of<br />
online education for the military?<br />
A: Military servicemembers have unique<br />
experiences from those of other adult learners,<br />
and with those experiences come specific<br />
needs regarding their transition back<br />
into a more ‘civilian’ life after their deployment<br />
has ended. Barry University would<br />
like to encourage our servicemembers to<br />
‘instruct’ us in what support services may<br />
be needed, specific programs of study that<br />
may be of greatest interest and anything<br />
we as an educational partner need to do to<br />
become their preferred school of choice.<br />
Q: What do you think are the key issues<br />
facing higher education today?<br />
A: Due to the proliferation of both for-profit<br />
and nonprofit schools, learners of any age<br />
would find it difficult to differentiate the<br />
offerings of these educational providers and<br />
to identify which institution would best fit<br />
their personal and professional objectives.<br />
Although adult-serving institutions understand<br />
that mature learners value flexibility<br />
and accelerated time to completion, they<br />
struggle to ensure that the foundations of a<br />
well-rounded curriculum are not compromised<br />
and diluted in the interest of time and<br />
modes of delivery.<br />
Q: What are some of your most popular<br />
programs, and which ones are the most<br />
appealing to military students?<br />
A: Our most popular programs to military<br />
and non-military alike are the bachelor’s in<br />
administration, bachelor’s in public administration,<br />
B.S. in information technology<br />
and MAA. O<br />
www.MAE-kmi.com
NEXTISSUE<br />
Journal of Higher Learning for Today’s Servicemember<br />
Cover and in-Depth Interview with:<br />
Maj. Ron Lee<br />
Chief<br />
Education Branch<br />
<strong>Army</strong> National Guard<br />
Features:<br />
Summer School<br />
Forgoing the traditional summer break from classes can offer<br />
students greater flexibility, help them to spend fewer years in<br />
school, and may even save them money.<br />
Designing Online Courses<br />
Online courses have unique delivery requirements that by law<br />
they must meet. MAE explores best practices in design and faculty<br />
training in the online realm.<br />
Information Systems & Technology<br />
Many military members' positions rely on cutting-edge<br />
technologies for their daily work. How can they find the right<br />
program to take this experience to the next level with a degree?<br />
Special Section<br />
Community Colleges<br />
June 2012<br />
Vol. 7, Issue 5<br />
With President Obama’s recent focus on the importance of<br />
community colleges and promotion of the institutions’ partnerships<br />
with industry, MAE emphasizes how the system is positioned to<br />
serve military students.<br />
Insertion Order Deadline: May 31, 2012 | Ad Materials Deadline: June 7, 2012