June 2006
 
 
 

Grantham University Signs Articulation Agreements with Bellevue University and Central Wyoming College

Recently, Grantham University signed articulation agreements with Bellevue University of Bellevue, Nebraska and Central Wyoming College of Riverton, Wyoming. An articulation agreement is a formal agreement between two or more schools establishing the transfer of courses and credits.

Grantham’s agreement with Bellevue University allows for the transfer of undergraduate academic credits between the two schools in the area of computer science. Currently, there are 31 courses included in the articulation agreement. The agreement with Central Wyoming College allows for the transfer of 28 computer science and math courses.

“The agreements with Bellevue University and Central Wyoming College give students more choices and flexibility in designing their education,” said Gary Sutter, PhD, Provost at Grantham University. “Our schools see each other as active educational partners, committed to providing greater educational opportunities and services for students transferring between schools.”

Bellevue University provides post-secondary education opportunities for working adults. As a private, non-profit institution, Bellevue serves students at 10 learning sites in three states, as well as worldwide through its online learning platform. Bellevue University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Central Wyoming College is a community college located in Riverton near the convergence of the Big and Little Wind Rivers in Fremont County. CWC also has off-campus sites in Jackson, Lander, Thermopolis, Dubois and the nearby Wind River Indian Reservation. The college also delivers college coursework nationwide via a variety of distance delivery methods. Central Wyoming College is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Professor Spotlight

Karen Ledbetter

Assistant Dean of the Mark Skousen School of Business

“Learning can go on forever. Each new thing that you learn allows you to regain the freshness, wonder, and expectation of youth.”

Karen Ledbetter, an global faculty member and Assistant Dean of the Mark Skousen School of Business, teaches BA500, BA590 and BA646 at Grantham University. During her lifetime, Karen has earned two Master’s Degrees as well as numerous professional certifications, and is currently pursuing her doctorate.

Looking beyond her titles and degrees, Karen is an extraordinary woman who has led an interesting life. As a child, Karen often moved due to her father’s job demands and had to adapt to learning in diverse environments mostly overseas. Her mother was very influential in her academic career and pushed her and her brother and sister to be excellent students. Her mother’s idea of a “fun weekend” consisted of Karen and her siblings testing the word games and puzzles she wanted to use in her classroom.

Karen is a mother to 11 children, six biological and five adopted. She also is a foster parent and the founder of The Idaho Foster and Adoptive Parent Coalition. Working from home as a distance learning educator allows Karen to provide the care, time and attention her children need.

Karen describes herself as a visual/kinetic learner, one who learns by reading and doing. She reads five to ten books a week including fiction, theology, management texts, and the back of cereal boxes and continues to expand her horizons by taking classes whenever she can. After earning her doctorate, she plans to focus on the development of programs for educationally disadvantaged children, particularly those in foster care.

 Grantham Sightings

On May 8th, Grantham’s National Director of Business Development, Valerie Beall, attended the Governor’s Workforce Conference at the University of Maryland University College. The invitation only event was created to provide Maryland’s top businesses, nonprofit and association executives with the latest information on the state’s workforce challenges and solutions.  The conference was attended by over 350 executives and human resource managers.

Keep your eyes peeled for Grantham at these upcoming events:

  • Career College Association’s Annual Convention & Exposition – June 12-14, 2006, The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, NV

  • DoD’s Worldwide Education Symposium – July 17-21, 2006, Orlando World Center Marriot, Orlando, FL
  • Federally Employed Women’s 2006 National Training Program – July 17-21, 2006, Atlanta, GA
  • Blacks in Government’s 28th Annual National Training Conference – August 21-25, 2006, New York, NY
  Scholarship Opportunities
The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States’ (EANGUS) CSM Virgil R. Williams Scholarship Program provides $2,000 scholarships for EANGUS members, their spouses and dependents. Applicants must be enrolled as full time students at a college, university, trade, or business school. Applications are due by July 1, 2006. For more information, visit:
http://www.eangus.org/downloads/scholarship_app.pdf

The Joseph P. and Helen T. Cribbins Scholarship program provides a $2,000 scholarship based on academic merit and personal achievement. Enlisted soldiers currently serving in the active Army, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard, or honorably discharged enlisted Soldiers from any component of the total Army are eligible to apply. Applicant must be accepted at an accredited college or university and be pursuing a degree in engineering or a related field, such a computer science. Applications are due July 1, 2006. For more information, visit:
http://www.ausa.org/webpub/DeptHome.nsf/byid/KCAT-6FCQ8S
10 Tips to Find Hidden Hours in Your Day
By Kimeiko Hotta Dover
About.com

  1. Take a speed reading course - Reading fast need not be an end in itself. What Speed Reading teaches you to do is to keep going through a text without rereading words, sentences and sections over and over. It is really a form of self-discipline. It is amazing how much faster you can read and still understand and retain information.
  1. Never go anywhere without a book - Time spent waiting in line or in the car while someone is shopping or playing soccer or whatever can be study time.
  1. Keep a tape recorder in the car - After reading a chapter or a book sometimes the ideas flow when you can't write things down. I have dictated entire papers this way that then can be transcribed.
  1. Find a quiet place to study and be a little selfish with your time - Learn to say no.
  1. Use post-it notes as bookmarks - Simply put a word or two at the top to create your own reference index. This saves you when writing a paper from having to reread whole chapters.
  1. Turn off the TV - There is very little you can watch on TV that won't be a rerun or appear on ESPN Classics. If you must, discipline yourself to tape a selected show that you can watch later and zip through the commercials. Don't waste time!
  1. Be an active reader - Take notes. In your own books write in the margins to highlight the most important parts with your own code of x's, *'s or whatever. Don't reread irrelevant stuff.
  1. Find time to rest - If you allow yourself to get totally exhausted, not only will you be unable to learn, but you could get sick, further hampering your learning efforts. If you keep falling asleep while reading, don't blame the textbook and don't tell your teacher the course is "boring" – get some sleep!
  1. Exercise a bit - It stimulates blood flow to the brain and relieves tension.
  1. Read all your work aloud to someone else - It'll save valuable time proof reading, and improve your writing. If it sounds crummy, it is.


  Education Benefits for your Military Family

Do you have a spouse or child who is interested in going to school to earn their college degree, but are concerned about the cost? What you may not know is that there are several education benefits available for military dependents including loans, grants and scholarships.


Scholarship Resources

Scholarship Resource Network Express
Scholarship Resource Network Express (SRNExpress) contains a database of over 8,000 programs with over 150,000 awards for undergraduate and postgraduate students. This database also includes student loan forgiveness programs for those who have graduated from college and need alternatives for repayment. For more information, visit: http://www.srnexpress.com/index.cfm.

Scholarships.com
Scholarships.com is a free resource for college scholarships and financial aid information. Their scholarship database is updated regularly, and individuals can sort scholarships by deadline, dollar amount and relevancy. For more information, visit: http://www.scholarships.com/.

CollegeBoard.com
CollegeBoard.com created an online tool to help individuals locate scholarships, internships, grants, and loans that match their education level, talents, and background. To begin, complete the brief questionnaire and Scholarship Search will find potential opportunities from their database of more than 2,300 sources of college funding. For more information, visit: http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp.

Military.com Scholarship Finder
Military.com’s Scholarship Finder searches for scholarships offered exclusively to servicemembers, veterans and dependents. Fill out their form, select your search criteria and Military.com will match you with the scholarships that meet your needs. For more information, visit: www.military.com.

Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges
Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) was created in 1972 to provide educational opportunities to service members and their families, who, because they frequently moved from place to place, had trouble completing college degrees. Today SOC is a consortium of more than 1,800 colleges and universities, including Grantham, through which SOC coordinates associate and bachelor's degrees in a variety of curriculum areas for the Army (SOCAD), Navy (SOCNAV), Marine Corps (SOCMAR), and Coast Guard (SOCCOAST). Within each curriculum or degree network, member colleges agree to accept each other's transfer credits thus minimizing loss of credit and duplication of course work. For more information, visit: www.soc.aascu.org.

VA’s Survivor’s and Dependents’ Education Assistance Program
The Survivor's and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) program provides education and training opportunities to eligible dependents of certain veterans. The program offers up to 45 months of education benefits that may be used for degree and certificate programs, apprenticeship, and on-the-job training. Remedial, deficiency, and refresher courses may be approved under certain circumstances. For more information, visit: http://www.gibill.va.gov/pamphlets/CH35/CH35_Pamphlet_General.htm.

  Did you know...
  • The average online student is a working adult between the ages of 24 and 50 years old.
  • There are over 6,900 accredited institutions of higher learning approved by the U.S. Secretary of Education in the United States.
  • Employment projections from 2004-2014 show that six of the 30 fastest-growing occupations are computer related.
  • The unemployment rate for those who have a bachelor’s degree is 3.9% versus 6.4% for those with a high school diploma.
  • On average per year, a person with a bachelor’s degree earns two times the salary of someone with a high school diploma.
  • From 2000 to 2012, more than 14 million job openings are projected to be filled by workers with a bachelor’s or graduate degree.
  • Having a college degree will never hurt your career advancement, but not having one could.
  • Studies show that employers often feel that college graduates are more motivated, learn tasks more quickly, are better able to meet deadlines and have better problem solving and communication skills.
Association Highlights
National Association of Government Employees

This month’s featured association partner is the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE). Grantham has been an educational partner with them since 2005.
The National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) is a national union that has been protecting the rights of working men and women and improving jobs and communities for over 40 years.
Established in 1947 as the Federal Employees Veterans Association, its’ mission was to protect the rights of WWII veterans in government employment; in particular the 8,000 workers at the Charlestown Naval Shipyard. In 1961, the name was changed to the National Association of Government Employees and membership was opened to all federal employees, veterans and non-veterans.
NAGE’s membership includes state/municipal/county workers, police and corrections officers, EMTs and paramedics. NAGE offers many benefits to their members including scholarships, special discounts, rates, and savings. For more information, visit: http://www.nage.org/.

This Month’s Online Learning Quote

"What lies behind us and what lies before us
are small matters compared to what lies within us."
~ Emerson
 
 

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