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JerseySmarts.com

After This Spring, I Have To Take A Short Break From Classes

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Most of the folks who read this blog know that I teach a few classes from time to time at the local college in my neighborhood. And I’ve referenced several times how the college has a program where if you teach at least one course in a semester, then you can take one course for free that semester. Well, I work for a nonprofit organization during the day for my full-time job and – like any good nonprofit organization – we try to maximize any offer for free or reduced-price, high quality services that come our way. This is especially true when it comes to professional development for our employees. In fact, most of my colleagues attend one or two day seminars in an effort to broaden and enhance their existing professional skill set. Attendance at those seminars and conferences costs money and those expenses are, of course, picked up by the company.

It's enough already with sitting in these classrooms and being a student... I need a break!

It’s enough already with sitting in these classrooms and being a student… I need a break!

As you might imagine, though, my situation brings a bit of a twist that my colleagues do not have to consider. In my case, I can fulfill my professional development requirements by taking classes at the college where I’m a part-time adjunct professor. It’s a good situation for everyone involved. On the one hand, my company gets to have me improve my professional skill set by taking graduate-level courses in a subject matter that is related to our profession. On the other hand, I don’t just audit the courses. Instead, since the tuition and fees for the courses is in remission for me (i.e. I can take the courses for free), I’ve actually enrolled in different graduate-level programs and received new academic credentials from taking these classes. For example, even though I already have a master’s degree from a top tier university, I utilized the tuition remission program at my local college to earn a cost-free Public Relations Specialist Certificate in 2010 (more commonly known as a graduate certificate). I’m currently enrolled in another program that is cost-free for me where I’ll earn a Post-Master’s Certificate in Curriculum Studies in May.

My company gets my professional development needs attended to at no cost to them, I maximize the benefits that the tuition remission program grants me by enrolling in graduate-level programs and earning additional academic credentials, and everyone goes home happy at the end of the day without spending a dime.

Well, maybe everyone doesn’t go home happy at the end of the day…

Remember that in addition to teaching at the local college, I work a full-time day job that I love. I’ve written in other blog entries that I own and operate two small businesses, too. And I’ve also written about how I instruct courses for an all-online college and I spend whatever free time I can muster by volunteering for my church via the Knights of Columbus and for my fraternity as a local alumni advisor and a national program instructor. Suffice to say – I’m a pretty busy guy. And I’m not writing this in act of self-pity or in an attempt to generate your sympathy for my nonexistent personal time. Not at all! Instead, I’m writing this to lay the foundation for the realization that I came to the other day which prompted me to write this entry in the first place.

And that realization is that with all of the obligations I have in my life I think I need to put at least one of them on hold for a little while. And without question the one constantly frustrating and time consuming activity that bungles me up is taking these graduate level courses to fulfill my professional development obligations for my job. It’s not that I don’t want to increase my professional knowledge or that I’m frustrated because I have to take professional development courses. On the contrary, actually – I do want to learn more and be a better professional in my industry! My issue, however, is the method by which I’ve been engaging in that professional development. Utilizing the graduate courses is a great way to save my company money and a great way for me to maximize the ability to earn cost-free academic credentials. The drawback, though, is that the rigor necessary to properly complete a graduate-level course is much more strenuous than simply attending a one or two day seminar to fulfill my professional development goals. Graduate courses require the completion of homework, writing extensive papers in an academic format, preparing group projects with individuals who are unaware of the obligations on my time, doing research in areas that can begin to border on irrelevant for my profession, etc. And they also require a weekly time commitment to sit in a classroom and engage my instructor and classmates as a good student.

Being a student is a lot of work!

So I think that when the current program that I’m enrolled in is completed this coming May, it will probably be time for me to take a break from being a student. I’m sure that it won’t be a long break because I get the itch to learn almost as soon as I’m not enrolled in any programs. Plus, I don’t like leaving loose ends behind and both the graduate certificate and the post-master’s certificate could be viewed as stepping stones to additional master’s degrees (I’ll have completed half of the credits required in both the Master of the Arts of Education and Master of the Arts in Communication programs). Being 15 credits away from a second and potentially third master’s degree is something that I’m sure will eventually drive me back into the classroom, but my more immediate need is to provide a small bit of relief in those obligations that require a heavy time commitment.

Once I complete the current program, I’ll probably begin to plot out a course of action of the future. I’ll likely begin unwinding myself from some other volunteer commitments that I’m involved in that aren’t noted above. And I’ve been meaning to reduce my overall working schedule (not at my day job, but rather with the part-time teaching), too. And, of course, finding some housing and health stability in my life are both big goals that I need to achieve much sooner rather than later. After I at least have a road map to success in some of these areas, then I think it’ll be a good time to start considering getting back into the classroom as a student (and let’s be honest, getting a doctorate is going to have to be on my agenda at some point in the future). In the meantime, though, I’ll be fulfilling my professional development requirements for my office at one and two day seminars!

Can’t Find A Job? No Problem – Start Your Own Company!

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You’ve got to love this story from a small business website (actually, it appears that this story is from The Wall Street Journal). Whenever someone suggests that the American Dream may not be in reach for younger generations, I find that stories like the one linked above re-emphasize how some people won’t take “no” for an answer as they make their own way in this life.

Faced with an unemployment rate of 16 percent for 20- to 24-year-olds, a growing number of recent college and grad-school graduates are launching their own companies, according to anecdotal evidence from colleges, universities and entrepreneurship programs around the U.S.

I love it. When certain people can’t find jobs in this job market, they don’t go and run to the government for help nor do they cry poverty and complain about not being able to make ends meet before it is too late. Instead, they open up their own companies and give entrepreneurship a try. Outstanding!

This push toward entrepreneurship among young people is likely to continue as employers plan to hire 7 percent fewer graduates from the class of 2010 than they hired from the class of 2009, which saw a nearly 22 percent drop in hiring from the class before, according to a recent report from National Association of Colleges and Employers.

The job market really is a mess out there. Thankfully, I’m in a job that I believe is pretty secure and I’m holding a position that I believe is essential to my company’s short and long term success. I’m also thankful that I worked diligently in the last few years to receive a great education and to establish additional streams of revenue outside of the paycheck that I receive from my day job. Sure, it means that I work late some nights when the college semester is in session and it means that other times when I’d rather be relaxing (i.e. when I’d rather be lazy), that I have to grade papers or sign in to an online teaching environment, but that’s okay with me.

Much like the people that the article above talks about, I’ve taken a no bullshit stance towards making sure that my future is secure. I hope that 2010 proves to be as good for me as 2009 was in terms of working my plan for financial freedom and professional success! You’ve got to go out there and make things happen!

The Real Benefit of a College Degree

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Every once in a while I’ll be engaged in a conversation with someone who never went to college or who didn’t finish their degree program. Sometimes, these conversations hit a brick wall when that person makes a reference towards how they don’t need a piece of paper to be smart or knowledgeable on an issue. On its face, this is a really awkward statement – I’m not sure if there are any people in this world who believe that obtaining a piece of paper will make them smarter. Well, maybe some of those people who think that Harry Potter is real would think that a piece of paper makes them smart, but they are few and far in between!

Whenever this comes up in a conversation, it’s usually a pretty depressing point in the discussion because it shows a severe lack of understanding as to what a college degree actually does for a person. Obtaining a piece of paper that says “Bachelors of the Arts” or “Bachelor of Science” in any particular discipline does not make you a know-it-all genius on that topic. Yeah, you may know more facts and figures than the average person, but that would be expected, right?

The real benefit of getting that piece of paper is gaining access to an opportunity. That’s right – access to opportunities is what that college degree gets you in the real world. How many times have you looked at job descriptions and they say, “Bachelor’s Degree required?” Even if you’ve seen that requirement just once, you’ve seen how that piece of paper can grant you access to an opportunity that non college graduates cannot access. It’s just the way the business world is these days.

That’s not to say that there aren’t a multitude of excellent, high-paying jobs that don’t require a college degree. And many people from older generations would argue that the best way to gain better access to opportunities is to enter the military. I would probably agree with that for certain segments of the population today, too. But that doesn’t negate the fact that a college degree is a tremendous help in obtaining access to certain opportunities.

What many college graduates will tell you is that there are other benefits to going to college. In particular, they’d probably cite maturing socially and beginning to build a broad professional network as the top two non-academic benefits. These two benefits can be achieved in any number of ways including joining certain on-campus clubs, fraternities, sororities, student government, honor societies, etc. Those students that choose to engage in a meaningful dialogue with their professors outside of the classroom are probably the smartest students on campus. Why? Well, if you’re a young person starting out, why wouldn’t you want to connect with a professor who might have come from the business world and thus has a large network of seasoned professional contacts? Talk about an easy way to get an internship or a job out of college!

That aspect of the college experience has worked for me. I received my adjunct professor job through the recommendation of two former professors who I got to know outside of the classroom. One of them has also gotten me an online teaching position at a different university. I would have never been able to get these teaching gigs without the network that I built while in college.

There are a lot of aspects of college life that are beneficial to the eventual graduate (and even more benefits to the eventual masters degree graduate or doctoral graduate).

Back to the Classroom

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Last semester I taught a course and this semester I’m taking one. I’m nuts, huh? Most people who are on the verge of being 27 and already have a Masters Degree are doing all that they can to stay away from being a student in a classroom again!

Monmouth University is offering a course that falls directly in line with what I do for a living (it’s about various approaches to fundraising). My company and I felt that it would be good for my “professional development” and that since it was so close to home, I should pursue the course. I agreed and this ultimately led to a huge hassle with the Monmouth University administration (who managed to not only get a $35 application fee out of me, but also to double-charge me for a parking ticket that I apparently received as an undergraduate and would have to have paid already in order to graduate). For those out there in the working world, I can sum up my experiences trying to take this course very simply – Monmouth University is not prepared or ready to offer professional development courses.

Not only was I treated like an 18 year-old kid who was just starting college, but even after establishing that I was an alumnus of the university, a part-time employee of the university, and that I had a Masters Degree and thus was not interested in applying for a Masters Degree program – the folks on the phone still couldn’t fathom what I was trying to do. What was I trying to do? Audit a course for professional development. Simple. Unfortunately, until their professional development admittance procedure is more “professional,” I will not be able to recommend to any of my professional colleagues that they attend MU to learn more about their trades.

Class started this past Monday night and I immediately remembered why I left Monmouth’s Masters Program after one semester a few years ago. The atmosphere in the classroom was uniquely Monmouth. The teacher treated the students as though they were incoming Freshmen and the requirements for the course look almost exactly like what one would expect out of a Freshman Seminar class. There are four 3-page papers, three 3-minute presentations, and a group project all due in the semester. We were lectured for about 20 minutes on the importance of not having a cell phone ring during class time. We were reprimanded in advance for missing any scheduled classes and scolded about how our final grade would be effected. I’m auditing the course, so I’m getting an “AU” as a grade no matter what I do.

But what shocked me the most on the first night was how the course description was changed before our eyes. It’s a little bit hard to explain, but the course description that sold me on the course was changed to include this course as a subsection of a larger study, which wasn’t what I was sold. The thing is, I’ve been through the Monmouth system before I and I realize there is no use in complaining because it gets no where; the system is specifically set up to be hard to navigate and tedious. This is why I loved going to Rutgers so much (in my view, Rutgers handled problems before they even popped up).

But I’m smart enough to realize that the pre-class administrative nightmare should have no bearing on my perception of the course and the first night of class should have little influence on my overall recommendation of the course itself, so I will reserve a final judgment until the course ends. I will say, however, that so far I’ve gotten exactly what I expected out of Monmouth…