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Millions of MindsThousands of PossibilitiesEndless OpportunityOne World Class UMassOnline.Amherst Boston Dartmouth Lowell Worcesterwww.umassonline.net

Millions of MUMassOnline:The Thread that Weaves People TogetherTo thrive in a global world, students need to look beyond their neighborhoods,beyond their borders. This happens every day, in classes offered throughUMassOnline, the online consortium of the University of Massachusetts.Using advanced technology, students from all over the world are connectinglike never before.She’s had students from all over world: Peru, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany,Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan, and the Caribbean islands. She’s hadstudents in the U.S. military who were deployed to Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, andeven on ships aiding Haiti and Chile during the recent disasters.And none of them ever came to her class. At least not in person.Which is exactly why Lecturer Shirley Shmerling’s business courses — taught onlineat the University of Massachusetts — are so valuable.“Having students fromdifferent backgroundsand geographicallocations enriches thelearning experience.”“Having students from different backgrounds and geographical locations enrichesthe learning experience,” she says. “For example when we discuss electronic medicalrecord systems, the discussion includes perspectives of [U.S.] patients and physiciansas well as the perspective of patients and healthcare providers that live or work inother countries.”It’s this ability to connect a diverse pool of students from all over the world usingadvanced technology that makes UMassOnline more important than ever in today’sintegrated, global society.—Lecturer Shirley Shmerlingwww.umassonline.net

indsBusy lives. Full-time jobs. The UMass reputation.A great value. Every student who chooses onlinelearning, and UMassOnline in particular, does sofor a different reason.Flexibility:Rosalin, a student in the Early Childhood program, realizedthat in order for her to successfully string together school with her family and herjob as an assistant teacher, UMassOnline was the only answer. “I’m a mom to two,plus I have a step son,” she says. “It’s a challenge, but they see that I’m committed.Once they’re in bed or I’m on my lunch break, I log in and do what I have to do.”Value: Not only are the online courses affordable, but there are other valuesinvolved with learning online. Students save on time, tolls, parking, and gas bynot having to commute to campus several times a week. Online students cancontinue working at their jobs while still completing their degree on time. AndUMassOnline means that students can do their classwork at their own pace withoutscheduling conflicts.Quality: Any program can claim to offer it all. But what really matters isquality. When Elaine, a litigation paralegal, chose UMassOnline to continue hereducation, her reason was simple: “The reputation of the criminal justice program.”Many of the courses she now takes are focused on cyber crime, her professionalinterest, which many of her classmates deal with firsthand. “They come fromdiverse backgrounds: local and state police and social work. Learning the fieldthrough their eyes, as opposed to just the paralegal view of criminal justice, hasreally taught me a lot.”Accessibility: The University of Massachusetts may have started as anagricultural college in a small state on the Eastern coast of the United States nearly150 years ago, but today’s UMass is anything but local — or provincial — thanks toour online programs. With students from nearly every continent in the world able totake classes no matter where they live, and enroll in programs that are highly valuedby employers, UMassOnline is truly One World Class.The flexibility is incredible.And the accessibilityis great. If I put outa question, there’s alwayssomeone — a professoror another student —who is online.”—Rosalin, Early ChildhoodEducation student

Technology for Creating21st Century LearnersNo matter where you are — at home, on a break atwork, or in a café in Tokyo — you can take classes.But that doesn’t mean just logging in and checkingemail. In addition to regular chat sessions anddiscussion boards, students also take classes andconnect with one another and with professorsusing podcasting, advanced learning managementsystems, and web and video conferencing.Together, these tools make every course relevantand allow students and professors to connect asmuch, if not more, as they would in traditionalon-campus courses.“I run a graduate certificate programin environmental policy. We havestudents taking the program fromseveral areas of the United States,as well as in other countries.Without the online technology, we would not be able to have thevaried experiences being shared in the course format. For example,we are currently discussing water distribution issues, and studentsare getting a global perspective from the responses, includingperspectives from Florida to Jakarta.”—Assistant Professor Chad McGuire

www.umassonline.netWhat’s unique aboutUMassOnline, and what setsit apart, is that although weuse the latest and the besttechnology, this doesn’tmean that only those bornafter the Internet wasinvented should apply. Wemake the programs easy touse. Not only do the professorsmake sure that every studentunderstands the tools, butour technical support staffis available 24 hours a day,seven days a week.“These virtual classroom tools were new to me.That’s one of the biggest reasons I came back.I wanted to learn new technology. What it’s givenme is greater access to my professors. They’re outthere in the virtual world all the time.”—Brenda, Bachelor of Arts student

Thousandsof PossibilitiesLearning Options thatCan Be Woven into Every LifeAt UMassOnline, students can choose from a widevariety of degrees and certificates that provide 21stcentury skills necessary in today’s global economy.For a complete list, and to learn more about eachprogram, go to www.umassonline.net.No matter where you are in your career or your life,UMassOnline is a great option.www.umassonline.netBusy parents:When asked if he would be able tocomplete the same degree on campus,Rich, an Online MBA student, doesn’thesitate: “Not a chance.” The flexibility todo the work on his own time, at his ownpace, has been key. “I work full-time in ahighly stressful environment, includingshift work and rotating days off,” he says.“I am also the father of three children.”

Programs offered throughUMassOnline include:A samplingof disciplines includes: Certificates Business Information Technology Associate’s Education Environmental Studies Bachelor’s Public Health Criminal Justice Master’s Nursing many more On-campus studentswho want options:Professionals whoneed flexibility: Doctorate’sStudents continuingtheir education:Anna’s children are grown. Her theatricalrigging and drapery business, which shedoes part-time, is well established. Butwhen she wanted to go back to schoolto study gerontology, she worried thatthe long commute would be a problem.Five years ago she started taking careof her elderly aunt and uncle, about anhour from a UMass campus and fromwhere she lives. “I go back and forth allof the time for them,” she says, “and sothe online program made it much easier.It’s wonderful to be able to go up to myoffice and sit in the class, not sit in trafficfor an hour trying to get to class.”For some students, taking every classonline is ideal. But other studentsprefer “the best of both worlds,” mixingon-campus classes with those online.For Christine, a dental office employeewho takes most of her classes oncampus, this “blended learning”option allowed her to take a requiredanthropology course online when herschedule conflicted with the on-campusversion. “It was a good way to balancemy time,” she says.When Salman wanted to go back toschool to get his Master’s in PublicHealth, he knew it was going to betough. As a full-time physician at UMassMemorial Medical Center with anextremely busy schedule, attendingclasses and sitting in on lectures oncampus was not an option. That’s whyhe chose UMassOnline. It allowed himthe ability to work school around hiscareer. “If I didn’t have the option ofthese online classes, it would have beenvery difficult to pursue this degree,” hesays. “It would have taken much longerfor me to complete my master’s.”

www.umassonline.netWorld-class Faculty, Top-notch Graduates:The Fabric of UMassThere are 400,000 reasons to beinspired by UMass. One of them isSom, who got her undergraduatedegree from UMass Amherst. Whenshe decided to go back for hermaster’s, there was only one choicefor her: her alma mater. “The qualityof UMass is top notch. This schoolhas helped me build a foundationfor my life,” she says. “And gettingmy degree online was perfect.I work full-time, I just purchased ahouse, and I’m planning a wedding.I consider myself a life-long learner.UMassOnline has enabled me tocontinue my education and completeit within a couple of years.”“The quality of UMass is top notch.This school has helped me build afoundation for my life.”—Som Seng, Online MBA graduate

There are lots of otherinspirational UMass alumniout there in the world, from“Students get the same courseonline as they do in person Right down to the bad jokes!”artists like Grammy winner—Professor Robert Nakosteencom founder Jeff Taylor andNatalie Cole and actorBill Cosby, to businesspowerhouses like monster.former General Electric CEOWhen Professor Robert Nakosteen was asked toteach the first online MBA course, he did it partlyout of curiosity. After getting his doctorate fromthe University of Tennessee in the late 1970s andjoining the UMass faculty in 1985, he taught thetraditional way: face-to-face. So he admits that atfirst, he didn’t respect the online medium.“I thought it was a fancy, electronic correspondence course,” he says. “No longer!I think online education, with its flexibility, its use of technology, and its immediacy,is a rival to in-person education.”The students in the online program are actually more professionally experienced,he says, which makes the experience better for everyone. It has also changed theway he teaches. He now records all of his on-campus lectures. “Students get thesame course online as they do in person,” he says. “Right down to the bad jokes!”And Professor Nakosteen now spends more time making his lectures better.“I’ve learned to write answers to pretty complex questions in statistics. It is verydifferent answering a question orally than it is to answer it in writing” he says.“Try to imagine writing down how to tie a shoelace!”Jack Welch. Currentstate representative PaulFrost and former VermontGovernor Madeleine Kuninare graduates, too. EvenAmerica’s best-knowncarpenter, Norm Abram, isa UMass alum. Of course,not all UMass alumni arefamous, nor do they need tobe. There are professionalslike Som, as well as writers,small business owners,lawyers, teachers, engineers,nonprofit directors,scientists, historians,analysts, policymakers,nurses, doctors, therapists,and activists, to name justa few. The possibilities areendless for UMass alumni.