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Workers have frequently faced tightening economic conditions by taking advantage of educational opportunities available to them and improving gaps in their resume.
ULM's GOLD program - Gateway to Online Learning - is one way for workers to pursue their education either before or after a corporate layoff. Primarily for those with some college experience, the GOLD program may renew the long-deferred dreams of those seeking a return to college.
The emergence of online education, such as that offered by ULM's GOLD program, provides older students the flexibility pursuing a degree at their own pace, allowing students to continue earning a paycheck part-time or even full-time.
An online survey of GOLD students in their first semester of the program, launched just this past August, indicates positive feedback of the program so far, said Program Director Robyn Jordan.
“They rated their experience overall a 3.9 out of 4. I'd say that's pretty good,” she said. “We've also received several nice comments, including a student who wrote she had learned more online than she ever did before in a regular classroom.”
Jordan anticipates online enrollment to steadily increase as more degree programs are developed in an online format and as non-traditional students realize the value of an education. Already, 198 online students are registered for the Spring 2009 semester, with more expected as the Fall 2008 semester comes to a close.
“This registration period is our first opportunity to see how the retention rate is going, which so far, looks really good,” said Jordan.
The majority of enrollments - 80 percent - are women, and the average age of a GOLD student is 34 years, according to Jordan.
Tuition for online courses in the GOLD degree programs is the same as the tuition for on-campus courses. The courses are taught online in 4, 8 or 16 week formats and include the same amount of material that is taught in a regular semester.
In addition, any student enrolled either online or in a traditional classroom course may take advantage of ULM's Office of Career Services. There, students can learn about resume writing, interview skills or job attainment.
“If they do decide to further their education by attending ULM, our services are available to them when they are ready to find part-time employment, internships, and/or full-time placement service,” acknowledged the Center's Director, Brenda Allen.
These options may provide some comfort to workers affected by the closing of International Paper in Bastrop, where Gov. Bobby Jindal announced on Monday that the state has asked the federal government for Trade Adjustment Assistance. The TAA program is the nation's primary source of aid to workers who lose their jobs to foreign competition. In addition, industries sometimes provide tuition assistance to affected workers.
For those wanting to learn more about ways to pay for a degree, contact finaid.ulm.edu. For those interested in the variety of online degree programs available at ULM, contact the school at onlinedegrees@ulm.edu.
Workers have frequently faced tightening economic conditions by taking advantage of educational opportunities available to them and improving gaps in their resume.
ULM's GOLD program - Gateway to Online Learning - is one way for workers to pursue their education either before or after a corporate layoff. Primarily for those with some college experience, the GOLD program may renew the long-deferred dreams of those seeking a return to college.
The emergence of online education, such as that offered by ULM's GOLD program, provides older students the flexibility pursuing a degree at their own pace, allowing students to continue earning a paycheck part-time or even full-time.
An online survey of GOLD students in their first semester of the program, launched just this past August, indicates positive feedback of the program so far, said Program Director Robyn Jordan.
“They rated their experience overall a 3.9 out of 4. I'd say that's pretty good,” she said. “We've also received several nice comments, including a student who wrote she had learned more online than she ever did before in a regular classroom.”
Jordan anticipates online enrollment to steadily increase as more degree programs are developed in an online format and as non-traditional students realize the value of an education. Already, 198 online students are registered for the Spring 2009 semester, with more expected as the Fall 2008 semester comes to a close.
“This registration period is our first opportunity to see how the retention rate is going, which so far, looks really good,” said Jordan.
The majority of enrollments - 80 percent - are women, and the average age of a GOLD student is 34 years, according to Jordan.
Tuition for online courses in the GOLD degree programs is the same as the tuition for on-campus courses. The courses are taught online in 4, 8 or 16 week formats and include the same amount of material that is taught in a regular semester.
In addition, any student enrolled either online or in a traditional classroom course may take advantage of ULM's Office of Career Services. There, students can learn about resume writing, interview skills or job attainment.
“If they do decide to further their education by attending ULM, our services are available to them when they are ready to find part-time employment, internships, and/or full-time placement service,” acknowledged the Center's Director, Brenda Allen.
These options may provide some comfort to workers affected by the closing of International Paper in Bastrop, where Gov. Bobby Jindal announced on Monday that the state has asked the federal government for Trade Adjustment Assistance. The TAA program is the nation's primary source of aid to workers who lose their jobs to foreign competition. In addition, industries sometimes provide tuition assistance to affected workers.
For those wanting to learn more about ways to pay for a degree, contact finaid.ulm.edu. For those interested in the variety of online degree programs available at ULM, contact the school at onlinedegrees@ulm.edu.
