Matching Master's Degrees

 

Shirley Kelly and Emily Tipton have a lot in common. They both have a Master of Science in Administration degree from CMU Off-Campus Programs, they both have great jobs in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area, and they are mother and daughter.

Shirley’s MSA is in General Administration and Emily’s is in Human Resources Administration. According to Shirley, while she never had a class with her daughter, Emily, they would often talk about the professors. “Emily and I would go over the class schedules together and compare notes on the different professors,” laughed Shirley. “It was great fun.”

Both women have seen career successes from their master’s degrees from CMU. Emily got a new job as Human Resources Manager for Charles River Laboratory in Portage while she was working on her capstone
project. She has also been accepted to teach at the
university level based on her experience and CMU credentials. Shirley already had a great job as a quality engineer for Herman Miller. She looks at her MSA from CMU as the first step toward her doctorate. She also remarked that Herman Miller recently went through some downsizing and she is sure her master’s degree helped her keep her job through those difficult times.

Emily and Shirley both enjoyed their time at CMU. Emily liked the compressed format and the evening classes that fit well with her work schedule. She also took full advantage of the flexibility offered by CMU’s many locations in Michigan. She started her master’s degree by attending classes at several of the Metro Detroit locations. When she moved to the Grand Rapids area for a job opportunity, she completed her degree at the Grand Rapids Center.

Shirley took most of her classes at the Grand Rapids Center and combined the traditional face-to-face classes with an online course. “The online course was great. There was an international flavor to our chat rooms. Lots of service people stationed all over the world and students from all different time zones were getting up early or staying up late to join in the experience,” said Shirley. “My professor was fluent in English and Spanish and if a student wrote in Spanish, he would answer them in their native language. Emily is proficient in Spanish and would translate the professor’s responses for me. One time I had Emily type my response back in Spanish and the professor was quite surprised!”

To celebrate their success, they both attended graduation together. “We actually finished our degrees about a term apart,” says Emily. “But we waited so we could walk together.”

More success stories...