FALL 1998
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In this issue
General Motors, Mayo, 3M offer ISU degrees Computer literacy class helps at-risk teens succeed Extension curriculum helps workers succeed In Calhoun County __________ |
General Motors, Mayo, 3M offer ISU degrees What do General Motors (GM), the Mayo Clinic and 3M have in common? They all offer their employees a master's degree in statistics from Iowa State University. Their employees can earn that degree without ever coming to the Ames campus, and the off-campus degree is equivalent to the on-campus degree.
In September 1994, the ISU Department of Statistics and ISU Extension's Extended and Continuing Education began offering courses to GM employees. The courses are videotaped versions of campus lectures and have the same content, homework and exams, said Dean Isaacson, head of the ISU Statistics Department. In addition, the curriculum includes two semesters of course work in industrial applied statistics developed specifically for GM. Two GM students have completed their degrees and several others are enrolled. According to Marti Elston of ISU Extended and Continuing Education, ISU provides courses to GM via express-mail videocassette sent to selected GM locations. GM provides classrooms, video equipment, computing hardware and software, library facilities, a mentor and clerical support for the students enrolled at each location. A GM site administrator provides process quality control and academic administration at the site, coordinates students' plans of study with their GM personal development plans and provides a contact point for students and ISU faculty and staff. The Mayo program began in September 1997 and follows a similar format, Elston said. Four employees are enrolled. The 3M program will begin in fall 1998, Elston added. ISU Extended and Continuing Education provides registration services and support for the students -- helping them order books, getting them the right videotapes and processing their records. Extended and Continuing Education also provides ISU faculty support, accounting services and marketing assistance for the program, Elston said. Students are the winners in these employer-ISU agreements. "The program was attractive to me because I could have the security of the income from a full-time job while still furthering my education," said Christine Lohse, a biostatistics data analyst at Mayo Clinic. "Plus, the knowledge I gain from the classes is directly applicable to my work here at Mayo. So not only am I working toward a degree, I'm also gaining a better understanding of the work I do every day which helps in the advancement of my career." "We have been very pleased with the partnership," said Jeffrey Larson Keller, supervisor of Mayo Clinic's Section of Biostatistics. "The reputation of the ISU Statistics program as one of the top in the country and the success of ISU graduates here at Mayo were a couple reasons we were drawn to the program." He added, "This partnership will help us recruit and retain the outstanding statisticians we require." |
