Work & School: How to Manage Both

Meet CityU alumni who kept full-time jobs while earning degrees, some paying for college with employee tuition benefit programs

By Kerrie Turcic
Velocity Contributor

Returning to school can be daunting. With determination, a strong support system and the flexibility of a college like City University of Seattle, it can be done.

Velocity recently spoke with three alumni who shared their decision to return to school, related challenges and the ability to manage it all.

SUPPORT

Ray Bodden, 50, was laid off by Occidental Petroleum Corporation in 1992.

“When I lost my job, the employees with college educations got promoted and transferred, and then the ones who didn’t were laid off,” says the Nederland, Texas resident.

Bodden was determined to earn his bachelor’s degree after meeting a co-worker earning his master’s from CityU of Seattle. In 2002, while managing a large project at work, he began taking a single CityU course online each semester. He added a second class when his workload lightened and he graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management.

Bodden, now an operations technician at chemical company BASF, says his success stems from support from his family, employer and a CityU advisor.

“I couldn’t have done it myself,” he says.

FINANCIAL HELP

Many companies offer employee tuition programs that pay for some or all of school.

Sundar Subramaniam, BASF’s Manager of Learning and Employee Development based in Florham Park, New Jersey, says the company’s program allows employees to choose a reasonable area of study approved by their supervisor.

Subramaniam says it could be a bachelor’s or master’s degree as well as a certificate program. BASF reimburses 100 percent of tuition costs to employees who pass courses.

“The course of study should have some sort of relevance to the employee’s current job or the job they aspire to,” he says.

Employees and employers benefit when an employee goes back school.

“It encourages people to have a lifelong learning attitude. They contribute at a higher level, learn new techniques and come back with a fresh perspective,” he says.

Returning to school can prove an employee is ready for the next move but “you shouldn’t do it thinking, ‘I must do this to further my career,’ ” Subramaniam says.

COMMITMENT

Unhappy with dead-end jobs, Lisa Hansen, 28, decided to get her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

It took commitment and the flexibility of CityU for the Maple Valley, Wash. resident to reach her goal. Hansen, who worked two jobs in addition to attending school, passed on extra-curricular events and brought her schoolwork on family trips.

“I pretty much always had one of my course books on me at all times,” Hansen says.

Hansen, now a clinic manager of two community health centers, says people returning to school should be ready to make the commitment.

“Sometimes you feel like all you do is work and school, but it is only for a limited time and is worth it in the long run,” she says.

SACRIFICE

Allen Brown of Puyallup, Wash. earned his bachelor’s degree while in the Army. Still, he needed more education for the corporate world.

Brown heard about CityU on the radio before being deployed to Houston. Once in Texas, he applied and was accepted to the Master in Business Administration program. The student had to work two jobs to support his family who were still living in Washington.

“Whenever I was not working, I was studying or writing papers,” he says. “I averaged two hours of sleep a night for two years.”

The military tuition assistance program and a supportive manager helped Brown financially and mentally get through it.

“In the end, it came down to passion and desire,” he says.

Brown’s MBA helped him advance his career and develop skills he now uses as a program manager at Microsoft.

“While going to, or returning to, college is a challenge, the benefits greatly outweigh the costs. This requires an investment in time, money, and sleep…in my case,” he says.

Brown adds, “But these sacrifices have allowed me to move … to a management professional at one of the largest companies in the world and will continue to serve me as I move up the corporate ladder.”