One our most popular programs for students who have some college credit but no degree, the Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership and Learning (BS OLL), has recently launched a new track in early childhood education (ECE). This track was specifically created to address an important population of professionals who need to earn or complete their bachelor’s degree to go further in their fields.
The BS OLL program is often sought by experienced, working professionals who have a lot of knowledge about their industry but lack the educational credentials needed for promotions and higher paying positions. Students in this program can be awarded up to 48 college credit hours (a savings of up to $24k in tuition) through the Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) course. Transfer credits from prior intuitions are also accepted.
Ideal students for this program are childcare professionals, preschool teachers, infant-toddler teachers, teaching assistants, Head Start teachers, center directors, or those in other interdisciplinary early childhood education areas. Specifically, this program is very well suited for those individuals who would like to work with at-risk learners in low-income or impoverished communities.
Excel as a leader in early childhood education.
This new program track can help students achieve their career and educational goals by developing their core early childhood education knowledge and communication skills—allowing them to work with children as well as children’s families or caretakers.
“This program creates an important pathway for professionals in early childcare education to complete their bachelor’s degree and receive college credit for their work experience and knowledge.”
Lori Norton-Meier, Ph.D. Program Director
Graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership and Learning Early Childhood Education track will have the ECE credentials needed to reach the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s level 3 status, for exceptional teaching practices and leadership.
Earning your
bachelor’s degree can also prepare you as a leader in your organization and
provide you with access to higher pay, greater job security and a path to
teacher certification. Graduates of this program can earn teaching
certification by completing their Master
of Arts in Teaching at UofL.
This degree
program is comprised of 120 credit hours, which includes 12 ECE credits.
If you’re interested in taking on leadership roles in a higher ed organization, or know someone who might be, learn more at the BS OLL ECE program page.
Offered
through UofL’s College of Education and Human Development.
Unfinished Business: A UofL professor’s dedication to helping adult students cross the finish line
Matt Bergman, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at the University of Louisville (UofL) teaching both undergraduate and graduate students. Anyone that has the opportunity to work with Dr. Bergman can tell you, he has found a calling working with students who have not been able to follow the traditional college path. He works with adults who have an unfinished bachelor’s degree but have completed some college, maybe even decades ago.
The reasons for
leaving college before completing their degree may vary, but all of these
students’ stories share a common thread—they all found the courage and the
drive to come back and finish what they started.
Dr. Bergman and Dr. Joann Olson, a senior scholar from Texas, recently published a book chronicling the experiences of these students. A full description of Unfinished Business is available from the publisher.
We sat down with Dr. Bergman for a quick Q&A, to learn more about Unfinished Business. Here is what he shared:
I love that you titled your book Unfinished Business—it is very fitting. How did you land on that? Were there any other contenders for the title? MB: The title has been in place for over four years. It came to me in a conversation with a student and right then I knew it captured the essence of what these adult learners are thinking as they consider a return to college.
I think anyone who gets to work with you knows how passionate you are about reaching and connecting with this group – adults with some college but no degree – and helping them cross the finish line. What inspires you to dedicate yourself to supporting this demographic? MB: This group has so many life experiences and a ton of professional expertise to draw from when they re-engage with the academic setting. It is so amazing to learn alongside them as you introduce a complex theory and watch them make direct connections to their real-life work. It is truly research-to-practice the whole time they are working through our degree. The commitment to getting an “A” in every class is palpable. They don’t like to settle for anything less. They are trying to serve as an inspiration to their children and they want to model the kind of grades they expect from their kids.
Unfinished Business is a collection of student stories and I know each student’s journey is unique, but is there one story that really stands out to you? MB: There are too many to really identify one particular story. However, if I had to pick one or two, I would start with Phillip Alier. He is one of the “Lost Boys from Sudan” who had to walk 1,000 miles to their freedom, many years ago. As he said at a book launch event, he came to America with nothing. He only had a bag full of a couple of documents and an X-ray to prove he wasn’t bringing any diseases to this country. His journey is worthy of a whole book itself. He is actually searching for a partner to write a biography. I encourage those reading this and wanting to connect with him to please reach out and we can get that project rolling.
I also love the story of Joe Jacoby. A three-time Super Bowl Champion and four-time Pro-Bowler, Joe came back to finish his Unfinished Business in his 50s. He had a nagging feeling that he needed to finish the degree for no other reason other than to prove to himself that he could get it done. He had all of the accomplishments in the world but he left UofL to pursue his dreams in the NFL and didn’t finalize his last bit of course work. He enrolled in the Organizational Leadership and Learning (OLL) program at UofL and was able to make direct connections from the course content to his businesses and his coaching efforts. It was a perfect match and we are grateful that he and Phillip are graduates of our program.
You have been leading the UofL initiative to get these students to come back and finish their degree. Is this a national trend? Are more universities making similar outreach efforts? MB: We recently started a university-wide Comeback Cards initiative facilitated under the leadership of Dr. Gale Rhodes and Dr. Beth Willey. Through our Institutional Research Office, we identified students that were a couple classes away from the finish line and reached out to recruit them back to complete their remaining requirements. With the support of the Provost’s office, we have been able to recruit, enroll, and graduate 50 students that have graduated in 2019. These people had been separated from the university for a wide array of reasons, but we were able to offer small scholarships to re-engage and get them to graduation. It has been a labor-intensive process that involves a large number of offices across campus, but it has been worth all of the effort to get 50 people to the finish line within six to eight months of rolling out the Comeback Cards initiative.
This is definitely a national trend. Colleges and Universities across the country are going into their student databases to find these individuals that haven’t finished and are facilitating innovative programs to get these people to and through their final requirements. Places like University of Memphis, Wayne State University, and the University of South Carolina have been models that we have used to put our initiative together. This is not a “give-away” type of program. These students are hungry to finish their degrees so their level of commitment is high when they re-enroll. We just have to find them, help them get started, and then get out of the way.
What would you say to someone who is reading this interview and is on the fence about coming back to finish their degree? MB: There is no perfect time to come back. So, that means the time is now. There will always be competing responsibilities pulling you away from the goal of finishing your degree. However, UofL now has services and programs that are tailored to the needs of working adults. Whether you want online, evening, or a mix of the two, you can find a way to carve out enough space in life to get your degree completed. We are done saying “we will give you another chance” and instead, we are saying, “please give us another chance” as an institution. We have changed policy and practice to create a flexible and convenient path to your degree. Give us another shot and we will help you fulfill your long-held dream of completing your degree.
What unique benefits do you feel like online learning offers adult students who want to complete their degrees? Do many of your students choose this option? MB: There is no doubt that the flexibility of online learning is the key to many students’ success. The “life load” that people are carrying is an important consideration as people return. Online makes it possible to balance that “life load” with a sprinkling of relevant, rigorous, and research-based content that will make your life better if you engage with it. I hear every day how the content in OLL is changing people’s lives for the better. They feel more empowered, more confident, and more prepared to move forward in their careers because of the exposure to our curriculum. It is a wonderful situation that drives me every day to find and connect people to UofL.
If you’re ready to take the leap and finish what YOU started, find out more about the B.S. OLL program at UofL or all of UofL’s online programs. Our faculty and staff are ready to provide the guidance and support that adult professionals returning to school need, from start to finish.
UofL is proud to announce the launch of two new online leadership programs. Both programs deliver current and future leaders of either the healthcare and higher ed industry skills they need to further their career.
Read on for details on the newly launched Master’s in Health Administration and Cert. in Organizational Change in Higher Ed.
The healthcare industry continues to grow and change, with everything from advancements in technology to changes in the standards of patient care regularly shifting.
And it’s today’s health administrators who are responsible for leading the charge in embracing these changes.
The executive MSHA online program prepares healthcare professionals with 5+ years of experience to take on that challenge.
Healthcare is evolving. You should be too.
The curriculum expands on expertise in healthcare management areas like HR, economics, marketing and policy, as well as deepens understanding of processes, environments, structures and strategies that are disrupting the industry.
Notably, the program places a strong focus on assessments that emphasize solving authentic, real-life problems these executive-level students face within your current role.
“This is the ideal time to pursue the online MSHA at UofL. We created this program to provide health care leaders with a high-quality learning experience. We focus on the most critical competencies necessary for effective organizational leadership and population health management.”
Lee Bewley, Ph.D., FACHE Program Director, Associate Professor
Students can complete the 21 required courses in just 2 years.
If you’re ready to lead the future of health administration, learn more at the MSHA program page.
Offered through UofL’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences.
The coursework prepares post-secondary administrators, staff and faculty members to better understand and manage areas important to org changes in higher ed including legal issues, resource management, diversity and organizational improvement.
“This program considers the vast amount of challenges universities face today. This certificate provides professionals in academic settings with the skills and experiences needed to become more effective administrators, while also encouraging data-driven decision making and assessments – the ideal ways to instigate change in postsecondary education.”
Casey George, Ph.D. Program Director, Assistant Professor
The certificate is comprised of 4 graduate courses (12 credit hours), which students can complete in just under a year.
If you’re interested in taking on leadership roles in a higher ed organization, or know someone who might be, learn more at the certificate program page.
Offered through UofL’s College of Education and Human Development.
UofL Online Programs
The University of Louisville offers degrees and certificate programs 100% online, delivering quality online education to non-traditional students and professionals who need alternative learning delivery methods and want to earn a college degree or certificate to start or advance their career — from wherever and whenever it’s most convenient for them. Read more about our programs in our featured blog posts.
UofL’s newest online program is taking English beyond the borders
Have you ever thought about traveling overseas to teach
others how to speak English? Or maybe you’d like to work with a humanitarian
outreach organization? With our new certificate program, you can gain essential
skills for teaching and/or tutoring non-native English speakers—no previous
experience in education required!
The graduate certificate in Teaching English as an
International Language (TEIL) is designed for bachelor’s degree holders who do
not have a background in education but want to teach English language learners
abroad and in other scenarios where a teaching license is not required.
As a TEIL student, you’ll learn strategies to work with
English language learners in a variety of settings both in the U.S. and abroad
including humanitarian outreach organizations, private/parochial schools,
tutoring opportunities with non-native students, missions work or international
work with multi-national companies.
Applicants to the TEIL online program must have a bachelor’s
degree earned from a regionally-accredited institution, but all fields of study
and backgrounds are welcome. Also, there are no additional prerequisites to
enter the program.
Click here to learn more about this exciting new program: https://uofl.me/2OdvK3K.
Bonus points: Earn
this as a standalone graduate certificate or as part of a UofL master’s degree
(must be approved by an advisor).