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Managing An Education While Managing Emergencies

Managing An Education While Managing Emergencies

Posted June 11, 2010 by Tamara Burns – Comments

While working full time as a Battalion Chief for the Y 12 Fire Department in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Pam Layne completed her undergraduate degree in Fire and Emergency Services Administration from Colorado State University. In May 2010, Pam graduated from the online degree program and is now ready to use it to advance her career in addition to pursuing further education.

Finding the Right Fit

Pam Layne Pam has been a firefighter for 30 years and she has served as the Battalion Chief for 5 years. She wanted to complete her undergraduate degree in a program that had an emphasis on administration. There was nothing available at local colleges so she searched and found the online program available at Colorado State University.

Pam remarked "I chose the Fire and Emergency Services Administration program at CSU because I was looking for a program that was geared toward the management aspect. I also chose the program because it gave me the opportunity to pursue a degree totally online and while continuing to live and work in East Tennessee. I would highly recommend the program to anyone interested in fire service management."

Choosing An Online Program

Pam completed her Associate's Degree at a community college that allowed her to do both online and face-to-face learning. Those online courses helped her realize that the flexibility and convenience of distance learning outweighed some of the drawbacks, such as not having immediate interaction with the faculty.

Pam also knew that with a face-to-face program she would have a difficult time attending all of the courses. With her schedule, each month she would have had to miss one class and be late to another, so an online program was a good fit.

Getting Used To The Degree Program

Because Pam had taken online courses before, she already had some distance learning experience, but there were still many differences. CSU's program utilized different technologies than the community college she had attended, so it took a little time for her to get used to how her new program worked.

In addition to differences in technologies, the two programs also required different writing styles for papers. Her previous program required papers to be written using the MLA style and her program with CSU required the APA writing style.

Advice from a Recent Graduate

Pam has completed many online courses and understands what students need to do to be successful at distance learning.

Have good time management skills.
Keep current on technology and know how to effectively use the internet.
Be patient because it can take a while to complete your degree while working full time.

Opening Opportunities

Pam Layne

Pam celebrated her achievement of graduating by driving all the way to Fort Collins, CO from East Tennessee to participate in commencement ceremonies and attend the distance graduation luncheon in May. Soon after completing her undergraduate degree, she has already begun working on a Master of Science in Leadership with an emphasis in Disaster Planning and Fire Service Leadership. She also is considering returning to CSU in the future to complete the Adult Education and Training Master's Degree.

Pam said that currently there are no positions available to move up in rank, but she's confident that her degree will help her be one of the top candidates when the job opportunity opens and she'll be ready to submit an impressive resume of education and experience.

Thanks Pam for the great photos and congratulations on graduating!