The White Falcon - 19.03.1993, Blaðsíða 1

HITE
FALCON
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Vol. 52 No. 11
March 19,1993
Serving the Iceland Defense Force Community
College education — it’s your future
By MSgt. Brenda F. Watkins,
Air Force Chief, Education Service and
J03 (SW) Andreas Walter
uni
Jevi
cou:
In today’s society where we live mostly for
today, you must think of your future. And
education plays an important part in
everyone’s future. Currently, ten percent of
the Naval Air Station (NAS), Keflavik resi-
dents are enrolled in classes to further their
education. The NAS Education Center is
currently undergoing reorganization to offer
more choices for these students.
Courses now offered include City Col-
leges of Chicago with lower level classes,
University of Maryland with lower and upper
evel classes, Central Texas College with
ic skills classes and Webster University
attaining a master’s degree.
Webster University will continue to offer
classes until Aug. 1, 1993, according to Jua-
nita Walker, director, Webster University.
At that point their contract will officially
expire and will not be renewed, she added.
Walker also stated, University of Mary-
land must accept up to 18 credits from
Webster’s students wishing to continue their
graduate programs after this date.
Ed Mecham, Education Services Officer
for the Education Center, said, “Because of
our unique situation in Iceland, negotiations
were attempted to let Webster University
continue its portion of the master’s level
program. University of Maryland supervi-
sors in England and Germany were willing to
let Webster retain their portion of the con-
tract. This appeal was overridden at a higher
level. ”
In addition, City Colleges of Chicago will
deal exclusively with video courses supple-
mented by book study versus the traditional
classroom environment they now offer.
Tentatively scheduled expansions at the
Education Center include offering vocational
courses by Central Texas College. Troy
te will offer a master’s degree in intema-
al relations. The University of Oklahoma
ill also be offering a master’s degree, in
education and school administration.
Mecham emphasized that the University
of Maryland will continue with their current
schedule and courses for teacher certifica-
tion. The Education Center has state-by-state
listings that detail the requirements that can
be waived for personnel wishing to teach in
the continental United States.
Why should you take classes? Furthering
your education is important because you are
only cheating yourself if you don’t. Statistics
indicate that to keep above the poverty level,
you need, at the very least, a bachelor’s
degree. Twenty years from now, you may
even need a master’s degree.
The logical place to begin is with general-
education courses. No matter what discipline
you choose, you will have a certain amount of
general education required. Each college has
its own residency and course-work require-
ments needed for graduation. These are two
factors that make it difficult for military
members to achieve their educational goals.
But remember, only you can overcome the
obstacles and reach your goal. After com-
pleting your general education requirements,
it’s time to decide which degree you want.
Once you’ve decided, a representative from
the college you ’re attending should be able to
help you pick which courses to take towards
your degree.
Whenever you prepare for a permanent
change of duty station, contact your local
Education Office first and find out which
colleges are available at your next base. You
can also correspond with the colleges and get
a copy of their catalogs in advance. When
you decide which college you’re going to
attend, you need to get a matriculation guide
from your parent college (the college where
you want to graduate). The matriculation
guide will tell you which courses at your next
assignment are acceptable, in your degree
program, at your parent college. This will
keep you from taking extra courses. If the
course is listed on the matriculation guide,
then it will be transferrable to your parent
college.
When you get within nine semester hours
of your degree, it’s a good idea to submit a
transcript to your parent college and get an
updated evaluation. The updated evaluation
will ensure all course work completed is
applicable towards your degree. If there are
any problems, it is less frustrating to take
care of them at this point, and not when
you’re expecting to graduate. If there are
problems, deal with them before continuing
with your degree plan.
After completing all your requirements,
submit an official transcript to your parent
college. For the transcript to be official, it
must flow from registrar to registrar and not
pass through your hands. Once your parent
college receives the transcript, you must
petition for graduation. Each college has its
own requirements for graduation. You must
meet these requirements. Then comes gradu-
ation day — the day you ’ve been waiting for!
It wasn’t difficult, was it? You should be
very proud of yourself, you reached your
goal!
For more information on course offerings
watch for information in The White Falcon
or call ext. 6226.
Town Meeting
A question and answer session with
RADM H.D. Weatherson, Commander,
Navy Exchange Service Command and
head of all Navy Exchanges world-wide,
takes place today at 2 p.m. at Andrews
Theater.
All base personnel are invited to attend.
Call ext. 6438 for more information.