Credits transferred—she was enrolled!

Rose admits she wasn’t setting out to get a degree. She only wanted a couple of job-related classes. But once she got her feet wet, she was hooked. “The subject is so engaging. I love it. I got the bug. This is learning!” The goals of her fellow students are across the board. “They all want to put computers to use for the good of people. I have a lot of hope that these kids will do wonderful things for the world.”

Rose’s advisor made credit transfer easy. Her associate degree in accounting and previous undergraduate credits met all her degree requirements except for the core informatics requirements. “Effortlessly, I was enrolled at IU Online.”

Instructors are responsive

Rose hails her instructors. “IU Online professors are super responsive. They reply to my email questions right away. I never have to wait.” She has special praise for Dana Vrajitoru from IU South Bend. “She’s amazing. Her classes are so well organized. Everything’s accessible. She gives us the PowerPoint from her lecture (annotated with her lecture notes) and the .mp4 of her talking through the PowerPoint. If you have low vision or hearing, you still have the entire lecture verbatim. No one is left out!”

All class responsibilities are clearly spelled out. “Vrajitoru keeps us on track. Every Monday she sends due dates—what’s due tonight, what’s due later, and when the next module is open. She goes through the code line by line and explains every block of code that performs an action or manipulates an object—what’s good, what could be different—it’s all useful feedback. She’s friendly. And she’s funny! She tells jokes that resonate with us IT geeks! She teaches on every campus. My other professors are from other campuses, too, which means we get a lot of different angles and depth. It’s really cool.”

Learning and teaching

Rose’s classmates are diverse in terms of age and location. That diversity is itself an education. “I enjoy group-work with people in their 20s,” says Rose. “It gives me a different perspective. And I learn from this generation. They grew up in a virtual world and are freer with their feelings and emotions. If something needs to be discussed, they call it out.”

IU Online’s supplemental instruction program offered Rose other opportunities. She originally attended supplemental sessions to get help with a couple of courses, but she was soon recruited to teach other students. She was honored.

Teaching also means learning. She says, “I’m learning softer skills outside the syllabus, like managing my perfectionism, learning to let things go. I’m learning about boundaries, patience, and acceptance. I understand that different people learn in different ways and what they need in order to learn.”

Making a difference at work

The program is already making a difference in Rose’s position at work. “l’m excited to share every new thing I learn. My supervisor encourages my excitement and recognizes I now add extra value to the team.”

Rose couldn’t have predicted where she’d be now. “My goal at the beginning was simple. I just wanted to be a bit better at my job by understanding what goes on behind the scenes. I had no preconceived notion of what a marvelous thing I was getting into.”

The IU Online welcome

Rose found IU Online very welcoming. “I got a welcome kit with stickers and socks. I love my socks and the sticker, ‘Class is where the WiFi is.’ I enjoy taking classes a lot more than I thought I would. My husband is encouraging, and my daughter and I are competing to see who’ll graduate first!”

Rose advises anyone who’s considering informatics to go for it. “It’s a lot of work and a lot of math and logic, but if you enjoy puzzles and patterns, it’s fun. It’s so convenient. I love being able to sit on the couch and read my textbooks. IU Online has been such a great experience for me. It’s never too late. IU Online forever!”