Crafting the Perfect Pitch

Posted on by Maribeth Gunner

7 Tips to Create a Successful Elevator Speech

An effective elevator speech is a personal branding statement that highlights your professional background, knowledge, and skills. Typically no more than 30–60 seconds (the estimated time it takes to ride an elevator to desired floors), it quickly and clearly identifies who you are, why you are unique, and what benefits you can offer — in short, why you are the ideal candidate for a desired position.

Being prepared with a polished elevator speech is a perfect way to spotlight your experience, skills, and accomplishments anytime, anywhere. Professionally, it can be used when meeting with leadership in the workplace, conversing at networking events, or introducing yourself at a job interview. Personally, there are ample opportunities to use your speech through casual conversations at the gym, kids’ sports events, or at a neighborhood gathering.

Before you can soundly convince someone that you are the ideal candidate, you’ll need to prepare. Use these tips to help craft a successful, customized elevator speech:

  • Add an attention-getter. Incorporate an interesting fact or stat to use at the beginning of your speech. Your goal is to immediately engage someone so that he or she is intrigued and wants to learn more.
  • Know yourself. Draft an inventory of your best personal attributes, key strengths, and accomplishments. Define what contributions you can make, and what problems you can solve.
  • Identify your unique selling proposition. Determine your competitive advantage in the workplace. What do you offer that others do not?
  • Know your purpose. What is your goal? Are you seeking a new job, changing careers, or in search of advancement?
  • Tailor your speech. Focus your message on the needs of the potential employer or targeted industry. Your audience will want to know what’s in it for them.
  • Wrap up your speech with a call to action. Express your purpose in relaying your information, be it a request for a referral, a future meeting, or a job interview. Provide your contact information and thank them for their time.
  • Read your pitch aloud. Your delivery should be natural, conversational, and sincere. Try rehearsing in front of a mirror, or with a friend or family member. Ensure your speech is within the 30–60-second parameter.

A well-honed elevator speech can leave a memorable first impression and open the door to your next job or career. Be ready with your elevator speech when the opportunity presents itself. Remember, too, as your career progresses, you’ll want to update your speech to reflect your most current experience and credentials.

For more tools and tips on how to land your next job, visit Career Services.

MPA Student Creating a New Future for Herself from History

Posted on by Shannon Ballard Gorman

Bonnie Schoonmaker is creating a second act career that works for her family’s unique needs and circumstances, while honoring her own passion and interests.

An office manager for 22 years, Schoonmaker was laid off when the company was sold. She devoted her time to caring for her husband, who was injured in the military in the 1980s and had become completely physically disabled, and home schooling her granddaughter.

“At some point, I realized that I had to think about my own future,” she said. “I decided that if I was going to go back to school, it would be for something I’m truly passionate about, and that is history.”

It had been 30 years since she was in a classroom when she enrolled in Excelsior’s bachelor’s program in History. “It was a little intimidating to think about the first course, but I had a professor who was very understanding. I was a bit rusty, but the skills came back fairly quickly.” She discovered that she was not alone; many Excelsior students are returning to college after years away from school.

Her favorite courses were Introduction to Public History, History of Women in America, and Colonial America. She is from Columbia County, NY, and the program gave her a deeper respect for the roots of the area. “Being raised in such a historically rich area as New York’s Hudson Valley, it is easy to take for granted the wonderful history that is right under your nose.”

She took a business course as an elective and did her final project on the business of history. It addressed how the expansion of technology relates to history and has enabled people to access history more easily. “People can relate to history so much better because they have it right at their fingertips. It’s exciting that those connections can be made.”

She appreciates this from another perspective, having been an independent home educator since she home-schooled her daughter in the late 1990s. Now she co-home-schools her granddaughter with her daughter, who works nights. “We no longer have to hop on a train and go to the city to see history!”

After finishing her degree in 2017, she considered going on for a master’s right away, but encountered complications in her personal life and decided to take some time to consider her next step.

She kept thinking about the business side of history and the importance of protecting and preserving it. In fact, during her undergraduate program, she had sought permission to take a graduate-level course in Grant Writing for that reason. Unfortunately, the course was cancelled, but her interest in writing grants to support history remained. She thought she might want to work for a nonprofit related to history. So she decided to pursue the Master of Public Administration and re-enrolled in Excelsior this past fall.

She draws from her own experiences with public administration to inform discussions, having served a term on the local planning board. “I find that a good basis of information on which to reflect,” she said. “Particularly with a local board, you see firsthand how decisions affect people; you run into them on the street. You know you can’t keep everyone happy, but try your best within the confines of the law.”

She also has more than 30 years of personal experience dealing with the Veterans Administration. “My husband going from active duty to a disabled veteran was not a seamless process. It was a several-year path,” she recalled. “I have known parts of the system I wish I didn’t, but you have to have knowledge of the system to get what you want. It’s frustrating to see people who don’t have that knowledge have such difficulty getting what they need.”

She thought about getting involved in educating people about the system and encouraging them to be persistent and speak up about what doesn’t work and what they need. “That’s the only way policies and procedures will change,” she said.

She found herself less interested in working in these organizations and leaning more toward education. So while pondering ways to utilize her degrees and work from home, she thought of teaching online. “It would give me the opportunity to work with something I have a passion for, like history, while fulfilling my family obligations, which I am equally passionate about.”

She is surprised the option didn’t occur to her earlier. “It’s a natural extension of what I’m already familiar with; as an independent home educator, I am responsible for developing my own curriculum and keeping academic records as well as hands-on teaching.”

She is on target to complete her master’s program next spring and is already exploring how to get started in online teaching – perhaps with a course on the business of history.

Schoonmaker offers practical encouragement to adults considering a degree. “I would encourage them to take the first step, because that’s the hardest. Sometimes there is anxiety about making all the necessary connections and getting the technology to work right. But just take that first step and then create a routine that works for your life.” The biggest mistake, she says, would be not trying.

Higher Education at an Inflection Point

Posted on by James Baldwin

A national conversation swirls around the value of a degree and student borrowing and debt. College leaders grapple with the financial pressures of changing demographics and lower enrollments. Public confidence in higher education has declined to disconcerting levels (An October 2018 survey by the Gallup Organization found the percentage of adults “Confident in Higher Education” stands at just 48 percent — an 11 percent drop since 2015).

As these issues are discussed on campuses, in capitol buildings, and at kitchen tables across the country, what seems lost is a focus on how we ought to be treating our students, the public purpose of higher education, and what it is that all institutions owe their students.

While institutions wrangle over what is too much or too little government regulation — and policymakers are seemingly deadlocked when it comes to addressing our most pressing issues — we risk a race to the bottom when it comes to our students and how they are treated in our various institutions. Students are not just “data points” or units of measure in institutional “revenue centers.”

Consider this: A September 2017 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that one in three students transfer from one college to another and, when doing so, lose an average of 43 percent of their prior credits upon enrollment in their new school. This common practice of requiring students to “start over” belies our professed commitment to degree completion and student success — and begs the question, what is the currency of a college credit earned in an accredited institution of higher learning?

Requiring students to duplicate coursework is an onerous and costly barrier to degree completion. Addressing that problem was a driving force in the founding of Excelsior College nearly 50 years ago by the State of New York. Our generous credit transfer policy, coupled with prior learning assessment and the options to learn independently and test your way to a degree, allows our students to keep degree completion costs low and shorten the time to degree attainment. This, in addition to our focus on personalized interaction with our students, is why Excelsior’s completion rates have been historically among the highest in the sector.

The challenges facing college students today extend beyond issues of access, affordability, and completion. To the extent our current system of higher education fails to recognize the value of what is learned and earned outside of the walls of one or any academy, we exacerbate those challenges. And it raises in the minds of our students the question of whether our primary goal is helping them achieve educational self-actualization or selling credits and degree programs. And this question may be at the root of that crisis in confidence.

The erosion of public confidence in higher education suggests the need for a fiduciary standard in higher education, regardless of our corporate configuration. That will mean we always act in students’ interests — even when it may not be in our own.

 

CPNE Conversations

Posted on by Jenna Kerwin
Conversational-style webinars prepare nursing students for the Clinical Performance in Nursing Examination

For Excelsior associate degree nursing students, the Clinical Performance in Nursing Examination (CPNE) — the capstone requirement — is the culmination of the program. Excelsior has long offered study guides, one-on-one support, and tutorials to help those preparing for this important exam, and recently, the School of Nursing began holding a series of webinars to help students. So far, they have been a valuable tool in preparing for the CPNE.

Kim Hedley, assistant dean for the associate degree in nursing program, and several other nursing faculty members began discussing webinars in November 2016. Hedley says a team member suggested the group conduct monthly webinars covering different topic areas, and provide students the opportunity to connect with the faculty in a new way.

“Our overall goal is to be accessible to the student; to allow them an opportunity to find a means to get their questions answered; that meets them where they are … to help them with their success meeting their CPNE requirements.” –Kim Hedley

The group decided to host one type of webinar with predetermined topics and other webinars as an open forum in a town hall format. The series kicked off on December 7, 2016, with the town hall-style webinar titled “Conversations with Kim” and encouraged question-and-answer interaction. During a “Conversations with Kim” webinar, a moderator monitors questions in real-time so student questions can be answered immediately. Other webinars, created and presented by the nursing faculty, address specific components of the CPNE and use presentations, demonstrate patient scenarios, and ask thought-provoking questions to help students reflect on their personal learning needs as they prepare for the exam. So far, all webinars are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9:30 and 10:30 am or from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, but times are flexible based on student feedback.

“Our overall goal is to be accessible to the student; to allow them an opportunity to find a means to get their questions answered; that meets them where they are … to help them with their success meeting their CPNE requirements,” says Hedley referring to the webinars.

Surveys are sent to students after each webinar session to determine whether they have met student expectations and to gather new ideas. Student feedback directs the focus of the upcoming ones. “It’s all based on feedback from our students,” says Hedley, referring to what is covered in future webinars.

The webinars have an impact. Live webinars generally have 19–20 students attending. For those who are unable to make it, recordings are archived, and as of October 2018, the recordings had been accessed more than 1,000 times.

Student remarks have been positive. Many have commented that the webinars have been “a lifeline,” and that they enjoy being able to ask questions and get immediate feedback. Some students have said they also feel less anxious about taking the CPNE. One overwhelming sentiment culled from the survey findings reveals students mostly select the following statement: “As a result of this webinar, I will be able to apply the knowledge and skills I learned from this webinar to the CPNE” as their takeaway from the interaction.

Deciding the topic of upcoming webinars mostly depends on student feedback, says Hedley. “We’re trying to meet the different needs of the students,” she explains. Connecting with students enrolled in a distance education program requires a willingness to try new ways to do so. The success of the webinar series suggests faculty and students have embraced this new idea, and it lays the groundwork for additional novel approaches.

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Assistant Dean Kim Hedley leads a recurring, conversational-style webinar during which students ask questions about the Clinical Performance in Nursing Examination. This “Conversations with Kim” webinar prompted other online presentations to help prepare students for the CPNE. Photo: Mike Hemberger

Excelsior College Welcomes New Trustees

Posted on by Excelsior Staff

In January, three new members joined the Board of Trustees: David Baime, Jeanne Meister, and Clar Rosso.

David Baime is the senior vice president for government relations and policy analysis for the American Association of Community Colleges. He directs the national advocacy efforts for the nation’s close to 1,200 community colleges and their students. He has made many radio, television, and web appearances, including on CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and National Public Radio. He is frequently quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and other publications covering higher education. Baime earned a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College and a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics.

Jeanne Meister is a founding partner of Future Workplace and is a best-selling author. Meister’s most recent work is “The Future Workplace: 10 Rules for Mastering Disruption in Recruiting and Engaging Employees.” Meister’s books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Estonian. She has written more than 100 articles on the future of learning, the future of work, and the impact of artificial intelligence in the workplace. She has appeared in CIO, CNBC Power Lunch, CBS, CNN, Fast Company, Fox Business, Harvard Business Review, NPR, SHRM Magazine, Market Watch, Time magazine, The Globe and Mail, and WPIX, New York. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and Boston University.

Clar Rosso is executive vice president of engagement and learning innovation for the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. She leads the development and execution of strategy to support global competency development and lifelong learning for the finance and accounting profession. Prior to joining AICPA, Rosso worked as COO of the California Society of CPAs (CalCPA) and the CalCPA Education Foundation, where she drove membership growth of more than 30 percent. She earned a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communications from the University of California, Davis and a master’s degree in special education from San Francisco State University.

 

Brand Awareness Campaign

Posted on by Excelsior Staff

Excelsior College developed a brand awareness campaign that introduced the new advertising tagline, Life Happens. Keep Learning., to audiences in the greater Albany, New York, and San Antonio, Texas, areas for several months in late summer/early fall 2018. The campaign was undertaken to increase awareness of Excelsior College as an online, not-for-profit, regionally accredited institution that helps adult learners complete their degrees. Excelsior was promoted through billboards on well-traveled commuter routes, advertising on bus shelters and buses, 30- and 60-second radio ads, and a video that appeared on streaming media. The advertising focused on the feasibility of fitting degree completion into a busy life, the acceptance of military and professional training as academic credit, and the ability to transfer credit and earn a degree sooner. The video produced for this campaign can be seen on the Excelsior College Facebook page.

A second phase of the campaign launched in March 2019 in the Albany area to continue to raise brand awareness. The campaign highlights the College as an accredited, not-for-profit online option that enables learners to fit learning into their busy lives.

 

Internships Available to Bachelor’s Students

Posted on by Excelsior Staff

In fall 2018, the first cohort of students took part in Excelsior’s new INT 400 Internship course. Students in this initial group took part in virtual internships; three students were placed at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, and the fourth student worked as a social media intern at Excelsior College. Despite some challenges, such as time zone differences, all the students expressed satisfaction that the internship had provided a useful and valuable experience.

The plan is for INT 400 to be available each trimester. Students are required to complete 135 hours of work during that time, including various academic and career-relevant activities. The interns also complete a final project relevant to their placement organization. Successful students gain 3 credits toward their degree. The internship is currently limited to students at the bachelor’s level.

“The INT 400 Internship with Excelsior College is a powerful way for a student to boost their resume with an experience that adds value to their career,” says Will Trevor, faculty program director for undergraduate business programs and lead of the INT 400 Internship program.

The Spring 2019 cohort includes seven students in both virtual and face-to-face internships. Before the Spring term, more than 800 students responded to a survey expressing an interest in taking part in an internship, which bodes well for the future development of the program.

 

Coming Together at Commencement

Posted on by Excelsior Staff

Before Commencement 2018, these master’s in nursing graduates were just names behind computer screens. Throughout their studies, they were in many of the same courses and ended up in many of the same work groups. Over time, they realized their team worked well together. Linda Schneider recalls, “Working [with] the team approach helped each one of us succeed.” She says they didn’t immediately find each other when they attended Commencement at Albany’s Empire State Plaza Convention Hall in July 2018; instead, they held up cards with their names on them and gradually amassed their group. Schneider says they were “elated” to find each other because it made the day that much more special to finally have their study group together in person. The graduates come from four different states and include, from left to right, (front row) Maxine Smalling, Lee Melvin, Kristin Covington, Linda Schneider and (back row) Olukemi Kuku, Michelle Mooney, and Kimberly Huseman.

Photo: Mike Hemberger

 

Celebrating the Class of 2018

Posted on by Excelsior Staff
A total of 5,137 degrees were awarded. Most graduates earned a bachelor’s degree. Over the previous year, Excelsior conferred 1,679 associate degrees, 2,886 bachelor’s degrees, and 508 master’s degrees.
Thirty-three percent of the graduates are active-duty military or veterans.
The graduating class comprises 5,077 adult learners with 51 percent male and 49 percent female.
The oldest graduate is 72 years old; the youngest graduate is 12 years old.
The class of 2018 graduates come from 15 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Ecuador, England, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Writing for the Workplace

Posted on by Excelsior Staff
Take advantage of resources to improve your writing skills and reputation as a good communicator

As a business writing instructor for Excelsior College, I frequently remind my students that nearly every profession will require writing skills. Consider the consequences of careless writing in the following scenarios: An IT professional makes incorrect assumptions about the audience’s expertise and leaves out important information in step-by-step instructions; a nurse fails to clearly communicate directions for post-operative medications; a soldier neglects to proofread material sharing key information and coordinates for an upcoming exercise; a sales person creates a brochure for prospective clients that is riddled with spelling and punctuation errors.

At best, these scenarios could result in additional work, wasted time, or loss of potential business. In the case of the nurse and the soldier, the consequences could be dire. Even if your business writing does not have calamitous consequences, it doesn’t hurt to familiarize yourself with available writing resources. If you are interested in some helpful tools for brainstorming, researching, outlining, proofreading, and editing, consider the following suggestions that have helped both college students and busy professionals.

Generating Ideas: Brainstorming is an important part of the writing process so that you can plan what you’d like to say in an email or presentation. Some find it helpful to get their ideas down on paper, while others use tools like Sticky Notes or MindNode. Sticky Notes look like a Post-It note on the computer screen. Ideas can be jotted down and saved on these notes during the brainstorming process. MindNode is a mind mapping app that allows a creative approach to sorting out ideas. Either tool can be used and saved if other work tasks compete for your attention.

Avoiding Repetition: If you feel there is too much repetition in your writing or that you’d love to hear an alternative to the word awesome, check out the free Power Thesaurus app. Simply enter the word you want to replace, and a list of alternatives appears. Before long, you’ll be on your way to breathtaking, enchanting, and inspiring written material.

Proofreading and Editing: Proofreading and editing are important components in the writing process. Typos or grammatical errors can make professional work unprofessional and, in some cases, be downright embarrassing. If you are confused about how or when to use punctuation or need help with spelling, consider using Grammarly. Another helpful editing resource is the Hemingway Editor app. Named after the man who brought us a 424-word sentence, this app assists with sentence structure and avoiding passive voice. The Hemingway app helps with readability and, like Grammarly, it corrects your work.

Another editing practice is reading your work aloud to see if what you wrote matches what you think you wrote. Adobe Reader or the Natural Readers app can read your work back to you, allowing you to listen for clarity and comprehensibility.

Do you ever wonder whether to use affect or effect? Unsure about when to use less and fewer? Khan Academy has tutorials to help writers avoid common errors and short tests to check knowledge.

Hit the Books: While these tools provide valuable guidance, I feel that reading is a fantastic way to improve your writing skills. I say that because, after nearly two decades of helping college students with written work, it is immediately apparent if the student is an avid reader. I’ve also found that both busy students and busy professionals will carve out time to read and enjoy American humorists like Mark Twain, David Sedaris, Dorothy Parker, and Haven Kimmel.

If you are interested in books specifically designed to help you with business writing, consider investing in “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tricks for Better Writing” by Mignon Fogarty (or check out the website) or “Business Writing Today” by Natalie Canavor. Some of my undergraduate and graduate students reported that classroom texts like “The Bedford Researcher” by Mike Palmquist and “A Writer’s Reference” by Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers have remained on their desks long past graduation.

Why All the Fuss?: Whether we like it or not, we will be judged by how we write. Unfortunately, people make assumptions about our education level, expertise, or even our attention to detail if we are sloppy, inaccurate, or inarticulate. Consider using some or all these tools for a writing refresher. Remember, before you put your signature on any document, ask yourself if it will leave your employer with an impression of you as an educated, organized, and responsible communicator.

 

Q&A With Dale Emeagwali

Posted on by Excelsior Staff
Faculty Program Director, Biology and Natural Science
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Dale Emeagwali, a microbiologist voted the 1996 Scientist of the Year by the National Technical Association, credits teaching in classrooms at three universities with making for an easy transition to teaching online at Excelsior College. Photo: Mike Hemberger

What led you to your position as program director at Excelsior College?

For two decades, I was a full-time scientific researcher at institutions that included the National Institutes of Health and the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. From 1978 to 1996, I conducted full-time research in the fields of microbiology, virology, molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemistry. My contributions to molecular biology earned me the 1996 Scientist of the Year Award from the United States’ National Technical Association and inclusion in the “International Who’s Who in Medicine” and “Who’s Who in the World.”

I came to Excelsior College after three decades across five states in places including the University of Michigan Medical Center, Georgetown University School of Medicine, University of Wyoming, and University of Minnesota. I came to Excelsior College because I was looking for a new challenge, a new career path, and a new city.

What drew you to the natural sciences?

I thought about becoming a medical doctor but knew that I could not deal with blood and guts. For that reason, I studied microbiology at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and I conducted research at the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

What do you enjoy about teaching online courses?

Online courses break the barriers of space and time. I teach students worldwide, rather than those in a small classroom. My goal is to inspire deep thinking and dialogue and make my material come alive.

What career opportunities does a degree in the natural sciences offer?

I used my degree in the biological sciences to conduct research at the National Institutes of Health and teach at the University of Minnesota, and manage others at Excelsior College. As a researcher, my quest was to make discoveries that will improve the lives of others.

I expect my students at Excelsior College to become medical sales representatives, nanotechnologists, or science writers. Some become physician assistants, forensic scientists, or health care scientists.

What is your teaching philosophy?

I want to change the mindset of my students from cookbook biology to inquiry science, and I want to help them see the connections between textbook knowledge and the real world.

I taught students that they must be at the frontier of medical knowledge before they can discover the cure for cancer. I teach that as a discoverer, they will see the unseen, understand the misunderstood, and stand on the shoulders of earlier discoverers.

What challenges are involved with teaching STEM subjects?

The challenge is to build a stronger America through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We conquer that challenge by thinking outside of the box. The primary goal of science education is to increase the nation’s intellectual capital and move humanity forward. The grand challenge of science education is to concretize this abstract goal by connecting it with students so science will become compelling, interesting, and visible.

What is your research philosophy?

In science and technology, a researcher’s goal is to discover or invent, and both are the act of seeing something previously unseen. At its core, my 35-year-long journey to the terra incognita of medical knowledge was a search for the cure for something previously uncured.

I discovered a type of protein that was previously thought to exist only in animal cells. Interestingly, since my discovery, it has been shown that bacterial cells even have genes in them that are analogous to human cancer genes.

In the field of virology, I demonstrated the existence of overlapping genes in a small DNA virus. This phenomenon is now widely accepted as a process for many organisms. In cancer research, I showed that cancer gene expression could be inhibited by the use of tiny pieces of nucleotides. There are now some cancers being treated with this technique and more clinical trials are ongoing.

The body of knowledge that defines biology is not narrow and specialized. On the contrary, it is broad and deep, expansive and encompassing. I take my students to the frontier of knowledge and sometimes into its terra incognita. I focus on what’s most significant in biology. That frontier is not static, but is ever evolving with each discovery that — hopefully — enhances the well-being of humanity.

What motivates you as a natural scientist?

Science education is, in part, about making an invisible equation of mathematics and law of physics visible so that students can appreciate and be inspired by it. At its core, scientific knowledge connects our children to their future and gives them the wisdom needed to raise their children.

A long time ago, a man once asked his children, “If you had a choice between the clay of wisdom or a bag of gold, which would you choose?” “The bag of gold, the bag of gold,” the naive children cried, not realizing that wisdom had the potential to earn them many more bags of gold in the future.

The wealth of the future is derived from developing intellectual capital — the clay of wisdom — that science education can give and that will make America stronger. We expand the story of science to enable our students to become a part of the story, as well as a witness.

My vision for science education is to tap into the creativity and innovation of our students — the people who have the potential to become job creators, instead of job seekers.

 

Jeffery Hoffman Powers Toward a BS in Nuclear Engineering Technology

Posted on by Maria C. Sparks

Two years ago, Jeffery Hoffman retired from the U.S. Navy after 26 years of service. Retirement may have brought him some changes, but not a change of job. He stayed on as an engineering technologist at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory in West Milton, New York, having transitioned from a military position to a civilian one. He also continues with his pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering technology.

Hoffman has entered the home stretch of his studies. Retirement has provided a more structured work schedule, so he has typically taken one course every 8-week term. The desire to finish his degree is strong, and he took two courses in one 8-week term in fall 2018 to keep to the time line he set for degree completion. He expects to earn the nuclear engineering technology degree in June 2019.

The nuclear engineering technology degree complements his Navy experience and background as a nuclear power plant operator and supervisor, and positions him for future opportunities. “To have any prospect of advancement, it’s very important. To have any future advancement in the company, I need the degree to open up doors,” says Hoffman.

“It’s what every adult student is going through with trying to balance life and college.” –Jeffrey Hoffman

Hoffman has been working on his degree since 2005, when he was an educational services officer counseling sailors about the educational opportunities and how to use Tuition Assistance and GI Bill® benefits. At that time, coming off sea duty, he was in what he describes as a “family tour” shore-duty job, meaning he was working Monday through Friday working hours instead of the rotating shift work that is most common to Navy sailors in the nuclear power field. When he started courses at Excelsior, he was all in — and college took up all his time. The timing for pursuing his degree at that rigorous pace wasn’t right for him, given his family and work responsibilities, and he opted to “suspend himself” from pursuing his degree to enjoy this family tour. He scaled back on his studies, and took one course each year until recently.

“I would have liked to have finished earlier [but] I wasn’t as disciplined in completing my degree as many of my sailors were. Also, I wasn’t ready to have my career in the Navy over, but 26 years is high year tenure for a senior chief,” says Hoffman. Now, post-retirement, he plans study time around his work schedule and makes sure everyone in the family knows his study times. He still has the challenges of being a husband, father, putting a child through college, full-time work, pets, maintaining a home, and the responsibilities that come with each. “It’s what every adult student is going through with trying to balance life and college,” he says.

To help with that balance, Hoffman received a 2017 SEFCU Partners in Lifelong Learning Scholarship. The SEFCU scholarship provides financial assistance to students in the Capital Region of New York state who are veterans or active military. The impact of the scholarship was about flexibility, he says. “I came into this with a plan on how to do everything … but receiving that scholarship allowed for an extra amount of flexibility that didn’t exist.”

When Hoffman earns his degree, it will have been 14 years in the making. He plans to use this degree to pursue advancement in his current employment. He doesn’t have any solid plans yet, but the prospect of becoming an engineer or a project manager for the company are a couple of the positions he is considering.

GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at benefits.va.gov/gibill/.

Military: U.S. Navy Veteran

Support: SEFCU Partners in Lifelong Learning Scholarship