It's human nature to listen to someone else's opinion about a restaurant, movie or food. It's no surprise the same concept works for a university. Kathy Tutwiler, '04, first learned about Averett from several of her coworkers at Dominion Resources Services, Inc. in Richmond. Her coworkers talked about their successful experience in Averett's accelerated Graduate and Professional Studies (GPS) Program.
After researching other options to obtaining her degree Tutwiler chose Averett because of the accelerated program.
"Additionally, the pricing was competitive and several coworkers recommended Averett," Tutwiler said. "My initial goal was to obtain an associate of science in business degree. As I neared completion of the associate program, Averett formed a cluster at Dominion's Innsbrook facility in Richmond for the bachelor of business administration (BBA) program.
"As an employee of Dominion I was eligible for a 25 percent tuition discount. That was a savings for the company and for me, which provided an incentive to continue with the bachelor's degree program."
Tutwiler graduated from the BBA program with honors in December 2004.
According to Tutwiler, her degree has enhanced her knowledge in all aspects of business. She now has a wealth of information from the course textbooks and from conducting research.
"As manager of IT Training, with 30 years of service at Dominion, it was a valuable learning experience that is very relevant to my position," Tutwiler said. "I now have a better understanding of the roles within various corporate departments at Dominion."
Her degree also has helped her from a personal perspective. In March of 2005 she began assisting a small family owned business with financial accounting. She manages a variety of tasks including a commercial checkbook, accounts payable and receivable, payroll and tax payments.
"I would recommend Averett because of the structured accelerated program with a high success rate for students," Tutwiler said. "An integral part of the program was study groups with mandatory weekly meetings. This proved beneficial as team members had different strengths and extended the learning process to study group sessions.
"Collaboratively, we tapped into those strengths to ensure that all team members in our study group, and our class, would succeed."
Tutwiler enjoyed her experience at Averett, especially the interaction with other students and Averett personnel, including professors, business instructors, her student advisor and administrative support.
"Meeting people with various backgrounds and cultural differences gave me a better appreciation for international diversity," Tutwiler said. "Even though we worked hard to earn a degree, it was a fun experience. Ultimately, the best part was developing lifelong friendships."
For people looking to go back to school, Tutwiler encourages them to establish their goals and define the objectives to achieve those goals. People should conduct research to ensure they are selecting a program that fits their lifestyle, Tutwiler said, adding this is important because balancing work, school and family life is very demanding.
"Be open to learning new opportunities, flexible to deal with challenges and have fun throughout the program," Tutwiler said. |
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