Page 16 - April 2016 Life In Naples Magazine
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UPOWER™makes it possible
TO EARN A DEGREE ON A BUSY SCHEDULE
“This program is students enrolled in the program,” said Ball.
designed for the “This program is designed for the highly motivated, self-driven student who is looking
highly motivated,
self-driven student for an alternative to the traditional classroom program, and is not limited to individuals
who is looking for with workforce experience and skills,” he explained.
an alternative to the
traditional classroom Enrolled students are required to register for a minimum of 12 credits per subscription
period in order to qualify for financial aid eligibility. “Students must be self-motivated,
program, and is not computer literate and comfortable learning material at their own pace,” said Carol
limited to individuals Morrison, senior vice president of student and academic services at Hodges. “These
programs have made it possible for students with prior learning or work experience to
with workforce validate their knowledge outside of the traditional semester format,” she added.
experience and skills.
Hodges alumna Tammy Llorens graduated from the UPOWER™ program in 2015,
”–Dr.Al Ball, Dean of the Fisher School of receiving her bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity and forensics in one year. “I had my
associate degree but had been out of the IT field for five years. Looking to reenter the
Technology (FSOT) at Hodges University field, I knew I would need my bachelor’s degree,” she said.
T here are 24 hours in a day for the “Our program is set up to look at the outcomes of a field and determine what it is that
average adult to incorporate work, students need to know. We assess micro competencies to determine what students must
meetings, family, cooking, cleaning and understand and achieve in order to reach the desired outcomes in a particular field,” Ball
sleeping. Earning a degree in the midst of such added.
a busy schedule can seem impossible; however,
Hodges University has created a program to While many of the UPOWER™ programs exist within the Fisher School of
make earning a degree possible – UPOWER™. Technology, Ball explains that other academic schools at Hodges are beginning to
incorporate their degree programs within the self-paced format. “Technology is more
As a self-paced, online program, competency-oriented and based in hard skills. It is not as abstract as business or
UPOWER™ allows students to earn an psychology. That is why a majority of the programs are situated in the FSOT,” he said.
associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree in
selected degree programs at an affordable price. Employed as an intern with the United States Department of Defense, Llorens credits
Priced at $2,500 for undergraduate and $3,000 her degree earned through Hodges’ UPOWER™ program for her current position,
for graduate programs, students may complete saying, “I most certainly contribute my employment to my degree from Hodges. As an
as many courses as possible within a six-month information technology specialist, I am not only getting back into the IT field, but I am
period. Enrollment in the program is available utilizing my degree.”
the first day of each month.
Setting a goal of one day working in a management position, Llorens plans to achieve
Created by Dr. Al Ball, dean of the Fisher her Master of Science in information systems through the UPOWER™ program,
School of Technology (FSOT) at Hodges saying, “By obtaining my master’s degree through UPOWER™, it will open up doors of
University, UPOWER™ began in September opportunity for me.”
2014. “The goal for the first subscription
period was 50 students and we ended up with As of January 2016, 207 students enrolled in the program. Hodges offers the following
45; however, within the first year, we had 100 programs in the UPOWER™ format: associate degrees in computer information
technology and digital design and graphics; bachelor’s degrees in computer information
technology,computer networking,cybersecurity and forensics,digital design and graphics,
and software development; and Master of Arts in visual communication, Master of
Science in information systems and Master of Public Administration.
To learn more about Hodges’ UPOWER™ program, visit www.hodges.edu/upower
or call 1.800.466.8017.
16 Life in Naples | April 2016
