'Experience Opportunity'
New video highlights graduate professional degree programs
1:15 p.m., Feb. 24, 2012--“Experience Opportunity,” a new video now available for viewing on the University of Delaware’s YouTube site, showcases graduate professional degree programs at UD through the eyes of students in a broad range of fields, from business and biotechnology to public horticulture and physical therapy.
“The University of Delaware has been a pioneer in experiential education, and our graduate professional programs work closely with partners throughout the region — in industry, business, government, education, nonprofits and health care — to provide students with opportunities to apply what they’ve learned in the lab and classroom to the workplace,” says John Sawyer, associate provost for professional education. “These internships and practicums are invaluable for our students.”
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Neha Pandit, a master of science degree candidate in organizational effectiveness, development and change, worked on a project at the Blood Bank of Delmarva during her internship.
“This is an incredible platform to go out and get practical experience,” Pandit says. “Doing things that impact real people really changed me because it gave me a kind of responsibility I never had before.”
Joseph Deroba, a senior engineer employed by the U.S. Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, is a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering at UD. He pointed out the benefit of having professors like UD’s Dennis Prather, who is conducting cutting-edge research with the Army and who understands the balance between work and classroom for working professionals.
Deroba commented on the opportunity UD provides of “having an easy way to go back to school for students who ordinarily wouldn’t have thought of juggling the two at the same time.”
The integration of cutting-edge research, access to experts in a variety of fields, networking with professors and students, first-class facilities, new programs such as the professional science master’s degree, and faculty and staff eager to help students pursue their academic passion are among the attributes that distinguish UD graduate professional education, the students note in the video.
And the investment in their education pays off. As Robert Lyons, director of the Longwood Graduate Program in Public Horticulture, says, “Our program speaks for itself because of our graduates that are out there.”
Many of the program’s graduates have gone on to top management and directorial positions at horticulture institutions across the country.
“The goal of creating this video was to elevate the visibility of graduate professional programs at the University of Delaware, and to highlight some of the many things that make UD programs unique and excellent,” Sawyer says.
The video, which was produced by Charles Marsh at University Media Services, is linked to the Office of Graduate and Professional Education website to serve as a tool for prospective students to explore the opportunities at UD.
Departments whose programs participated in the creation of the video received excerpts for use in recruiting and informational media.
To learn more, visit the Professional Education website.