by Mary Anne Savage
With a full-time job and a newborn son, Jenna Friday ‘17 was faced with limited options when she decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree. At the time, she was finishing her associate’s degree at Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville and wanted to further her education without uprooting her family.
“The closest four-year university to me is UNCW in Wilmington, which is still over an hour away,” she said. “Having a young son, working full-time and driving for hours at night, even one night a week, wasn’t something I was willing to do.”
After researching different schools with options for non-traditional students, Friday applied, and was accepted, to Appalachian State University’s communication, advertising program, one of two communication degrees offered online. She was impressed with the professors and the quality of the curriculum.
“The courses were really well-rounded, and it was clear all of our professors loved communication and advertising and were passionate about teaching us what we really needed to know to be successful in the advertising industry,” she remarked. “Dr. Mueller had the highest standards of any professor I have ever had, but it was plain as day that he wanted us to be challenged and he wanted us to experience meeting expectations and deadlines in the program the same way we would experience them in the industry.”
Dr. Thomas Mueller, who is an associate professor in the Department of Communication, has been teaching distance education classes at Appalachian since 2008. For the past decade, he has been working to develop and expand online courses for the department. During the school year, Mueller teaches five out of six of his courses online. His classes are all asynchronous because he understands how busy students are and this format allows them to complete work on their own time.
“Once my son went to bed, the time between 7:30 p.m. and midnight was the time I used to work on assignments,” recalled Friday. “School work had to be my priority once my job and my family were taken care of.”
According to Mueller, many of his distance education students are older than a typical college student. Most work full-time, and some have families.
“These students have very busy lives, and for many, their only option for a degree is online education,” he said.
As more and more learners choose non-traditional educational paths, the university is working to provide new and innovative options to meet the needs of students like Friday. By improving accessibility to flexible educational opportunities, Appalachian is continuing to put students first.
About the Department of Communication
One of seven departments housed in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Department of Communication at Appalachian State University focuses on preparing students to succeed in the varied fields within the communication industry. The department offers five majors – advertising, communication studies, electronic media/broadcasting, journalism and public relations – and a minor in communication studies. Graduates work in a wide range of positions in media, corporate, agency, government and nonprofit organizations.
About Distance Education
Distance Education at Appalachian offers undergraduate and graduate programs for students from all walks of life who share a priority to achieve a highly regarded college education but must balance their life with other responsibilities. We provide the same kind of high-quality education students would find by physically attending classes on the Appalachian campus. We offer classes online, allowing students to connect to the Appalachian campus anytime, anywhere, as well at locations throughout Western North Carolina. Distance Education at Appalachian is dedicated to providing an atmosphere for the growth of enriching academic programs essential to the university's mission. For more information, go to distance.appstate.edu.
Jenna Friday
Jenna Friday '17 obtained her bachelor's degree in communication, advertising through Distance Education at Appalachian.