After 10 years of working for The Richmond Times-Dispatch, Lorraine Blackwell decided to enroll in VCU’s Interdisciplinary Studies Program to finish her bachelor’s degree. Blackwell said she knew about the program only because she worked for the university in the late 1980s when students could earn a Bachelor of General Studies degree.
The program, previously known as the Nontraditional Studies Program, has been offered to students at the university for 27 years, but some alumni said the public doesn’t really know about it.
Therefore, Blackwell and other interdisciplinary studies graduates want people to know that the program at VCU still exists.
“The Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies has got to get the word out,” Blackwell said. “It should be promoted on the Web site more and through advertisements, newspapers, radio and TV.”
Robert Putney, president of VCU’s Nontraditional Studies Council, agrees with
Blackwell and offers some ideas on helping the program become more visible in the community.
“I think an advertising campaign will be very beneficial,” Putney said. “I also believe more resources can be used in order to inform people about the program.”
Linda Spinelli, coordinator of the program, acknowledged that promotions for the program are an issue.
The program, she said, is not designed for the traditional freshman or the undecided sophomore but for older students who have acquired many credits.
“I’ve only been in this position since September 18, but I do plan on working on some ways to inform people about the program,” Spinelli said. “It’s hard to inform students about applying to the program because it has to be the right kind of student.”
Jeff Martin, a council member who represents one of the students Spinelli describes as appropriate for the program, said he didn’t have to leave his job at Philip Morris to earn his degree in manufacturing management. Instead, he said he completed the program off-campus.
Martin called it “a good program” that would be beneficial for adults who work and want to earn a bachelor’s or a master’s degree.
“For those that are older in the working world, it is not convenient to attend traditional one-hour classes,” Martin said, recalling his experiences. “However, they would love the opportunity to further their education to advance in the work place.”
VCU, he said, needs to sell this program to companies where it would benefit the university as well as the individual. Martin told council members that it would be difficult for the council alone to try to promote the program based on the number of people on the council and the time they could devote to it. The university, he said, does have a lot to offer and promoting this program would require some creativity as well as innovation to make people aware of it.
The Virginia General Assembly in 1972 created interdisciplinary studies and other similar programs when it passed legislation calling for senior universities to develop a nontraditional degree for people ages 24 and older who work full time.