March 2007

GW Staff Balance Full-Time Jobs with Part-Time Schooling

By Zak M. Salih

Lesley Bruno is no gymnast, but for her every week is a balancing act between her days as director of communications for the Graduate School of Education and Human Development and her nights as a GW student working on a master’s degree at the School of Media and Public Affairs. Currently enrolled in two courses, Bruno finds dealing with both a full-time career and her life as a student keeps her on her toes.

“My job is not just 40 hours per week, so adding school on top of it has been
a lot to handle,” she says. “The trade off,” she is quick to note, “is that many of my classmates will have student loans to pay off, and I will not.”

Bruno’s situation is not uncommon for many full-time and part-time University staff. According to the Office of Graduate Enrollment, more than 900 staff members were enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate, law school, or non-degree program at GW in addition to their full-time jobs from 2004 to 2005.

After 90 days of employment, the University pays for 96 percent of up to six credit hours in the fall and spring semesters for full-time employees, along with 96 percent of up to nine credit hours during the summer. For non-credit or certification courses, the University pays 100 percent for employees hired before 1991 and 75 percent for those hired after that year.

Part-time employees receive the same discount for three credit hours per semester. In addition, tuition benefits are available for the spouses and children of employees.
For non-credit or certification courses, the University pays 100 percent for employees hired before 1991; for those hired after 1991, the University pays 37.5 percent of the cost of each course, or 50 percent of three-credit hour courses for Columbian College, whichever is less.

“Employee benefits were important to my decision to continue my education at GW,” says Michael Gettlin, an emergency management associate with the Office
of Public Service and Emergency Management, who hopes to finish his M.B.A. by May 2008. “If I were paying for graduate school on my own, I would have been more likely to apply to full-time programs.”

Anna Ford, senior secretary for University Relations, is earning her Master of Arts degree in the field of art therapy. “Without the aid of GW tuition benefits, I would be a full-time graduate student looking forward to years of student loan repayments,” says Ford, who typically takes two or three classes each semester and expects to graduate in spring 2008.

For many staff members who are part-time students there’s an inevitable challenge in coordinating work duties with academic study. Most staff members who are part-time students make it a point to put their employer first.

“The unspoken understanding is that my work responsibilities come first and will not be compromised by my school work,” says Bruno. “The assumption is that, if you decide to attend graduate school, you will make the necessary arrangements in your life so that school will not affect your work performance.”

Second-year law student Sarah Kunkleman recently left her post as assistant director of the School of Business to devote more time to her studies. According to her, attending classes five days a week poses some difficulty.

“I take 10 to 11 credit-hours a semester,” she says. “After work and school there is not time for much else.”

Kunkleman currently works at a law firm, where she gains practical experience and has more time to engage in her studies. Still, she and others in her situation tout the unique experience of working and studying at GW. For one, says Kunkleman, it offers an insider’s perspective on the University.

“Being a student has helped me understand how the Law School operates from a student’s perspective,” Kunkleman says. “This gave me ideas to share with the administration at the School of Business on how best to utilize our Web sites and improve communications with students.”

Gettlin agrees. “As an employee, it helps to gauge how effective our office is at providing information to the student portion of the GW community,” he says.
Then, of course, there are the practical benefits. “Working on campus puts me in close proximity to my classes,” notes Bruno. “I don’t have to travel far to meet with professors and go to the library.”

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu