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Sources: Isabel Hay, 604-824-7899, isabelmh@k-state.edu;
and Rosemary Boggs, 785-532-5724, rboggs@k-state.edu
Website: http://www.dce.k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Abigail Crouse, 785-532-5888, acrouse@k-state.edu
Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011
BEYOND BORDERS: CANADIAN EDUCATOR CONTINUES ON PATH OF LIFELONG LEARNING WITH HELP FROM K-STATE DISTANCE EDUCATION
MANHATTAN -- A winding educational path led Isabel Hay, Fraser Valley, British Columbia, to Kansas State University.
"I have done a few very different things in terms of education since high school," Hay said. "I graduated from Vancouver Community College with a hairdressing certificate in 1987 and worked on movie sets, live theater productions and in salons."
She returned to school three years later when she enrolled at Langara College and completed a certificate in early childhood education.
"I taught preschool and worked with special-needs children for a number of years," Hay said. "While working at a campus day care, I went back to school again."
Hay was working full time and raising a young family, so she attended school part time. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in adult education from University of the Fraser Valley in 2006, where she currently works.
"I'm the first one in my large Portuguese family to get a bachelor's degree. As an immigrant family, this was a big deal for all of us," she said.
Hay's career moved from child care to other areas of university, including the English as a second language department; admissions, registration and assessment offices; and the disability resource center, where she remains today, working as an adviser for students with disabilities.
As soon as Hay completed her undergraduate degree, she began to search for more educational opportunities that would fit her career as well as her busy schedule.
"I became aware of K-State's academic advising certificate through some colleagues," she said. "I applied to the program with the intention of 'let's see if I can do this at a higher level.'"
Hay was put in touch with Rosemary Boggs, program coordinator at K-State's Division of Continuing Education.
"She answered my questions and was so attentive in her emails to me that I thought this has to be the right place for me," Hay said. "I chose K-State for the online option, as all the choices I had close to home would not work well with my home life."
Most importantly, Hay said, she chose K-State because of the way faculty and staff treated her.
"Rosemary Boggs has been terrific, and the IT staff is so helpful and quick to respond to any issues," she said. "My first professor, Doris Wright Carroll, was so friendly. She even called me to chat about my course work question -- I have never had that before! We had a wonderful talk on the phone, and I felt as though I knew her."
Hay made progress in the academic advising certificate. She reconnected with Boggs, who told her about K-State's new online option for a master's degree in adult and continuing education.
"This online master's degree lets students complete a curriculum in two areas -- the core courses come from the adult and continuing education area, and the electives can come from any of the online graduate certificates we offer, including an academic advising certificate," Boggs said. "So a student has two content areas when they have completed the master's degree."
Hay will complete the certificate program this summer, and will start her master's courses in the fall. She hopes to graduate in 2012.
"Personal connections are a big part of what we learn in our course work, and my K-State faculty are practicing what they teach," Hay said. "I can't wait to attend graduation and meet the folks who have been so helpful in person."
To learn more about the degree and certificate programs offered through the K-State Division of Continuing Education, visit http://www.dce.k-state.edu .