Find a System that Works for You

By Melissa Gavin, student
Master of Science in Project Management Program



After graduating as an undergrad, I entered the "real world." I was somewhat disappointed in the opportunities that I had as they were not truly what I wanted. After two years, I realized there was not potential for advancement, so I decided to research graduate school. The task was daunting. I talked to many people about their thoughts on grad school and decided upon either an MBA or MSPM. The outcome of my decision was the MSPM at UW-Platteville, mainly because it is a distance education degree, but for other reasons as well.

Although distance education was an important factor, I had very little experience working in a virtual environment. The virtual environment differs greatly from the standard brick-and-mortar classrooms and takes a lot of adjusting. I remember my first week of school clearly. I made the prediction to my family that I was not going to complete my program due to stress. The online factor was only part of the reason this statement occurred. On top of this, I had just moved, recently had a child, and started working part-time.

I didn’t let the stress get to me. That evening I sat down and devised a plan, which has led to my continued success in the program. The first step of my plan was combining all of my due dates for the entire semester in date order, rather than by course. I broke them down by month and included all days. This helped me see how much time I had between assignments, but also where there were conflicts. I also added any personal items that could not be moved, such as vacations, weddings, and doctor appointments. This list keeps me organized throughout the entire semester and motivated to keep working.

Another thing that aided my success was learning to tackle one thing at a time. For instance, I would work through one course’s assignments in a day. This kept me organized and on topic. Subjects were less likely to get mixed up.

Having a family takes a lot of time, which is realized even more when you are a full-time student and stay-at-home mom. To tackle the family element, I would set aside time just for school. Instead of cleaning while my child was napping, I would read a textbook. Cleaning can be done anytime and by anybody. I also take one Saturday each month to go to the library or coffee shop and work distraction-free (i.e., no family and no cell phone). Studying for 8 hours can put a huge dent in the amount of work that you have to do any given week.

I also learned to balance my school and personal lives. Learning to say "Not today, but maybe tomorrow" to family and friends is an important discipline to follow. My friends and family have accepted that I need to study. They know that I’m not giving up on them, but will give them attention as soon as I have time. A few friends and I have come up with interesting ways to keep our socialization alive. For instance, if I'm studying at the coffee shop, my friends will visit for a quick cup of coffee and then leave. Not only does this let me have the social element, but also a refreshing break from studying.

By not giving up and continuing the challenge, I was able to succeed a lot better than I originally thought. My original goal was to complete my master’s degree; my new goal is to complete my degree with a 4.0 grade point average. It seemed daunting the first week of class, but after reorganization and priority setting, my goal should be accomplished this May. Any person can have a social life, work life, and family, while still completing the distance education program successfully. All you have to do is find a system that works for you.

RefWorks: An Online Research Management, Writing, and Collaboration Tool

By Robert Streff, instructional designer/web developer
UW-Platteville Distance Learning Center



Students, classes, and written papers go hand-in-hand. I must have written at least a dozen papers that had to be in APA format and properly cited. I must confess, without dating myself, that the earlier works were done on a typewriter when correction fluid only came in a bottle. I remember literally sweating over getting the citations right without using the whole bottle, because once the paper was out of the typewriter, it was really a feat to re-insert and get the lines to match up. I know that the content of those papers suffered as a result.

Fast forward to the present. My thesis was done electronically. I was better at using the APA style guide, but I still had to deal with the citations, quotations, references, and bibliographies. There were some programs out that were designed for that, but they were too expensive for my budget. I muddled through, spending precious time on the style again.

At UW-Platteville, the entire campus population has access to RefWorks. This is a tool that can greatly reduce the anxiety of writing a paper in any style. You can even use the same references in papers based on different style manuals (and, being web-based, it works on all platforms).

Most, if not all of the databases offered through the UW-Platteville Karrmann Library are able to export all the information needed for proper citation into RefWorks. Refworks also allows the user to put in notes on the reference. If you have access to the full text article, you can copy and paste passages and insert your thoughts for later recall; otherwise, you will have to type in the material and your notes. It can also correctly cite personal communications, websites, and video, audio, and print-based media. In total, it will cite 30 different reference types.

RefWorks has a companion called Write-N-Cite, which will create inline citations in a MS Word document (it works on Macs and PCs, sorry Linux users). It will work with MS Word 2007. It will also import the references and the bibliography for you. However, this package is not going to do all the work for you. The type of reference being cited is not always automatically determined (print-based references are one example). Also, when imported into MS Word, Word automatically changes all but the first letter in a sentence to lowercase. Spelling, typeface, and other aspects of a document related to a style manual must be checked manually.

The real expert on RefWorks is Kay Young at the Karrmann Library. Her contact information is:

Kay Young
Senior Instructional Specialist
Reference Services
Elton S. Karrmann Library
Room 217
University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Phone: (608) 342-1134

If you are located off-campus, you must go through the proxy server to access many of the library's resources. See http://www.uwplatt.edu/library/database/offcampus.html for details. To download Write-N-Cite or view the tutorials from the RefWorks website go to http://www.refworks.com. To use RefWorks, go to http://ezproxy.uwplatt.edu/login?url=http://www.refworks.com/Refworks/.

In short, don't throw away the style manuals, but consider using these online tools that could allow you to spend more time on your content and still produce a manuscript that showcases your skills.

Waiver Exam for COMM 5010

COMM 5010 Business Communication is a foundation requirement for the Master of Science in Project Management (MSPM). The course includes content and addresses competencies that you may already have mastered adequately. If so, you may wish to take the waiver exam (test-out) to demonstrate the competencies required for successful business communication in both the project and the general business environments. Passing the exam will release you from the obligation to take COMM 5010 as part of the MSPM degree requirements.

Minimizing System Revictimization is Crucial for Victims of Crimes

By Amy Nemmetz, Coordinator, Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Program

Despite your spell checker not recognizing revictimization as an official word, it is an important concept. Although this may be a hard situation to consider, please read the following fictitious scenario:

You're walking in your neighborhood when you see a little girl crying. You approach the little girl and learn that the little girl’s name is Sasha and she is 7-years old. Sasha immediately asks if you can help her. Before you can answer, Sasha pushes aside several tears and proceeds to tell you that she was just sexually assaulted by a friend of the family.

Although, you may initially be thinking, "Why is this girl telling a complete stranger about this horrific incident?" hopefully you're also thinking WHAT should/can you do to get this little girl the help she needs? Your next step would entail a phone call to the police.

Here are some questions that may not come to mind after reading the scenario:

1. How many times will Sasha be asked to share the details of the event?
   
2. How many different people will question/interview Sasha about the sexual assault?
   
3. Will Sasha’s caretaker(s) believe her?
   
4. Will Sasha feel guilty, embarrassed, or ashamed about the incident?
   
5. Will Sasha be able to see a mental health professional in a timely fashion to work through any flashbacks, nightmares, or other trauma she may experience as a result of this incident?
   
6. Will Sasha be forced to sit across from the defendant to provide testimony?

In the criminal justice system, there are steps we can take to make the "process" more comfortable for Sasha to reduce "secondary" system revictimization. More specifically, it would be in Sasha’s best interest if the criminal justice professionals:

1. Limit the number of times Sara is interviewed.
   
2. Utilize a multi-disciplinary team approach (get the appropriate criminal justice professionals together from the beginning of the investigation to offer input).
   
3. Enlist the help of a Child Advocacy Center.

If we pick up on Sasha's scenario above, the following steps would reduce system revictimization:

1. Conduct a detailed interview at a Child Advocacy Center. These centers allow a multi-disciplinary team (i.e. the District Attorney, Victim Witness worker, Human Service Social Workers, Detectives) to gather to discuss the case and proceed with a video-taped interview.
   
2. Have ONE interviewer meet with Sasha to conduct the interview while other multi-disciplinary team members watch from an observation room (Child Advocacy Centers are typically set up to accommodate this).
   
3. Use a non-leading child friendly interview protocol such as the forensic Cognitive Graphic Interview or Stepwise (several protocols have been supported by research).
   
4. Use an interviewer who has been TRAINED to conduct a research-based interview protocol.
   
5. In compliance with state statute, use the video tape at the preliminary hearing in lieu of having Sasha appear to provide face-to-face testimony.

The PM Hut: Info for Project Managers

Looking for project management articles? I recently found a website that is loaded with information about all sorts of project management topics. It covers everything from quality management to soft skills. Best of all, everything is categorized so you can quickly find what you're looking for.

The Project Management Hut

12 Free Online Tools to Help You Study

Contributed by Heather Johnson

Thanks to the Internet, both distance and traditional students have access to free learning tools. There are new Web 2.0 resources being developed every day that are geared toward students. However, separating the good from the bad can be overwhelming. Below are 12 sites that will not only aid your learning and research, they are absolutely free to use.

1.College-Cram – This site serves as both a learning aid and a social networking community. Here, students can connect and join study groups, as well as share information about specific courses and instructors.
2.SparkNotes – Why pay for CliffsNotes when you can have instant, free access to similar study guides on this site? This is a great way to beef up for a class discussion on popular texts, as well as cram for a major test.
3.AnswerU – Similar to College-Cram, this is an online community for students to connect and share information with one another.
4.Google Book Search – Although still in a beta stage, Google Book Search offers free online access to thousands of books. If you are conducting research and need to cite some classic literature, check Google Book Search before you pay for a similar service (or lug yourself to an actual library).
5.MIT OpenCourseWare – Here, the world-renowned MIT offers free learning materials. This site includes lecture notes, syllabi, tutorials, audio and video from MIT professors.
6.SuTree – This is a fun tutorial site that aims to let you "learn how to do anything." Featuring thousands of video tutorials, you just might find something useful for school on this site. At the very least, you will have a lot of fun looking around.
7.Wikipedia – The "free encyclopedia that anyone can edit" has raised some controversy amongst educators. While it is true that information found on Wikipedia should never be taken as hard fact, the site can be a great place to start your research.
8.CiteULike – This is a unique site that allows people to save and store their favorite academic papers online. CiteULike even extracts the citation details immediately, helping the site to become organized for every researcher.
9.wikiHow – Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit, while wikiHow is the how-to manual that anyone can edit. This site can be extremely useful for all people, not just students.
10.Instacalc – Doing a little math homework? Instacalc offers a free, online calculator than can do anything. It even charts graphs for you! The ability to use a feature-rich calculator from any computer is a handy thing indeed.
11.Clipmarks – This is a social bookmarking tool with a twist. Like using scissors on a computer screen, you can now grab anything interesting from a Web page and save it for sharing on this site. No longer do you need to bookmark a whole page or article – you can actually excerpt just a specific portion of a page.
12.Notefish – Still in a beta phase, Notefish aims to make your Internet research much easier. It allows you to put all your research onto one page… you can even annotate and customize your notes.

Heather Johnson is a freelance writer as well as a regular feature contributor for Distance Degrees.com, a website which helps students in getting distance learning degrees. Heather invites your writing job inquiries as well as comments and questions at her email address: heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

How to Find Textbooks and Save Money

As you all have experienced first-hand, textbooks are starting to get expensive. I'm sure many of you have already encountered your first (or unfortunately your second, third, etc.) $120 textbook. Luckily, there are quite a few resources out there to help you get around this problem.

I recently came across an article by Jamie Littlefield on About.com that provides a list of possible places to acquire your textbooks for a lower cost or perhaps even for free. I encourage you to at least check out some of the sites that are listed to see if any of these will fit your needs.

Of course, here's a disclaimer: I'm providing these resources in good faith as an opportunity to help you. Neither UW-Platteville nor I are endorsing these sites. Please use the resources listed in the linked article at your own risk. We assume no liability.

Find Your Textbooks for Cheap or Free