I didn't see any posts about Goucher College's distant learning program so I 
had to comment.  I graduated last summer with a master in Arts 
Administration.  They also have degrees for Historic Preservation and Creative 
Writing.  It was the hardest three years of my life juggling a full-time job at a 
museum, a part-time job at an art gallery and every spare moment on school 
work but it was so worth it!  I chose Goucher because while it is distant 
learning they require two weeks spent on campus in the summer for intensive 
summer classes.  You meet face to face all the voices you will hear through 
the year when meeting online.  And yes, ten years out of college I was back 
living in a dorm and loving it!  I used my summer vacation from work to do this 
and it worked out perfectly.  The program is created for the working 
professional.  There are fourteen of us in my class and we created a strong 
bond, still months after graduation we are in weekly contact and I know I have 
made life-long friendships with people who can commiserate in the ups and 
downs of choosing a career in the arts.  In my classes we were living in all 
parts of the world coming together online for our weekly classes with course 
work that often related directly to what I was doing at work at that time.  

The course work covered every aspect of running an arts organization which 
was my direct reason for choosing the program because I was one of three 
staff members running a small rural museum at the time which as we all know 
translates to wearing ten different hats!  This was also my reason for choosing 
a degree in Arts Administration over another degree in Art History.  The 
teachers are all active in the field and are great mentors.  You must be self-
disciplined to get through a distant learning program.  I still can't believe that 
in my last semester I completed my thesis and an internship an hour-drive 
away at the Princeton University Art Museum for the Registrar department 
while still working my full and part-time jobs.  The program director knows how 
hard it is to land a job in this field and sends out regular emails of job 
opportunities that often come from students, graduates, and facilitators out in 
the field.  It is definitely a great network.  Before graduating I even landed my 
dream job doing exactly what I love.  One classmate was just hired by the 
Boston Symphony and another is the Executive Director of the Saratoga Arts 
Council to name a few recent successes out in the field.  I can confidently say 
I didn't find any negative feedback for earning my master degree through an 
online program during my job search last year.  I also must add that it is up to 
the individual to make the most of any distant learning program, I know I did.  
I highly recommend it!

Jennifer Moszczynski
Assistant Director of Membership & Annual Giving
Winterthur Museum

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).