Wendy

Wendy, a library administrator in Columbus, Ohio, wanted to complete her master’s degree in library science. But between working full time at the Columbus Metropolitan Library as manager of the 2020 Vision Plan and her family responsibilities, she felt an online program was her best option.

She searched for a program in a very methodical way. When she went to the American Library Association annual meeting in June 2015 and gathered information from every university that attended. Then she reviewed each program’s literature, costs, US News & World Report rankings and start dates. She wanted a top-20 program and also wanted to start a program by August 2015.

“UWM met all my criteria,” she says. “I was also pleasantly surprised that I was able to transfer six credit hours of coursework from a previous master’s degree in education that I received from a different program.

Wendy came to UWM for the School of Information Studies’ orientation to the Master of Library & Information Science program in the fall of 2015, flying up and back in the same day. “It was a great decision,” she says. “I really felt it was worth the trip.”

She completed the entire program online and received her degree in May 2017. Although there were challenges getting back into the swing of being a student after 18 years, she received support and feedback she needed from the staff and other students by asking questions on message boards and via email.

Most of all, she liked the flexibility.

“The ability to work on classwork when my schedule allowed was exactly what I needed,” Wendy says.