After serving 19 years as a police officer, Melissa Schnee decided to purse a degree, meeting her requirements, in part, through the Technical Experience Assessment (TEA) portfolio workshop offered by The University of Akron's Summit College.
Schnee is one of 22 students who, in the last four years, have earned a combined total of 102 hours of credit through TEA workshops at UA. According TEA program director Susan Wynn, students save as much as 44 percent on their tuition through the workshops.
The next series of TEA workshops will be held on Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m., May 19 to July 14 at UA's Summit College, located in the Polsky Building in downtown Akron. Applications for the May workshop are due May 9.
Relevant experience = college credit
The workshops provide step-by-step guidance and instruction on assembling relevant experience into a logical, standardized format — the portfolio — for review by faculty members. Students studying criminal justice, early childhood development, fire protection, community service technology, emergency medical services, paralegal studies, hospitality management, custome r information systems, office administration, marketing and sales, and business management can earn as many as 24 semester hours in technical coursework for their prior work experience in these areas.
For Schnee, her nearly two decades of criminal justice experience not only helped her earn college credit, but served as a springboard to her college career.
"The TEA program gave me the push I needed to return to college. I am completing my associate degree and have decided to continue on to obtain a bachelor's degree,"says Schnee.
For more information, visit the TEA program online or call 330-972-2147.
Media contacts: Drew Williams, 330-972-5899 or drw41@zips.uakron.edu, or Denise Henry, 330-972-6477 or henryd@.uakron.edu.