MSEM’s Flexibility Goes International

Students can take courses in a classroom in Charlotte or on a computer in Istanbul. The degree can be completed fast-track in 12 months or more slowly over a number of years. The flexibility is great, but no matter which options students may select to meet their life situation, all lead to an exceptional master’s degree program in engineering management.

The Masters of Science in Engineering Management program started at The William States Lee College of Engineering in 2000 as a traditional classroom program. A distance learning option was added in 2009. Now in 2013, the distance option is being expanded to international students.

“The beauty of the MSEM program is its flexibility,” said the program’s director Dr. Ertunga Ozelkan. “You can take some classes on campus and some online, or you can take all classes on campus or all online.”

The timing options of the program are also flexible. Many of the classroom courses are taught at night. The distance learning classes are asynchronous, which means students do not have to be online at any specific time. All the lessons are recorded and can be viewed at any time.

“We also have a fast-track option that lets students go to school full time and finish in three semesters, all within 12 months,” said Dr. Ozelkan. “Or if a student is working and raising a family and wants to go a slower route they can take one class per semester and finish in about 27 months.”

The flexibility of the program also extends to areas of study. Concentration areas include energy systems, Lean Six Sigma, and logistics and supply chains.

The newest addition to the MSEM program is the international distance learning option.

“We’re very excited about the international option,” Dr. Ozelkan said. “It will be a great reflection of the global economy and global organization systems. All of our classes involve applied learning and real-world team projects, and having teammates outside of the United States will teach students the challenges of time zones, cultures and languages.”

Students are grateful for the flexibility of the MSEM program. Robert Turner Jr. has just finished his second semester.

“I’ve always been interested in getting a master’s in engineering management,” Turner said. “The problem has been the timing and the availability of time. After moving to Charlotte and accepting a position as an engineering manager, I was able to carve out the time to take the necessary classes at UNC Charlotte.”

Even though he lives in Charlotte, Turner takes all of his classes online. “The flexibility of working online has really been the primary driver for me to participate in the MSEM program,” he said. “It works out great given that I am a single parent and I have to travel for work occasionally.”

A Petty Officer 1st Class in the U.S. Navy, Timothy Gallacher is in his first year of the MSEM program. “I’m stationed in Bremerton, Washington, which is just outside of Seattle. Obviously I take classes exclusively online.

“The flexibility of online learning is great, especially for a service member. It is truly incredible how far technology has come, when you consider I have the ability to interact with professors instantaneously from the other side of the country. Without online learning there’s just no way this would be possible for me.”

Gallacher and Turner were in EMGT 6910 together in spring 2013 and were teammates on a class project.

“Given Tim’s location on the west coast, it was challenging in a good way to work together,” Turner said. “He’s a great partner and I hope to work with him again in future classes.”

Gallacher agrees that the project went well. “We had weekly meetings via Skype, FaceTime, Google and such,” he said. “We pulled off a really great project together.”

The underlying component of all the MSEM options and flexibility is quality. “Everything is quality driven,” Dr. Ozelkan said. “The online courses are taught by the same professors who teach on campus. Discussion and interaction is important to all the classes, and with online classes it is just more formal and organized. To be successful with distance learning you have to build an online community, and we are doing that on a global scale now.”

For more information contact Dr. Ozelkan.