For Genevra Webb-Conlee, from Suffolk, Virginia, UMUC’s online degree program was the answer to a prayer—and the gateway to an illustrious academic career.

In May 2002, Genevra Webb-Conlee proudly took her place on the UMUC commencement platform as the university’s top undergraduate (and student commencement speaker), earning her Bachelor of Science degree in business and technology with a 4.0 grade-point average. Amazingly, she did it all online.

Although her quest for a bachelor’s degree began more than 25 years ago when she and her mother took a college psychology course together, her journey along the road to full-time college "studenthood" took many twists and turns along the way. After her initial foray into academia, Webb-Conlee took classes from time to time—in between working and raising twin daughters—eventually coming within three courses of earning an associate’s degree in drafting and design from a local community college.

But, as she now admits, "Like many of my peers, I had a family to support and once my education enabled me to land a job in my chosen field, my continuing education plans had to be put on hold, indefinitely! The older I got, the less likely it appeared I would ever finish my [four-year] degree."

And, like her peers, Webb-Conlee discovered that climbing the career ladder also meant having that degree in hand. So, almost four years ago, she began in earnest, with a gentle push from friends and family, to find a way to do it. When she approached her employer—a large aerospace company for which she worked as business development manager—she soon learned that management’s idea of a college education centered on attending a "brick-and-mortar" institution.

"My company was a 45-minute commute from my home, and my workdays were generally 9–10 hours—that’s an 11-plus-hour day! Add to that my travel responsibilities and I felt that I was up against a wall regarding my educational plans. How could I get this done? I researched many options, one of which was an online program, but my employers flatly turned me down the first time I brought it to their attention as a possible solution, saying that I had not chosen an accredited degree program. But the idea of online education definitely stuck with me, and I continued my search for an accredited program."

That search eventually led her to UMUC, where she found exactly what she was looking for: an exceptional—and accredited—online degree program with all the promise of future career opportunities. At that point, she geared up to "sell" her managers on the idea. After preparing an exhaustive presentation, and armed with four two-inch binders, she headed into what was to be a marathon meeting.

"After presenting lots of information on online programs, including the distance education efforts to date at our local community college, I proceeded to show them that UMUC was one of 11 accredited, degree-granting institutions within the University System of Maryland. I basically sold them on the fact that a school like UMUC did not just hand out diplomas to online students in exchange for cash, but only after a student had fully proven herself through the rigors of academia. Finally, after two hours and lots of talking, they were sold, and I began to finish my degree with UMUC in the spring of 1999, attending via the virtual campus, while I worked full time."

According to Webb-Conlee, it took awhile to "get into the groove" of online coursework. "In the beginning, Tycho [UMUC’s online classroom platform] was DOS-based, rather than Web-based, like its current version." Everything was harder to do, and "the manual was not very user-friendly, to say the least." But, with her laptop always close at hand, Webb-Conlee soon mastered the system and became a virtual-classroom pro.

"Learning online isn’t always the easiest way to go to school, even if it’s the most convenient way," she laughs. "You end up teaching yourself. I had never read a textbook cover-to-cover before. But I sure read a lot of them during my time at UMUC!"

However, in spite of the sometimes complicated classroom manuals and long hours of reading and completing class assignments, Webb-Conlee managed to stay at the top of her class—a class full of students logging on from literally all four corners of the globe. So, according to Webb-Conlee, online coursework required a good working knowledge of international time zones—particularly when it came time to "chat" with teachers or classmates in order to ask a question or plan for a group project.

"I remember one chat in particular where our group had a bit of difficulty arranging a time for our online conference. The problem wasn’t specifically due to other obligations, but rather to different time zones, as one classmate lived in Israel, two in Germany, one in England, with the remainder living in California, Arizona, Illinois, and Virginia. We worked it out, though, and received an ‘A’ for our efforts!"

Now, Webb-Conlee will take her studies back into the campus classroom as she enters law school at Regent University this fall. She is thinking about practicing product liability law, particularly as it relates to the pharmaceutical industry. Whatever she does, she will undoubtedly strive to do it well.

"School has been a big part of my life for the last few years, and I guess it will be for the next few. But it’s definitely been worth it!"