Champlain College graduates its first MBA online student

Cathy VanYperen has made history at Champlain College. The Clarendon, Vt., resident is the first to graduate from the Colleges online MBA program.
In just under two years, VanYperen completed her coursework on weekends and evenings through the online program, while she worked and taught at Castleton State College. With her new masters degree on her resume, she was able to become a full-time, tenure-track assistant professor of business administration at Castleton.
"While working full time and teaching part time, there was no way I could go to a classroom for my MBA," she said. "Taking a virtual program meant that I could do my classwork at night or on the weekendsat my convenience."
Prior to becoming a full-time professor, she worked for 12 years in sales and corporate communications at Hubbardton Forge. She said that she started integrating her MBA classwork into her "real" work right away. "I've been using my MBA since I started the classes," she said.
VanYperen said that being a student offered more benefits than the obvious. "It helped me both in terms of knowledge and teaching methods," said the professor. "I always talked about my MBA program in my classes and my students benefited because I had more empathy and had learned ways to explain things more clearly." Management, business writing and business case studies courses are among those that she teaches.
VanYperen had previously earned a MSA degree from St. Michael's and a bachelor's degree from Baylor University in Texas. "The last time I was in school was 1990, so I was refreshed with this program," she said.
VanYperen will share her experiences in November with new Champlain MBA students as they gather for a graduate student summit on campus. The next online MBA courses start on November 26 and February 25.