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The University of Maine at Fort Kent is excited to announce the launch of a new online business program that aims to help learners finish a bachelor of science degree in business management.

The Business Management Online Degree Completion program was created to assist learners with 60-90 college credits in finishing their degree. The program creators, Dr. Kaisa Holloway Cripps and Dr. Michael Curran, both assistant business professors at UMFK, developed the online program as a way to reach out to students who left college without completing.

“For various reasons, some students do not finish their degree and are looking for a way to complete one that is flexible enough to fit their life and their budget,” said Dr. Kaisa Holloway Cripps.

When the faculty designed the program, they were inspired by the Maine Spark initiative of the University of Maine System and other partners to increase the number of Maine adults achieving bachelor's degree; the goal is 60% of Mainers will have a bachelor's degree by 2025. Additionally, the faculty wanted to re-imagine what higher education delivery looked like in 2021.

“Our degree completion offers students entering with 90 credits the option to graduate in as little as one year,” said Dr. Michael Curran. “Each class runs for seven weeks and a learner could join the degree program at a point six times during the year. You do not need to start at the beginning of a traditional semester, just start at the beginning of one of the seven-week classes.”

The program offers courses exclusively in seven-week sessions, as opposed to 15-week sessions, allowing students to accomplish goals much more quickly as well as immerse them in the content. The faculty notes that for today's learners this helps to increase the retention of information as well as speed up the goal achievement towards earning a bachelor's degree. The online program utilizes video to deliver content along with weekly assignments and assessments. The video content is created and produced by UMFK business faculty and is specific to their course material. The faculty will work with each student to ensure goals are met and students are progressing on schedule.

“This program is a result of the innovative approach UMFK faculty are taking to the reach the adult student population throughout the state and country,” said UMFK president and provost, Dr. Deb Hedeen. “There are a multitude of adult learners looking for a bachelor’s degree program that meets their needs. This is one such program.”

The new program is designed for ease of college credit transfer to UMFK and to enable the student to achieve their degree in a learner-friendly format. Each course is asynchronous, meaning the student can participate at various times of the day, which was intended to accommodate most work schedules.

For more information on this program, go to https://www.umfk.edu/businessonline/ or call (207) 834-7600.