Craig S. Haberthy
Bachelor's (BIT) - Network Administration
Master's (MBA) - Organizational Psychology and Development

Meet Craig S. Haberthy

Being the first in his family to earn a Master's degree was very important to Craig Haberthy, American InterContinental University graduate. So important, that to fulfill his father's wish to have all of his children earn a college degree, Craig kept the fact he was earning a degree a secret from his father. Upon his graduation from the Master's of Business Administration degree program he presented his father with his AIU diploma wrapped in a frame; coupled with a letter outlining how his motivation from his parent's inspiration encouraged him to stay on track and earn both a bachelor's and a master's degree.

Selecting a university was just part of the challenge for Craig. "I already had to juggle a very active family and spiritual life – with 4 children and the typical extracurricular activities that accompany a busy family schedule - so I couldn't really consider a brick and mortar school. I needed an online university to accommodate my busy schedule." Craig researched many accredited institutions and he even spoke with peers about online universities – including several that attended and earned degrees from AIU. He also was impressed with the caliber and experience of AIU instructors.

Craig also liked the accelerated nature of the courses through AIU Online. "I really was impressed with the 5 week concentrated course structure, which would allow me to obtain my degree much faster than with a brick and mortar school. With 4 children, a spouse and a very active life, it was important for me to earn my degree quickly at an accelerated pace." Craig also was pleased to find that the interaction between classmates and instructors was easy to engage in, not to mention frequent opportunities to do so. Prior to attending AIU Online, Craig attended a technical college and found there was more conversation time with students at an online university than with a technical college. "Once you leave the building, you are done. At AIU Online there was constant interaction with other students and instructors with chat or instructor sessions; coupled with an open-door policy for phone or email conversations."

While the accelerated learning pace through AIU Online was a bit difficult for Craig to become adjusted to at first, he found it was his biggest opportunity to equate real-world problem solving with his degree. "It was so hard to adjust and get caught up on the necessary reading, coupled with limited amount of time to prepare for individual and group assignments, in the end the experience paid off in the real world."

The logistics of orchestrating and collaborating efforts with individuals spanning the globe for the many group projects provided Craig with an invaluable experience. "I didn't start to reap the rewards of that until I received a promotion and started working with and managing a matrix of individuals that were all over the world. As business changes, especially in the education industry, it changes fast and projects develop quickly. The accelerated pace of the group projects at AIU really helped me to adapt for my new position when I needed to manage virtual teams in the real-world environment." Other managers in the organization commented that this might be the hardest thing to adjust to, but Craig had no problems and adapted quite quickly because of his experience through AIU Online.

In his current position as Release Engineering Manager, Craig is responsible for managing the quality release of customer facing applications into the live production environment. His newly acquired MBA with a concentration in Organizational Psychology and Development provided Craig with additional knowledge needed for his position; coupled with proving his commitment level to the management at his company was evident. "When management sees you working on an MBA program while juggling the many duties of both family and job, they know that you are committed."

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