This oversight includes various programs in other U.S. locations. As site manager, Zelickson carries the load of company operations for approximately 400 TRW employees in the Huntsville area. TRW's largest local contract is the National Missile Defense Battle Management Command Control and Communications system, as a subcontractor to the Boeing Company. She returned to the classroom after transferring to TRW's Huntsville Operation, having spent two years with TRW in Los Angeles, and was glad UAH offered her the opportunity. The companies encourage their employees to get advanced degrees and students get a broad base of people in the classrooms who are also in the workforce and can share their individual work experiences.
Many people have trouble doing that.
I didn't want to be told I couldn't do something because I didn't have a certain degree. Zelickson admits her UAH graduate courses added a lot of value over the undergraduate ones she completed at Vanderbilt, because she could apply classroom examples to her current job tasks. They emphasize real-world applications to class subjects. Not only did I learn fundamentals, but I also learned how to apply them to my work environment. Although Zelickson feels she could have advanced at TRW without a master's degree, it has definitely been good for business.