NEWARK , December 17, 1999 - Earning a college degree while holding down a full-time job that periodically changes in location and responsibilities, and serving as head of a family, was the problem facing Terrence Jones, a 34-year-old AT&T Manager.

A veteran of 14-years with AT&T, Jones currently serves as a network analyst on an outsourcing project for one of the financial exchanges in New York City.

He had long ago set his sights on a B.A. degree and ultimately a Masters degree in Information Systems but never had the time to really pursue them.

That's partly because the nature of his AT&T job results in periodic assignment changes. Further complicating matters, his current network analyst's job calls for him to work a three-month rotating shift that sometimes begins at midnight or at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

In between, Jones has family commitments with Patricia, and two children to raise, Jamar, 13, and Jazmin, 12, while he gradually renovates the "90-plus-year-old" Plainfield home he bought 10 years ago.

"I had been trying to 'school' myself for the last 1l years," says Terry. "....taking one course here, one course there in the evening at local colleges."

Jones had to halt his education efforts in 1992 because of reassignment to his current job at AT&T. "When I started rotating shifts, it meant I wouldn't be able to get any traditional schooling unless I had some sort of special treatment."

After completing courses at other distance learning programs and at a local community college, Terry finally found the special treatment "…and satisfaction" he was seeking in 1998 at New Jersey Institute of Technology's (NJIT) ACCESS NJIT Distance Learning Program (Virtual Classroomâ).

ACCESS NJIT Distance Learning Program (Virtual Classroom®) uses videotaped classroom instruction, electronic conferencing and E-mail to allow students like Jones to "attend" school virtually anywhere - even at work.

Says Jones, "I work in an electronic environment essentially monitoring and supporting systems with visual and auditory alarms. If the systems are operating properly, as they usually are, I can still keep my eye on them while I study."

The AT&T manager watches videotapes at his convenience at home and when course questions need to be asked or comments made to teachers or fellow students, he uses electronic conferencing or e-mail.

The AT&T manager says he also appreciates NJIT distance learning program's diversity of courses, including Masters degree courses that other distance learning programs don't offer.

Anticipating the end of his current work in New York, Terry switched to full-time courses this semester. It's a switch made a lot easier, he says, because of NJIT's central location within easy access of his Plainfield home and AT&T facilities in the metropolitan area.

A native of Scotch Plains, NJ, Jones graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and entered a business school to learn computer programming and accounting. "I went to business school because I knew I wasn't ready for college, " he recalls. "Although I planned on college later on."

It was a while coming, but now Terry is close to realizing his goal. "At the end of this semester, I'll have 95 credits," says the AT&T Manager smiling. "That's just a year away from a B.A."

For more information about ACCESS NJIT Distance Learning Program (Virtual Classroomâ), call 800-624-9850 or contact www.njit.edu/dl.

A statewide leader in distance learning and extension sites, NJIT currently offers courses leading to graduate certificates and degrees at several corporations and at Drew University, William Paterson University, Ramapo College, NJIT at Mt. Laurel, Raritan Valley Community College, Mercer County College, and the New Jersey Departments of Environmental Protection and Transportation.

NJIT is a public research university enrolling nearly 8,200 bachelor's, master's and doctoral students in 83 degree programs through its five colleges: Newark College of Engineering, School of Architecture, College of Science and Liberal Arts, the School of Management and the Albert Dorman Honors College. Research initiatives include manufacturing, microelectronics, multimedia, transportation, computer science, solar astrophysics, environmental engineering and science, and architecture and building science.

Yahoo! Internet Life magazine has ranked NJIT as America's "most wired" public university for two consecutive years, U.S. News and World Report's 1999 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges ranked NJIT among the nation's top universities, and Money magazine's most recent issue of Best College Buys rated NJIT as the sixth best value among U.S. science and technology schools and among the top 100 overall. In September 1999, Mademoiselle ranked NJIT as the second most Internet-connected university in the nation.