Cindy Katsempris
Meet Cindy Katsempris
Name: Cindy Katsempris
Age: 28
Marital Status: Married
Advice to Online Students: Stay on top of your workload
School: Lehigh University
Target: Regulatory Affairs Certificate, December 2006
She had always had a strong interest in science. In high school she took Honors Chemistry and dreamed of donning a white coat and working in a lab.
After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Rutgers University, her hard work paid off. Cindy landed a job with a pharmaceutical company.
For two years she quietly developed and optimized new methods for testing pills. Testing a drug's potency and identifying impurities were new and challenging. At first.
But eventually even liquid chromatography lost its luster. She had had her fill of analytical development. She sought a new challenge.
"I thought I'd find it exciting," she says of her lab work. "It was routine. And kind of boring."
She expressed an interest in business development and marketing. She was promoted from the recesses of the lab up into a regulatory position--a higher visibility area.
It was not until she decided to move on, that she realized she needed more education.
"It was pretty difficult. I was told that a lot of people applying for the position had a master's degree or a certificate in regulatory affairs," she recalls. "I found it difficult to compete."
When she was not accepted into the master's program at her alma mater, it was a challenge to bounce back and apply to other schools.
"I put it off for a while," she admits.
She later found that other schools were too expensive and too far away from her job and life in New Jersey. She spent the money she had saved for her graduate degree to buy a house with her husband.
"I had pretty much given up," she says of her plans to return to school.
A friend encouraged her to look into Lehigh University. She did some research and decided to press on. Cindy confided in her immediate supervisor, who encouraged her to press on.
She was approved for tuition reimbursement and began the process of enrolling to become an online student.
"The biggest challenge is not falling behind," she admits. Her courses have consisted of 26 pre-taped lectures, a midterm and a final exam. "Three courses also had papers with over-the-phone presentations. One course also had four sets of homework."
Cindy is accustomed to heavy reading and writing papers. Her current job involves project management. She is no stranger to time management principals.
She stays abreast of guidances and releases from the FDA. She manages the development process of products in the pipeline in her company. And she is responsible for compiling 4,000 page reports 4 to 5 times a year to the FDA for drug approval.
Still, she found herself watching two lectures a night over the summer to try to catch up.
"It is so much easier to put it off," she says candidly.
As she nears completion of her certificate, she has this advice for fellow eLearners, "Keep on target. Don't get too far behind."
She also advises, "Get organized. Immediately. Take some time to buy whatever it is you need to keep your things straight - folders for print-outs, a big calendar to hang up."
What methods does she use to stay on track? "Me? I'm low-tech, but some of my classmates use Palm Pilots and planners to keep track of their stuff. I'm more of Post-it-note-on-the-wall kind of girl."
Yet, she is very pleased overall with her online experience. By saving commute time she is still able to enjoy time with her husband and maintain a normal life.
"It's not too much of a time commitment. I still walk my dog, grocery shop, cook dinner."
She estimates the cost of her online certificate program to be $8,000 which is reimbursed by her employer.
It is a win-win situation. Her employer is investing in her, and as a result she is better able to do her job.
"I feel that I learned a lot of things that were relevant to my career. The courses definitely gave me a good general knowledge of regulatory affairs."
