Alison Sweeney graduated Masters in Lifelong Learning, pictured with her father Loughlan Hurson,
daughter Caitlin and husband Sean Sweeney.

Human resource manager, Alison Sweeney from West Belfast, has received a distinction in her Masters degree despite rarely setting foot in the University of Ulster.

The thirty-four year-old mother of one will be graduating today with an MSc in Life Long Learning completed entirely online.

Alison left education at the age of 18 and went straight into the world of work with present employer Nuachtain Newspaper Group. After realising how important education was to her she decided to do a part-time degree as a mature student at Queens in 1994.

After Alison’s daughter Caitlin was born she was keen to develop her qualifications further but time was limited, being a working mum.

“That’s where the University of Ulster’s virtual campus, Campus One came in,” said Alison.

“I thought online learning would be an excellent way to continue my education with limited or no on-campus attendance, which would also cut down on time travel. After speaking to a course director at UU I felt assured that this was definitely for me, it suited my professional requirements and my lifestyle perfectly. I could study at home or at work and I had the support of other students and UU tutors through real time online discussions, organised at convenient times. With discussion forums organised on weekdays, evenings and even Sunday nights, it was impossible not to attend.

“ I also had tremendous support from my company, Nuachtain Newspaper Group, who helped me financially and gave me study leave one day per month.

“This has been an excellent and very rewarding learning experience. I couldn’t have achieved my MSc so quickly without the online access.”

Alison is now going on to do a PhD in Education at the University of Ulster.

Winter Graduations 2004

For further information, please contact:

Trina Porter
Telephone: 028 71675511
Email: Trina Porter