From left, Faye Reynolds, Julie Bratten, Marie Foksinski, Debra Longstreet-Jones, Mary Ruffin-Williams and Nina King are among IUK's first graduates from the UAW/Chrysler National Training Center partnership.
Nina King, an Ohio wife, mother, grandmother and realtor, says she can't seem to get enough of higher education, thanks to an unusual partnership venture involving her husband's employer, his union and Indiana University Kokomo
"I have a thirst for knowledge I just can't seem to satisfy," says the 50 year-old King. "The more I learn, the more I discover how much I don't know. Each course I take makes me want to take more."
King's passion for education stems in large measure from her participation in the unique partnership program, which is known as the United Auto Workers/Chrysler National Training Center (NTC). The distance education initiative, which relies on interactive technology furnished by the NTC with instructional delivery furnished by IUK, is a benefit for Chrysler employees, their spouses and dependents.
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From left, Faye Reynolds, Julie Bratten, Marie Foksinski, Debra Longstreet-Jones, Mary Ruffin-Williams and Nina King are among IUK's first graduates from the UAW/Chrysler National Training Center partnership.
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Others who have joined in the venture include Ivy Tech State College, which delivers skills courses along with some general education classes, and various guest participants. This semester, Cornell University is a guest on the network, delivering an Interpersonal Behavior course.
King, who lives in Sylvania, Ohio, learned of NTC through her husband, Kenneth, an over-the-road driver for Chrysler. About four years ago, with two daughters already "out of the nest," and her Alzheimer's-stricken mother moving to a nursing home, King says she found herself in a transitional state.
"I was upset about having to move my mother to a nursing home, and I was trying to understand all I could about Alzheimer's," she recalls. "I signed up for a course through the University of Toledo just so I could use their library to do research on the disease. My daughter, Tamara, said 'Mom, you put us through college. Now it's time for you.'"
When King learned of the NTC site in nearby Toledo, she enrolled intending only to take a course or two. One of her first classes via the NTC network was an introductory chemistry course taught by IU Kokomo's Marcia Gillette.
"I loved Marcia Gillette as a teacher," says King. "In fact, she's the one who turned me on to education."
Last May, King and eight other classmates from Ohio, Michigan and Missouri became members of IUK's first NTC graduating class, earning associate of general studies degrees. King completed her studies with a near-perfect 3.98 grade-point average.
Next summer, she expects to fulfill requirements for a bachelor's in general studies. Then she wants to pursue graduate work in gerontology.
"I'm back to my original search, which was to learn about aging," says King, adding that she will be forever grateful for the vision of the NTC partnership.
"I was able to jump in the river and let it take me," King declares. "If other companies could only see how many lives are being changed through this one program, they would catch that same vision and share it with others."
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