Bringing Graduate Education to the Workplace
Paying for books and little else, company employees benefit from Webster University’s Corporate Cohort program.
By Peter Galuszka
Just after work at 5:30 p.m. most Wednesdays, Sheri Graham hops in her car, tosses her textbooks and notepads on the passenger seat, and settles in for a 90-minute drive to St. Louis from Farmington, Mo. There, at her employer’s headquarters, Graham and 64 other employees are enrolled in a 2.5 hour-long graduate business class. She usually arrives home around 11:30 p.m.
Graham, human resources director for Parkland Health Center in Farmington, says the strenuous Wednesdays don’t bother her.
The health center is owned by the medical care firm BJC HealthCare Corp., which is paying most of Graham’s tuition for the course. Next May, Graham will receive an MBA that will significantly enhance her value as a company employee.
