Bellevue University Certificate Helps Busy Single Mom Advance in Career

Just like every person’s life looks different, so do their educational paths. For Ashley Rogers of Topeka, Kansas, the Bellevue University People and Business Leadership certificate helped take her career to the next level. After completing the program, Rogers has been promoted to area manager, responsible for her own team, as well as inventory control and quality assurance at a 1.8 million-square-foot Walmart fulfillment center facility.

Fitting Education Into a Full Life

The certificate program is designed for Walmart associates and is open to those participating in the retailer’s Live Better U program. Through the program, Walmart pays 100% of tuition and books for certificates and degrees at universities that are leaders at serving working adult learners. Bellevue University is one of those, and is part of the Guild Education network of academic partners.

“It provides students like Ashley an opportunity to get back into the classroom and learn foundational leadership and managerial concepts,” said Professor Rob Weber.

Rogers began working at Walmart last year, deciding to pursue a more physical job after years in office management. Within months, she was promoted from truck unloader to team lead. She wanted to keep advancing, but completing her degree seemed like too much.

“I was ready for the next step,” she said. “I had developed what I needed to knowledge-wise, but the program really helped me with people skills.”

She found the structure of the program made it easy to work around her schedule. “It was a quicker option than finishing my bachelor’s degree. As a single mom, I didn’t have time to go to school,” Rogers said. “With this program, you can work at your own pace. You have the entire week to complete your work, so you can do it all in one day on your day off or spread it out.”

Rogers also said she was impressed at how helpful her professor was. “He was very easy to get a hold of and quick to respond. You don’t get that with all the other schools.”

Taking Leadership Skills to the Next Level

Rogers said she’s already putting the lessons from her courses to work. “When I need to have those hard conversations, I have a process to turn to,” she said.

The two courses in the program are designed to do just that. The Business Management Course covers the elements of managing a business and a team (planning, operations, decision-making and conflict management, etc.), while the Business Leadership course focuses on strong team morale and performance. “They provide real-world work scenarios with concepts that are taken from college curriculum that students may not experience in the workplace,” Weber said.

Rogers said she looks forward to continuing to enjoy leadership roles within her company. “Ashley was one of those students that was always looking to do more, and I could tell that her work ethic was going to take her not just through the certification, but above that in her work and academic career,” Weber said.