In the wee hours of the morning, Las Vegas resident Catherine B. Tharin steps out of the role of Super Mom to go online to earn a masters degree in international construction management. Married with six children, she tries to make time to download assignments before leaving at 4:30 a.m. for her job with Bechtel Group Inc.
On the 90-mile bus ride to the U.S. Energy Dept.s Nevada Test Site where she works as a construction manager, Tharin studies. "What I like best is working on my own time and at my own pace," she says of her masters degree program at the University of Florida, the only one in the nation offered online in construction management. Tharin ENRolled last September after looking into traditional programs that, she found, "dont accommodate the careers of the people who are most likely to participate."