It has been a little over a year since James Sevier and Matt Cowan earned their master's of science degrees from Stanford, but memories of their experiences as classmates are as fresh as yesterday.

The two mechanical engineers in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Defense Technologies Engineering Division pursued their degrees via the Stanford Instructional Television Network through the Laboratory's Distance Learning Program.

Both were working engineers, newly hired into the Laboratory, when they started the program in 1996. Their classroom, most of the time, was a TV- and audio-equipped room in Bldg. 571, home of Human Resources' Education Office, where they could attend live classes remotely.

Sometimes classes were broadcast during the day, sometimes in the evening. When television scheduling didn't permit the broadcasting of classes live, the two would watch taped classes.

The only drawback with taped classes, said Sevier, was the inability to communicate directly with the professor. "We had to resort to email," said Sevier, "but that seemed to work out fairly well."

In the nearly four years Sevier and Cowan studied together, the two built up a close relationship, working together long into the night on homework assignments, bouncing ideas off one another, providing encouragement for each other.

Sevier said that the two would often settle into a Lab conference room around 6 or 7 each night and work on homework until midnight, or sometimes into the wee hours of the morning as the deadline neared to turn in their school work.

"It was nice not to have to sit there by yourself in a Lab conference room at 3 or 4 in the morning finishing a homework set that was due the next day, " said Sevier. "It was very much a misery loves company thing."

On a few occasions, such as when they were up against a deadline for school presentations, the two would work all night, go home, shower and change and continue on with no sleep.

"It was not much different from a typical student schedule," said Sevier. "The only difference is that we were supposed to function in the workplace the next day."

Cowan said he found his SITN experience "very rewarding," although he did admit that "diminished interaction with fellow students" was a drawback.

"I expected classes to be hard and the level of students to be high," said Cowan. "What I didn't expect was the sense of isolation you could get out of it. You had very little sense of how you were doing compared to the others in the class because you didn't talk to anybody."

Cowan said he was grateful for the relationship he forged with Sevier. "James and I ended up taking almost every class together," said Cowan. "It helped us tremendously, especially in the more mathematically rigorous classes."

The two met by accident in 1996. Both started on the same day after being hired in DTED and wound up sitting in the "cooler" awaiting their clearances. They were surprised to discover that each had plans to pursue mechanical engineering as Stanford grad students.

Cowan, who graduated from Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo in 1996, had worked on the Molten Salt Project at the Lab in the summer of 1995. He was planning to work at the Lab in the summer of 1996 and attend Stanford in the fall when he got the offer to interview for an FTE (full-time equivalent) position.

"I decided to take that position because of the opportunity to go to school part-time while working," said Cowan.

Sevier, who was accepted to Stanford after graduating in 1996 from the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, got the invite to interview for a Lab position after submitting a resume during a job fair on his campus. He arranged to have his job interview at the Lab on the same trip he took to attend "Admitted Applicant Day" at Stanford.

"As they were talking about the benefits (of working) at the Lab, they mentioned the fact that you could have your entire master's degree paid for as an FTE," said Sevier. "That sounded good. So after I accepted the job and started here, I immediately went through the process to get all the necessary Lab approvals, which was a very easy process."

Sevier said he found his division very supportive of his continuing education plans. Said Sevier: "We (he and Cowan) basically defined our own degree plans, went ahead and scheduled them, took classes and got through the program. It worked out very well. The process would have been very difficult if it weren't for the flexibility that the program offers you."

The two had high praise for Kathy Zobel, who manages the Distance Learning program at the Laboratory. "She was extremely supportive and was very responsive when we had problems," said Sevier. "She had a genuine interest in us. She would stop and talk to us, ask how classes were going." Added Cowan, "She was a great resource to us. "

While Sevier and Cowan recommend the Distance Learning program, they say that students should be prepared to work harder to avoid a sense of isolation caused by not attending classes on campus. Cowan recommends finding other people who want to take the same SITN classes and trying to coordinate with them. "The more people you have taking a class, the easier it is," he said.

Although it takes longer to earn a degree than by going to school full-time, Sevier says it is very valuable to combine continuing education with the experience of working. "If your curriculum aligns well with what you are doing at work, then both can build on each other," he said. "You get more out of the lectures when you have seen and done things and have a practical perspective on things than if you are just getting the theory end of it."