Marcia Killian

The economic upheaval of recent years made clear to Marcia Killian what she needed to do.

"I'd been considering graduate school, but I wasn't sure which program really fit my career," said Killian, who manages the information technology production support team at Hartford Investment Management Company, a subsidiary of The Hartford Financial Services Group.

At work Killian felt pressure to keep up with the changing business dynamics of global recession.

"I wanted to get an understanding of some of the more complex investments we deal with here," she said. "The people who design the best IT solutions for their customers are the ones who understand the business the best."

Killian discovered Quinnipiac's MBA program. Pursuing the program through Quinnipiac University Online fit her busy lifestyle. "I never know what time I'm going to get out of work," she said. "This way, I can do school work on lunch hour. I can do it on the weekends. It's a lot less pressure."

Killian also finds the online format stimulating. "You get the back and forth, the dialogue, with your classmates and teachers, and the teachers are very responsive to questions."

Killian predicts greater business savvy will soon become a necessity for all technology professionals working in the finance field.

"It's much easier to support your business customers effectively if you can speak their language and understand their terms," she said. "QU Online offered just what I needed."