The college track was not an obvious choice for Hayes. Born\ninto the world of computers and software development (his father was in the\nfield), he spent his life coding, tracking his small business appointments\nthrough advanced databases and building computers to suit his needs. When he\nmoved to Flagstaff as a young adult in 1998, Hayes was hired in the bursar\u2019s office\nat NAU and has been with the university since then, working in a variety of\ncapacities behind the scenes to help software systems run smoothly and students\nbe successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of his earliest projects was building the first system\nto track and report on the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 for student tax credits.\nSome of his other projects include building ITS Cobol systems, working on the\nPeopleSoft project and managing the team that created the Personalized Learning\n(PL) program. That program, part of NAU\u2019s competency-based online learning\ncurriculum, led Hayes to a major life decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\nhave always been proud to be an NAU employee but never thought I could get my\ndegree,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cI took occasional classes at community college but was\nnever really able to make significant progress toward anything. When we\nstarted building Personalized Learning, a subscription-based learning model\nwhere you can learn as fast or as slow as you need, I realized this was a\ndegree program I could get behind and take advantage of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NAU was a leader\nfor the self-paced Personalized Learning model in Arizona and was the first\npublic university to offer a competency-based online degree path<\/a>, which attracted\nnational attention<\/a>. The course\ncrosswalk system that Hayes worked on is a key element to PL\u2019s operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The system helps\ntranslate individual competencies within courses into lessons that can be taken\nin any order. Once all the lessons in a course have been completed, students\nreceive credit for a course and it appears in PeopleSoft and on transcripts as\nan easily transferrable and recognized course. For example, the Math 115 course\non quantitative and analytical calculation is broken into five lessons:\nalgebra, basic data and statistics, business financial principles, personal\nfinance and operations research. Students have control over how they would like\nto structure those lessons, creating a personalized learning schedule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The option of\nearning a degree in a self-structured, self-paced format benefits many\nnontraditional students who wouldn\u2019t be able to commit to an education without\nthis advanced flexibility\u2014students just like Hayes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thought to myself that I would look back at my life\nat 70 and seriously regret not at least attempting to get a degree in a program\nthat I helped build.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not surprisingly, Hayes credits his success, in part, to his\nability to move through coursework at his own pace. With all his professional\nexperience, the higher-level lessons were often easiest for Hayes to get\nthrough, while the 100 level courses, on subjects outside his expertise, were\nthe toughest. Rather than stopping entirely, Hayes would switch from a lesson\nhe was struggling with to one he knew he could finish, allowing him to keep\nmaking progress toward his degree until he could focus on the lessons that\ndemanded more attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe\nreal benefit of the Personalized Learning experience is the ability to simply\nstop what you are working on when life gets in the way and take on a lot of\ncoursework in short timeframes when life opens up,\u201d he said. \u201cWithout\nthat ability, I really don\u2019t think I would have been able to make the time to\nfinish those foundation courses and learn so much about those interesting\nsubject areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The program\noffered so much flexibility, in fact, that Hayes was able to take advantage of\nextracurricular activities he says are an important part to a well-rounded\ncollege experience. An avid racquetball player, Hayes frequently played with\nother staff and faculty on campus during lunch breaks. In his first year as a\nstudent, he restarted the Racquetball Club to share the joy of the game with\nhis new peers. Hayes acted as president, vice president, board member, treasurer\nand mentor to the students, building a solid foundation for the club to keep\ngrowing after his departure. He said the support that comes from being part of\na group is crucial to advancing in the game and in the pursuit of a college\ndegree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hayes also found\ntime to try his hand at creative writing. Recently, he entered a short piece in\nthe Samuel Larue Finley Humorous Writing Contest hosted by the School\nof Communication<\/a>. His entry \u201cMom,\nI\u2019m Sorry About Your Belly,\u201d an amusing retelling of his wife and young son\ngetting to the bottom of where babies come from, won the grand prize of $500. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduation, Hayes will remain an involved member of\nthe Lumberjack community. He hopes to continue his career at the university and\nkeep providing support and guidance to the Racquetball Club. Although it\u2019s\ncoming to a close, Hayes\u2019 time as a university student was well spent; he will\nhave a bachelor of science in computer information technology and enduring\nmemories of his experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNever in my life did I think I could become a college\ngraduate,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cI am a 49-year-old married business professional with a\nfull-time job, two kids and a passion for the game of racquetball. I never\nwould have imagined there could have been such a flexible degree program that\nwould align so perfectly to my needs, wants and goals. NAU\u2019s Personalized\nLearning degree program did just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am extremely proud to have been a member of the Racquetball\nClub, a PL student and now, an NAU graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Hayes](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/TeamPhoto_2016-1-1024x576.jpg\")
![\"NAU](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/NAU_primary-281_3514-1-e1536853679171.png\")
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