Justin Ahlbrand said a graduate program where he can work at his own pace is perfect.

Ahlbrand is one of the ten students who entered the Masters of Science in Sport Management program at the beginning of the 2015 fall semester.

He works in the Physical Activities Center as a supervisor and athletic events often consume his evenings.

He also schedules teams, makes sure they have the equipment they need and runs events at the PAC.

Ahlbrand finished his undergrad at the university in Dec. 2013 and then took his job a little more than a year ago.

“The timing (of the grad program) was great,” he said.

The program offers a normal two-year path for students to complete 30 credit hours to earn their master’s or an accelerated path where students start to earn their undergraduate and graduate degrees when they enter as freshman.

This allows students to complete a master’s degree in five years.

Ahlbrand always wanted to get his master’s and his hope is to one day become an athletic director.

He also recently married and said he and his wife like the idea of staying in Evansville, especially since both of their families live there.

“I kind of wanted to stay at USI,” he said. “(As a campus employee) I go to school for free. I wanted to take advantage of that.”

Ahlbrand said a master’s degree is a great addition to a résumé.

“I hope having a master’s will put me ahead of the competition,” Ahlbrand said.

The program has been great so far for Ahlbrand who said his job is not a normal nine to five.

“Having (the graduate program) online is a plus,” he said. “It works really well with my job.”

Stephanie Gehlhausen said the program is perfect for her job as well.

The women’s basketball assistant coach spends most of her days in practices and once basketball season begins her weekends are spent on the court.

“I heard about it last January straight from Glenna Bower,” she said. “I was so excited for the all online option.”

Gehlhausen said she knew she needed a master’s degree and she wanted it to be a topic relevant to sports.

She explored other graduate programs but said with her job it didn’t work to go to another college.

The program is designed to be completed in two years, but Gehlhausen said she wants to complete it as soon as possible. She said having a master’s degree for coaching is important, especially if someone aspires to a head coaching position.

“I love coaching,” Gehlhausen said. “In nearly every position a master’s is preferred.”

Brooke Harmening was ready for her orientation into the public administration graduate program before hearing about the opportunity to enroll in a program for sport management.

“I was so overwhelmed by (the orientation),” she said.

Another student mentioned the sport management graduate program to her and she said she felt it was more on path with her undergraduate, a major in kinesiology.

Harmening said when she came to USI four years ago from Whiteland, IN she didn’t know what to expect from Evansville, but the city quickly became home.

“Ever since then I’ve never wanted to leave,” she said. “I love the community, the school. I don’t go home as much now that I’m older.”

Harmening investigated other graduate programs at other schools, but said none of them worked for her.

“I don’t know if I would get that same, positive environment somewhere else,” she said.

Harmening said the graduate program is something that will help with jobs in the future and she would be more than happy to take a position in Evansville.

“Evansville is like my second home,” she said. “I would take a job here, Evansville is a smaller city, but it is growing so much.”

Despite being so sure of where she wanted to complete her master’s program, the current graduate assistant for the softball team said one of her downfalls is not being able to decide her career path.

“I think this master’s program could help me figure out what I want to do,” she said. “I’m already learning so much.”