Mixing of degrees (Ra nad SA)

What good or rationale, if any, there is for a person to have a regionally accredited bachelors and masters, and eventually top it with a state approved (SA) doctorate? Are they accepted by human resource managers in the private industry? My search of google showed that most of these folks with the RA degrees and SA Ph.d's actually lecture at a lot of universities as professors, associate profs, and assistant profs. Thank you.

 

The California Coast University website or other literature states that the average age of admission/graduation??? is 45.

I think a lot of people who are established in their careers and life are looking for an additional accomplishment.

They are probably not looking for an additional degree as a qualification for anything in particular, although finishing a California approved degree could only help their career.

Someone with 20 or 30 years experience in business, at progressive levels, topped off by a CCU doctorate is probably not going to find it difficult to find a teaching job.

Someone 30 years old with a state approved doctorate may impress no-one.

 

There are probably as many reasons as there are students.

I think that sometimes people are hired to teach on the basis of their masters degree, their accomplishments in applied areas and perhaps their being an insider and knowing somebody. But once in, they come under administrative pressure to earn a terminal degree asap. The brass don't really care where the doctorate comes from, so long as it can be used in the stats supplied to the accreditors and to the ratings publications like USNews.

Probably a lot of people earn these things on their own initiative as ego boosters. They are approaching middle age and want something to show for a lifetime of work, a tangible sign that they have reached the top levels.

Some of these state-approved doctorates are actually occupationally useful. A CA-approved JD can get you admitted to the state bar. A considerable number of the state's clinical psychologists have state-approved doctorates. That's especially true of those in small-time private practice and those with "alternative" orientations.

A state-approved doctorate might be a useful marketing tool for a popular author with pseudo-academic stylings, as with the 'Mars-Venus' thing. Think of all the popular titles in bookstores where the author ostentatiously puts "Ph.D." after his name.

It's probably heresy to say this, but a few state-approved programs might actually be good at what they do. People might enroll in them because they are attracted to the program itself. A program might offer unusual courses, research areas or employ interesting faculty. It's hard for me to think of examples, since I find most state-approved DL doctorates underwhelming. The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality's low-residency doctoral program probably has a niche audience. Hsi Lai's CA-approved on-campus Buddhist studies Ph.D. is certainly academically defensible. (I'm not the only one that thinks so; it's recently become a candidate with WASC.)

 

Dennis and Bill: Thank you for your insightful responses. I appreciate your comments.

 

I wouldn't bother for full time teaching purposes, most of the universities have different pay scales for different degrees. If your degree is from a SA university, most likely you won't get paid for it. It depends a lot on the policy of each university, but most of them won't pay for this type of doctorate. However, if you are looking for a part time adjunct position, most likely it won't matter since you will be paid a flat rate for most of the cases and the terminal SA degree could be an advantage if the hiring committe is looking for doctorate faculty and is not too rigid about the RA status of the university.

 

Dennis is correct in my experience. The CCU doctorate has been valuable to me, but I still have to perform every day. There are lots of academic degrees where I work (Fortune 20 Co.) but these are not often discussed. Board-certification is held in higher regard.

 

Re: Re: Mixing of degrees (Ra nad SA)

I wonder what would be the salary is base on for Argosy University since they list one faculty with CA SA, and if I decided to go there is more likely that I will be dealing with this person as an advisor in the Accouting DBA. I won't feel confortable into one point, I wonder if can get gig there with my CA state approved degrees as well which I don't bother to list them any where. That is just me.

 

If you've got the bucks and a little extra time the CCU degree can't hurt. It's covered by the RA Degrees, and would just be a little extra icing on the top. They can't be accused of being a degree mill since they are operating legally. There's always someone ready to put down what you do/have/or want, so I wouldn't worry about it. If it feels right to you do it.
James C.

 

CCU is not RA (Regionally Accredited). There was a thread that mentioned that they are applying for DETC accreditation, though.