Anyone have any input on the DL program at the University of Maryland University College? http://www.umuc.edu/ Forbes rates it highly, but just wondered if anyone had acutally attended courses there. http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/category.jhtml?id=147 I am just starting my investigation into DL programs in the area of technology management. Thanks in advance for any and all help.
Hello Waz, I can only speak to my experience. I started on the second BS in CIS program at UMUC a few years ago and I elected to transfer after completing only two courses. I found the instructors to be disinterested and the department chair to be inaccessible when I brought a problem with the curriculum to his attention. I found it extremely difficult to obtain an audience for my grievances and I wound up thinking that if it was this difficult a climate for a 53-year old PhD to negotiate what must it be like for the typical undergrad. Of course, that is only one program and your mileage may vary. I wound up transferring to the BS in IT program at UMass Lowell where my experience has been just the opposite. The instructors are engaged and the administration very accessible.
Wazz, Very similar problems to the first poster. Transfered after the 1st semester. No regrets whatsoever.
Well, After almost 3 years at UMUC I can say there have been ups and downs, but overall I have been very pleased with the program I am in. (Dual M.S/M.B.A. program) (graduate in May 2004, just signed up for my last M.B.A. course starts in 2 weeks) Some of the Profs I have had have been so disinterested that they send me other students graded homework (happened twice in same class), no replies from instructors, etc. But I think overall 90% of the instructors did a decent job in delivering the material, and in "teaching" UMUC does however need to upgrade its overall image. Most people (not involved in DL) have never heard of them, confuse them with UMD or think they are a degree mill. UMUC does no marketing to their customers (not the students, but the businesses that HIRE the students)!!!!!
My wife is finishing up her bachelor's degree through UMUC in a mix of classroom and online courses. While maybe it is just the European branch, the school just seems disorganized. Specific problems we have had are financial aid related, administrative related and instructor related. The financial aid problems dealt with paperwork issues - a lot of stuff got lost between our office here in England and the main office in Germany. Whenever these problems arose, the local office personnel basically shrugged their shoulders and told us to call Germany. It took three semesters to finally get everything straightened out and to receive her grant money. Administrative problems mainly dealt with tranfer credits. My wife had 80+ credits and an associate's degree when she started with UMUC. Long after the tranfer credit eval was supposed to be done (important so that she did not duplicate classes when scheduling her next semester) and after numerous phone calls (again to Germany since our local office was not helpful), she finally got an eval. It had 30-36 credits that transferred. After making a few calls, the answer she received was that the eval was done by a trainee and accidently went in the mail without being checked. A new eval was sent and most of her credits did actually transfer. As far as instructors, there have been numerous grading issues. For example, why grade a paper A-/B+? It is either an A- or a B+. This makes for some headaches when trying to unofficially figure out what your grade is. Last semester, she came home from a class steamed because she had received a paper back that had an A crossed out and a grade of a C put on it. She had asked the instructor about it and his response was that it was one of the first papers he graded and after reading other papers, he decided that her paper was not as good as the others. I thought grades were based on a fixed standard, not a constantly changing one. There were numerous other issues with this particular instructor. However, she did end up with an A in his class. The UMUC experience overall has not been an enjoyable one for my wife.
Very similar to the first two replies. Transfered to another school and completed their program. UMUC is not an experience I would willingly repeat.
I am currently enrolled in UMUC. I find that trying to get anything except basic answers from the councelors can take weeks unless you call and bug them about it. The classes - most of my classes It seems like the instructor starts out doing ok with responces to email and postings. But as it gets on in the semester most of the professors seem to stop doing much with the class. One of my classes last semester the professor was so inactive in the class somebody posted asking if he was still alive and it took him over a week to respond to it. I am thinking about transfering out but still looking for a good option to go to.
When I was there the distance ed faculty were separate from the "real" faculty and most;ly dragged kicking and screaming to the job - being better than none at all I guess. They were contracted and all looking for a "real" position (and I would to in their position). That said - their dedication to the demands of online teaching may have been less than total.
This sort of thing is not unique to UMUC. I took an online class at UCSD, and the instructor disappeared after the first week. So we continued with the course without him. The scheduled midterm came and went with no response (from instructor or from administration). The instructor ultimately returned during the last week, in time to issue the final exam. He had some excuse about a trip to India. That was the last class I will take at UCSD! And to add insult to injury, at the end of the year I saw this individual thanked on the UCSD website for his stellar service in teaching these online classes!
I've had two classes with UMUC last fall, I have to say that were pretty good. No problems with the instructors whatsoever. They were very active. I'm in the MSM program and the course content has also been pretty good. My only complaint is the cost for books. It was nearly $400 for five books and two of them we didn't even use.
