Is there another program like TUI?

My wife is getting ready to start her research for which school she wants to do her PhD at. Her degrees are a BA in English with a Spanish minor from Xavier of Louisiana and a Masters in Creative Writing (the first to be awarded that degree) from University of Northern Iowa.

While I think she is leaning towards NC State, the issue seems to be that she does not want to lock herself into merely the English field. I know her future goal is to eventually become a provost somewhere(the plan is to relocate to Iowa eventually) so she has to have the PhD and definatley from a b & m school, but DL may be an option for her.

In reading this forum as well as looking over for some basic info in my own degree search, the ability to craft one's own program at TUI seems to be the best of both worlds for her. She has many other intrests other than English/writing. Since they (TUI) are currently working on some things in regards to their accreditation, are there any US b & m schools that offer a DL option that is similar in nature to TUI?

Thanking you in advance.

 

There are no other doctoral programs like Union's.

Union isn't having accreditation problems. It is dealing with the Ohio Board of Regents and its most recent report. It is also dealing with a financial crisis. It's the latter of these that troubles those of us connected to Union.

We don't know if the doctoral programs will survive financially. We also don't know if they will remain as flexible as they are now. Because we don't know these things, those of us who've graduated from Union don't necessarily recommend enrolling at this time. But that might change as this year goes by.

Personally, I think Union will be fine financially. But I don't know what's going to become of the doctoral program.

 

In respect to Rich's knoweledge, I must dis agree and say: Yes.

 

Of course then everybody would like to know what they are I suppose.

I would list Antioch, Saybrook, & Feilding as also being more of a design your own program within further limits (IMHO this is the way Ohio is trying to make Union go).

A good source of some other schools (including the three I mentioned) can be found in an excerpt from a book by some guy named Bear titled: College Degrees by Mail and Internet found at:
http://www.degree.net/schools/100schools.html
and the doctorates at:
http://www.degree.net/schools/doctorates.html
(and they are even Bear approved (according to the web site cite).

 

The Antioch M.A. is individualized, IIRC. But the Ph.D. is certainly not. According to BG 15, one can earn a Ph.D. in environmental studies or business. However, one cannot design a degree program like at Union.

Saybrook also defines the study areas for one's Ph.D., as does Fielding. The flexibility in these programs is in how one satisfies the competency areas dictated by the school, not the student.

Union represents "learner-centered" education, where the learner, not the school, decides the content and direction of his/her program, supervised by the school. Not just the learning methods and demonstrations of competency, but the actual learning areas themselves. This separates Union from all of the other short-residency programs in the U.S., and the world.

As for what the OBR is trying to get Union to change, removing the learner-centered nature of the degree program is not it. I have a copy of the OBR's report, and that is not a component of it.

 

Thanks. I have Bear's book...it was just in my office and I was at home while I posted this thread. I would rather narrow down first and then give them to my wife to finish researching.

 

I think the type of program that Union offers would best suit my wife and her eccletic tastes. It is the doctoral program that she is interested in, nothing else. But if there is a single doubt as to the program's accreditation or utility for what she wants to do then she would rather wait or go with something she knows she can use for her career like NC State.

Your voice does lend more weight to the arguement since you did attend Union.