Are there any Union students out there now? I was just looking at their web site and they mention how flexible their residence days are. Are they really that flexible? I like the idea of residency for a doctorate. However, over the next year, taking two straight weeks off for me would be difficult. I can manage a week here and there, though. I live fairly close to Cincy. I might ride on down there and check it out. Bing
Yes. Next question? (But seriously, folks . . .) Union requires a minimum of 35 days, and most people do . . . well, 35 days. Specifically, you would start your program with a 10-day colloquium. This addresses program process and includes an introduction to doctoral-level research, as well as an opportunity to review other learners' Learning Agreements and Program Summaries and to present your own preliminary plans for feedback. Then, through the course of your program you would have to do three 5-day seminars - of your choosing, and there is a wide variety from which to choose, held in many cities in the U.S. as well as several foreign cities. The seminars do not have to be in your field. Finally, you have to do 10 peer days, which are learner-run days in which at least three learners or graduates are present. These are designed by the learners, and you can also cross out of your field. Since learners are geographically dispersed (and many live in areas in which they have no other learners nearby), the peer days can be scheduled immediately before or after a seminar. Union asks that the peer days be in a substantive subject area and not oriented to program process, but many are - they simply have a generic title. My usual advice to Union learners is to spread the residency opportunities out over the course of the programm. Some learners try to rush through their seminars and peer days during the first year, and often find the rest of their program to be a lone ranger experience. By doing, say, a seminar every six months, you have more opportunity for ongoing contact with real people. If you do your colloquium in Cincinnati (or anywhere elsse that is convenient for you), it would only require ten days (rather than a full two weeks), including two weekends. Therefore, you can get away with only having to take six weekdays off. When I did my Ph.D., Union had not moved into its current campus buildings (these came along in 1990 or '91), so I did my colloquium in Pawling, New York. If you are able to get to Cincinnati, I would highly recommend it, as you would hae the opportunity to actually do your colloquium at Union. (Not to mention that it makes it easier to buy the t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. But I digress . . .) They now have many more functions at Cincinnati than they did in the past, and once their acquisition of Vermont College is completed, that will add a great campus in Montpelier for future functions. Incidentally, the seminars are usually scheduled at the same time as colloquia. Therefore, if a 10-day colloquium is scheduled (at any location), there will usually be two seminars held concurrently - one from Friday to Tuesday, and the next from Wednesday to Sunday. The colloquium and seminars usually do not interface with each other, but often some more experienced learners from the seminars will bop into the colloquium to pass along their experience. Finally, if you want to get an idea of the how, where, when, and what of Union colloquia and seminars, you can surf to their colloquium and seminar schedules (including comprehensive seminar descriptions and registration stats) through the "current learners" section of their web site at http://www.tui.edu. (Yes, campers, "TUI" really does mean The Union Institute, not Touro University International.)
Steve, Thanks! I did not know that weekends were included with the initial 10 days. This sounds like it would work well for me. I live in Indy and Ohio is not that far away. I did know you were a graduate. I wondered if there were any current students on the forum, or lurking on the forum. Bing
True. Should be about two hours, straight down I-74. TUI is located just a few blocks off exit 3 of I-71. There used to be a few TUI grads on the alt.education.distance newsgroup, but I don't think they're on the forum at this point. FWIW, at the colloquium Union distributes to all incoming learners "The Blue Book," which includes a printout of everyone in the Ph.D. program, including contact information, major, etc. The last printout I have is from 1997, and that one listed 18 learners in Indiana with a wide variety of majors; 3 of them were from Indy. There are, of course, far more learners in Ohio, as well as other nearby states such as Illinois and Michigan. (Where this becomes important is in the availability of peer days. The more learners who are near you in the country, the more peer day opportunities you will find.)
