Are Capella's Provost and a Dean Under Investigation?

I was just looking around for information on Capella University and came across a site called Capella University Sucks at http://www.capellauniversitysucks.us/. A message on that site's forum says that the provost and a dean are under investigation for retaliating against a student - is that right? Please let me know if anyone else knows about that. If that's true, it's really bad.

 

Be careful...

If I were you, I would be careful about believing all that the disgruntled person is saying in your provided link.

I am a Ph.D. student in the School of Psychology at Capella. I've met professors and students in the other schools while at colloquia. I still remain quite impressed by the quality, credentials, interest, care that the program provides. I am a very skeptical person normally and it takes a lot to sell me on anything. Capella compares quite favorably when you put the school next to Union, Saybrook, Nova, Walden, etc. Most students are very happy with their choice. Yes, there are times that there are some potholes but these are minimal. Most I know attending Capella or that teach at Capella really like the school. It is rigorous and has high quality people working for them and teaching in their programs.

I believe Capella is only going to get better based on its track record.

The school of Human Services has recently become the only and first online school to have CACREP accreditation for its counseling masters level degree. That is quite impressive, since most grad schools in counseling have to work so hard to obtain it and most don't have it. CACREP is similar to the programmatic accreditation approach of the American Psychological Association for clinical psychology programs.

The school of psychology is in line applying to get its APA accreditation also.

Other schools are seeking their own professional certifications and accreditations within Capella.

Overall I recommend Capella. It is not an easy school but it is a very good degree. Perhaps this individual might have an agenda.
Call them at 1-888-CAPELLA and ask them about this.

Look up on Google how many Capella grads are out there.

Type in "Ph.D." and "Capella" and you will see many teaching at colleges and universities, etc.

Hope this helps.

 

I second that

The website you are referencing seems to be frequented by only just a few people, possibly the same ones, under different user names. One of these has posted a few times here, and will never answer direct challenges to his/her postings.

I, too, am a Capella learner, in the School of Business, and am very satisfied with the quality and rigor of my education. Have I had some instructors that weren't so hot? Sure, but I did all through my B&M degrees, too. Any school will have isolated problems, regardless of instructional medium, profit/not-for-profit, etc. This person that started this website clearly has an agenda, but one I can't take too seriously, given they won't even properly identify themselves by name. Instead, they hide behind the rather childish moniker "CapellaUniversitySucks".

Echoing Blackbird, I too have been very impressed by my fellow learners, administrators, and professors whom I've met not only in the classrooms but at the residency I attended. I have previously been accepted into two very high level B&M Ph.D. programs, and have been in academia most of my life, even as a child. If I did not think I was getting a quality education from Capella, I wouldn't be putting in the massive amounts of time into my program (not to mention the $$).

Do a search, and I believe you will find the vast majority of Capella learners and graduates are very positive regarding their Capella experience.

 

It should be a simple thing to confirm such an investigation. If not, one might conclude that this investigation is not real. Certainly a source like the one provided isn't a sufficient one.

 

I wouldn't regard a personal web site such as "<fill in the blank> sucks!" as a credible source. It sounds like someone with an axe to grind. The immediate question upon seeing something so vitriolic is: "How much direct responsibility do you bear in the situation that you are unhappy about, and are you prepared to take responsibility for any actions of your own that led to the current situation?"
The person(s) with the axe to grind may be right or wrong or somewhere in between, but there's really no sure way to differentiate from a "this sucks!" web site.

On the other hand, I was surprised to see Capella University listed at The Free Dictionary's Encyclopedia list under "diploma mills". Surprising because Capella seems pretty well regarded here at DI, and Free Dictionary doesn't fall under the category of 'disgruntled individual with an axe to grind'. Here's a link:

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/List%20of%20alleged%20diploma%20mills

Anyone have any idea why Capella University would be on this list?

Kit

 

Their definition states a diploma mill is an "unaccredited organization" and "without recognition by official bodies". It goes on to say that they "require little or no academic study".

As a learner in the M.S. Organization and Management program I can definitely say that Capella is fully accredited and I have to work my butt off to keep up with the course work. I am very happy with my Capella experience to date.

 

Thanks everyone

Thanks everyone,

I've been in education for a long time and have heard that United States Department of Education investigations can be very long and drawn out cases. If the retaliation by the Provost and Dean is true, then Capella will be in a lot of trouble. I'd just like to find out if it is true. Also, I wouldn't think that the Department of Education would take on something that doesn't have a lot of substance.

I don't like the name <fill in the blank> sucks either but that's how I found that site. Personally, I hate the word "sucks" but when researching something, that's how I usually find information that is critical. Unfortunately, that term seems to be used a lot on the internet.

Thanks again for your responses.

Susie

 

An unintentional error maybe? With so many university names someone must have confused Capella for a less than wonderful institution. BTW Capella is listed as an RA accreditted institution by USNEWS.

S

 

Re: Be careful...

I'm not disgruntled, but sites like the one above helped me get a refund (they were initially reluctant even tho I had in writing their broken promises) from their doctoral Instructional Technology program. It was NOT impressive.

You will see many Capella PhD's teaching in Higher Ed - as Adjuncts - which is good - they aren't competing with me for tenure.

 

I think that all large accreditted schools are going to have some unhappy students that will make some noise. I found a site where a student calls Nova's business school a degree mill.

http://www.studentsreview.com/FL/NSU_g.html

Now to the Capella investigation case. I don't think that the case holds much water. For what I understand this unhappy student was posting messages/information that were innapropriate for class discussion boards. All school have regulations that have to be followed by their students and this particular student was not going to be the exception.
From what I see, the school's disciplinary action came as a result of his/her violation of school guidelines rather than student retaliation for making a complaint.

BTW Here is a link to Capella's IT guidelines for discussion:

http://vle1.capella.edu/support/comportment.htm

-S

 

Re: Re: Be careful...

I don't know if you meant that last statement as a potshot at Capella grads but giving you the benefit of the doubt... Several months back I looked at about 300 listings of Ph.D.'s and Capella on Google (there were more but I did not have more time). Of those I found something like 60 individuals working as regular professors, adjunts, administrators, etc. in Higher Ed. I do not share your observation.

 

Re: Re: Be careful...

Capella does not offer an Instructional Technology program at any degree level.

 

First, as stated already, Capella does not offer degrees in Instructional Technology. I'm guessing that you meant *Information* technology.

Second, Capella does not offer doctoral programs in *Information* Technology.

-S

 

Perhaps Jim was wanting an "Instructional Technology" program and was looking at Capella's "Instructional Design for Online Learning" program. Of course, one is not equivilent to the other.

There are Instructional Technology programs out there, Capella doesn't happen to offer one.

 

It would not suprise me...

Since leaving Capella this summer I've had to file several formal complaints with a variety of agency's regarding Title IV violations and Fair Credit Act violations. It is my experience that retaliation IS apart of Capella's procedure in dealing with former students who request proof or documentation of a variety of business office issues.

Watch out when you graduate or leave.

 

Being a tuition driven institution, I honestly don't think that they want to create poor word of mouth. My own experience is that Capella was always quick to respond to my needs. IMO they always encourage student feedback to improve their services. I'll share with you an example of what I mean.
Initially, there was some tension between me and my assigned advisor. We simply did not see eye to eye and I felt like she was not providing me with information that I needed to know for my classes. I made a formal complaint and the dean himself rearranged a time to call me by phone and discuss my situation. He was very pleasant and understanding. In the end, the problem was quickly fixed and I was assigned a much better advisor. Everything else worked out fine. The residencies were great and I managed to do a lot of networking.

So in sum, my experience with them was very good. I had great communication with the dean of the dept. of school psychology and I felt like the entire Capella community was there to help me succeed.

Sorry to hear about your own experience.

 

And you'd be guessing wrong. The PhD was in - going back and looking at my acceptance e-mail - "Online Instructional Design and Distance Education" which tracks to other schools "Instructional Technology".

And frankly - this should not have been all that hard for a grad student to figure out.

 

Maybe because you got your facts wrong to begin with.

"Online Instructional Design & Distance Education" and "Instructional Technology" are not the same thing.

Oof, that hurrrrt......

Anyway, good luck finding your research only PhD in instructional technology. Cheers

-S

 

Re: It would not suprise me...

What is Title IV? What did they do to you?

Susie

 

Hi Jim,

I didn't have any problems figuring out what you meant - that was the program of study I was considering. When I saw the site I mentioned earlier, it seems to be rather hostile but all of the links to universities and other organizations regarding how poorly designed their course room seems to be, has left me with a lot of questions. Based upon what I read, it looks like it doesn't even come close to the standards put out by W3C. If that's true, and based upon all of the sites I've look at about their course room, then I've had to question if Capella really is qualified to teach things like "Online Instructional Design" - the standards developed by W3C are considered amoung the best and I would think that an entirely online school, like Capella, would regard them very highly.

Sincerely,

Susie