Capella credibility

While I am sure there are many fine people enrolled at Capella - I seem to be running up against largely the "bottom feeders" - and the impression they leave is that just about anyone with cash and patience can walk out with a degree.

I'm on a search committee for a Dean's position. One of the candidates, oddly enough, refers to themselves as "this writer" repeatedly, confides that they are within 25 credits of their "Canella Ph.D." (their spelling), uses "have" instead of "has" throughout the cover letter and has a plethera of other spelling and grammatical mistakes - in a resume COVER LETTER.

I can't help wondering how this person got INTO a Ph.D. program, let alone with 25 credits of FINISHING it (assuming they are telling the truth) - and I can't help wondering if this is typical of Capella.

 

Incredible.

 

Unfortunately, this person was sloppy. I'm sure you guys run your manuscripts by someone who will check it for typos. You could have easily been accused of such if you had not done so.

Capella, I can assure you, is a pretty good school. My wife is in her Mental Health Masters, which is CACREP accredited. It is very rigorous. My wife is a very hard worker and so are many others in her classes.

Even though Capella may have some rotten apples, there are plenty of wonderful professional folks who give their hearts to the work. I can remember that even schools like Harvard (I think I have the right Ivy League school) have problems with slackers such as Teddy Kennedy, who cheated.

Anyways, it pains me to hear these stories. I hope there is no vendictiveness or a desire to put this most excellent school down via a vendetta.

 

One must wonder whether these spelling and grammar errors are due a lack of knowledge or a simple inattention to detail. Is the writer not familiar with the specific rules of grammar or is he a careless communicator? There are typos (spelling and grammatical errors) in most posts (including the OP) on these boards.

I understand that these boards are not the same as a cover letter but:

plethora

Assuming that there is only one applicant doing the referring to, it would be himself or herself.

This should be an em dash and not an en dash; if a dash at all.

this person doesn't agree with they are. Consider revising the latter to he is or the former to these people.

Just a couple of examples for consideration. While I agree that everyone should be very careful how they present themselves in writing, fact is that most people who are not aspiring to a career as an editor will make sufficient mistakes in writing to allow an attentive reader to criticise his contruction, spelling, or grammar. I am no exception.

Surely it would be bad form to imply that the OP's alma mater is a substandard "bottom feeder" because of such errors in a board post or in a letter.

It must certainly be bad form to condemn an entire school based upon the writing skills of one candidate for a degree.

 

I'm at the dissertation stage of a phd in gen psy at Capella.

While I found that a number of folk in the class rooms seemed to be academically questionable, the dissertation seminars are filled with bright folk who are doing credible work.

I have also had a run in with a so-so Capella product. One applicant for an administratvie position at my B&M school listed himself as holding a PhD from Capella (can't remember the school, but not psy). I was in on their presentation and kind of cringed.

Then, upon closer review of their resume, it was noted that they listed themselves as PhD at the heading of their resume. But in the education section as "anticipated completion 2007".

Than, in an of itself, was enough for them to be rejected.

Capella is a big school, with an inclusive admissions policy. Plenty of marginal folk can get in. The big question is, do they manage to complete the program?

Regards,
GE

 

Given that a quickie post here is not NEARLY on the same level as a resume cover letter for a 6-figure position...your point is what, exactly?

Note that "he" was used used because it might not BE a "he" - hence the "they". Althougth your assumption that any candidate for a Dean's position must be male is noted.

Note also - and I am the first to say this is not statistically signigficant - the ONLY Capella grads I've bumped into have not been the impressive ones - guess the good ones avoid Chicago.

Note further - I am not a fan of UoP (and I'm an adjunct there) but I've met at least one very impressive UoP Ph.D.

 

<<the ONLY Capella grads I've bumped into have not been the impressive ones>>

It's a not insignificant quibble (IMO) to note the person you mentioned is not a Capella graduate.

Regards,
GE

 

It’s spelled “plethora”

Quite frankly, I think your post is mean spirited and is meant to start another bashing of the school and its students. Besides, you are currently getting your doctorate at NCU, and NCU is not without its critics so who do you think you are? Do you think that being an ABD from Nova and being an NCU student makes you so much better? How would you like if someone else rehashed flame threads against NCU and their students?

 

Re: Re: Capella credibility

Quite frankly, if you run into a series of questionable people from NCU, NOVA, Oxford, ISIM, WKU, IU, or Ivy Tech, feel free.

Re: "Capella-bashing threads" - I don't think I've been a participant - as I've stated - I am sure there are many fine Capella grads - I do not seem to be running into them. Hopefully that will change soon - when BB's wife graduates.

Until then, I think your invoking the term "mean-spirited" is mean-spirited.

 

NCU Credibility

I'm just wondering if snob posters like Jimnagrom, who attack other schools with unreliable anecdotal information, are starting to be the norm at NCU?
Most of the students I've met at NCU have been good and I think that its a shame that a Capella and Nova reject - who has nothing better to do than bash other schools - is attending a decent school like NCU.

Love or hate a school as much as you want, but please be respectful of their students.

 

Re: Re: Re: Capella credibility

Quite frankly, I think you are pathetic and have no place in this forum.

 

Re: Re: Capella credibility

May I ask, where is this "Capella-bashing thread" located? I wasn't thinking of such, but now I'm curious.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Capella credibility

That's fine...thank you for sharing...are you by any chance connected with Capella in any way?

 

I disagree. Many years ago, when I was a very young student musician, I was given this advise:

"Whenever you play that instrument, assume that there are people listening. Your reputation is only as good as what they hear."

If that is true, and I propose that it is, then writing here reflects upon your reputation no less than writing a cover letter. Possibly more so. Most applicants don't write their cover letter without some measure of outside input. What you write here is a reflection of your own writing ability (or attention to detail) without outside input.

It seems to me that you've taken my comments as a personal attack. It was not meant in that way. It was meant to point out that every piece of writing can be critically disassembled. Yours, mine, and your candidate's. Whether your candidate has made more errors than your committee finds acceptable is a matter for your committee.

Of course, your candidate could have paid an editor a couple hundred dollars to review that document (he should have) and then you would be satisfied with his writing ability. But then, it wouldn't be his writing ability you're looking at.

Your defense of using "themselves" as a gender nuetral for himself/herself is not completely valid in my opinion. Feel free to disagree. However, them is plural and you don't have a plural construction.

None of this discussion reflects on the quality of our repective alma maters -- this is a matter of personal attention to detail and reflects the level of importance we place in acceptable grammar and construction.

Sum peeps don' care much 'bout such stuff...

 

sulla: Come on now. Take this as a teachable moment.

If jimnagrom hadn't said anything, his doubts about Capella would have stayed with him entirely unchecked; as it is, CoachTurner, BlackBird and GME have raised awfully good points that I'm sure he's thinking on already. Raise your own points - talk about the sort of quality control you've seen at Capella if you've studied or worked there or followed it closely - or give others the chance to.

And starting another thread to attack jimnagrom was certainly not good form.

 

Coach, your proposing that it is true is a FAR cry from it being true. And the rest of your arguement fails accordingly. You look at tasks in terms of effort/value. The effort I (and most people) put into a resume (with attendant cover letter) as FAR more worthy of effort than quickie posts on places like degreeinfo.

If I did ONLY those things I could do pefectly instead of settling for "good enough but faster" my life would be far less rich and interesting than it is.

I personally have no problem with Capella...the person could have come from MIT and I would have still asked "what the hell does this mean, if anything?"

The most value-added reponse I have seen so far was the obervation that the person was NOT a graduate - yet - and might never BE a graduate.

 

Jim - I think, in retrospect, this entire thread might have been better served if you had named it differently. If the person had come from MIT, would you have named this thread "MIT Credibility"? Probably not.

 

Mr. Morgan,

Are you saying that you don't believe what you say on this board or how you say it will have any reflection on your reputation as an academic?

Are you proposing that how you present yourself here (among peers) makes no reflection on your alma mater?

When applying for a job, I present a document that has potential financial value. It is generally only read by one or a few people though. When you post here, what you write is presented to many. The implications can be extreme. Implications you may not have even considered when you presented your debate.

Is there any possibility at all that a future potential employer of ours is reading this thread?

Then, if we assume that your applicant's errors were due to a lack of attention to detail, and that lack of attention was found to be sub-standard to you; then, how is a lack of attention to detail on a message board to be seen?

"He wrote a good cover letter but when he writes on public forums he's very sloppy." That'd be bad.

But, my real point was that it doesn't matter how well you write. Someone out there has the skills required to absolutely take apart the construction, grammar, syntax, and/or spelling of any document in print.

Generally speaking, and this is only an observation, if you attack the grammar and spelling of someone else you can expect that someone will show you why your grammar and spelling skills aren't so great either. I've observed this to be almost universally true. Maybe it's part of our propensity to not like seeing the pot call a kettle black.

 

Although I hesitate to enter this post (which, I hope, will not spiral out of control), I would point out that many English speakers in England and the UK use "have" instead of "has" and vice versa. This could be the reason behind the seemingly "incorrect" usage.

For example, in referring to a sports team Americans would say "Real Madrid has many strengths, including David Beckham" Brits would say "Real Madrid have many strengths, including David Beckham". Not being a Brit, an English major or an expert I think that this has to do with the fact that Real Madrid is one team but has plural parts, or it could be that Brits use a shorthand, instead of saying "The team Real Madrid has many strengths.", which is then shortened to the first example sentence above.

The use of "this writer" could also be the same type of situation.

I agree that the misspelling of the school name is unfortunate.

P.S. Real Madrid and David Beckham are playing in Seattle tomorrow and my family and I are going to the game.
Just trying to add a bit of levity...

 

As noted in a previous thread, I completed a doctoral level online course at Capella and found that at least 60% of the students were unable to demonstate doctoral level critical thinking and writing skills. In fact their competencies in these areas were probably on par with students attending a community college. It was pathetic BUT what was most disturbing was that these students were permitted to progress to the point of taking this advanced course.

As we know many online for-profit proprietary doctoral programs admit students with minimum grade point averages and no standardized admission test (ie, GRE) requirements. So it is very evident that these schools are accepting a large number of students who would have not met the academic standards for admission to comparable traditional brick and mortar doctoral degree programs.