Is Leicester EdD good ?

can someone advise me if Leicester University EdD is a good program on a distance learning mode?

 

Hi there,

I attended a Leicester University sales seminar for their EdD here at the British Council in Hong Kong and let me tell you they are very slick. There was a whole bunch of LU professors on hand to answer questions, provide guidance, and generally have face-to-face meetings with potential students. They even brought in a fresh EdD graduate to lend credence to their program.

What I can say about their program is that originally they modelled their EdD on the Harvard format. Now that has a certain credibility. Also, they started their EdD program in 1996 and so far they seem to have a good track record of graduates. What is important in choosing any programe, especially a doctorate, is the quality of the advisors. The people at LU are fully qualified - all of the professors hold a PhD - and on top of that, they appear to be very approachable and kind.

I am seriously considering their program, since they fly in the professors to Hong Kong to give weekend and evening seminars twice a year (spring and autumn). In addition, they provide ample support through email, fax, teleconferencing, etc. An optional part of the program also has a summer school at LU.

Lastly, the cost of the program boils down to this: part-time studies will set you back 2,500 British Pounds per year (3-5 years); whereas a full-time program costs 5,000 British Pounds per year (time of completion is between 2-3 years).

Check out their website at: www.le.ac.uk
Alternatively, you can check out the British Council at: www.britishcouncil.org.hk/distancelearning

Cheers!

Peter Jak

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Can't comment too much on the EdD specifically, but on Leicester as a whole, they are really good. What Peter has said here compliments fully the experience that I had with them when applying for a distance learning MBA. They are slick, well reputable, deliver what they promise and the recognition is sound. (the price is darn good too). As a whole, I think that any program they offer through DL would be worth considering - it would meet (and beat) alot of places with a comparison of it's courses offered, success rate, balance of activites and other criteria.

Overall, if it's being considered, nothing about the school or program should put you off.

Cheers

 

Let us remind people in the US that the usage of the word "slick" here connotes skillful, efficient, and so forth. In American, it can have much more negative connotations (e.g., slick operator).

I agree that Leicester is a fine place. During the four years my colleagues and I represented their distance Master's in training and and in human resources, we got to know people and programs in 4 or 5 other departments, and were uniformly impressed. And the fact that C. P. Snow earned his Master's there (one of the first they ever awarded) is an added niceness.

 

Is it correct to assume that Leicester would be considered the equivalent of US RA, in addition to it's DETC accreditation? It's a bit confusing that they would want DETC accreditation though they were already a reputable UK school.

 

Yes. Leicester is a part of the British higher education system. It meets GAAP and should be considered comparable to RA. The DETC accreditation may have several functions. First, it helps marketing because it answers the question "Is it accredited?" Also, DETC accreditation may make its programs more acceptable for tuition reimbursement programs. Finally, there is some symbiosis here. DETC benefits as much or more by accrediting part of this established British university (the CLMS) as the university receives from DETC.

Rich Douglas

 

I encouraged Leicester to pursue DETC accreditation during the time of my involvement, largely so that they could qualify more easily for US military reimbursement schemes through DANTES.

However the DETC accreditation was only of the Centre for Labour Market Studies, a semi-autonomous entity on the Leicester campus. Is it possible that the scope of that accreditation has expanded to the entire university?

 

As reported in this forum earlier this year, Unisa has also applied for DETC accreditation despite widespread recognition per GAAP. Unisa has presented several reasons for this action. The first is that South African governmental agencies such as the Higher Education Council (HEC) and South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) have called for international benchmarking of academic standards. Unisa believed (perhaps naïvely) that the DETC accreditation process would serve this purpose. The second reason is that they hoped that DETC accreditation would publicize the university's reputation, which is well established in Africa but less so in the rest of the world as a consequence of South Africa's isolation during the apartheid era. For this same reason, Unisa volunteered to host the 2002 Standing Conference of Presidents (SCOP) meeting of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE, http://www.icde.org ).

The DETC site visit to Unisa in Pretoria was slated for August 28. I have heard nothing about whether it took place. Unisa has been in turmoil this year, and the Vice Chancellor (equivalent to university President in U.S.) resigned during the first week of September. Unisa has a new council and new Vice Chancellor, and there are fierce battles of words (and wills) going on between the council and the Unisa faculty, and between the council and the Minister of Education.

 

I see, thanks for the explanations. I hadn't considered that DETC could help with tuition reimbursement. I'm not sure if the accreditation has expanded to the entire university; I think that I read about it on the Centre for Labour Market Studies web site.

 

Is the taught Ed.D. available via DL in the U.S.? The linked website didn't indicate either way, and the link the UofL has for distance education doesn't list it as one of the options.


Rich Douglas

 

No, the accreditation only covers the Centre for Labour Market Studies. With the exception of the pilot program for first professional degrees, DETC will still not accredit institutions offering doctoral degrees.

 

Hi,

This highlights the shambolic US accreditation process.

A Leicester EdD by DL would never be "accredited" by DETC (no doctorates) and probably wouldn't be liked much by the US RA's (not exactly falling over themselves with DE let alone DE doctorates - should Leicester be daft enough to want to submit it and were that possible).

Leicester U's ability to issue valid, authentic, legal and legitimate British degrees is absolute, thanks to statute and nothing to do with half-baked self-serving voluntary (mandatory) "accreditation" processes.

Cheers,

Neil Hynd

 

And in the United States, these requirements are met by regional accreditation and (to a lesser extent) by other recognized accreditation. Simply having the legal authority to operate is not sufficient, although unaccredited schools frequently attempt to pursuade their targeted customers otherwise.

Rich Douglas

 

Now Rich, you wouldn't have a specific school in mind here would you? I didn't know if you were thinking of a school perhaps, uhh, well, maybe out near New Mexico.

Russell

 

Naw. That would be far to subtle for me.

Rich

 

Naw. That would be far too subtle for me.

Rich

 

Thanks for the message. I agree Leicester EdD seems quite well-thought out in terms of support. What it likes in on-campus residency it makes up with the seminar (in HK, Singapore, etc)and optional summer schools in Leicester. However, I am wondering if Leicester's EdD will be appropriate for someone with research interests in learning organization issues.

Do you know the ranking of Leicester's School of Education in UK?

 

From what I have seen, it was around the top 30 in the rankings for business. For the Distance element (school offering courses through distance education, it is higher - haven't seen any rankings for that though). As a University Business School, as mentioned, no problem.

In my opinion, with the exception of some US schools, I feel that higher education and a qualification in distance learning from a UK institution will have the edge over US RA programs.

Taking credits at CSU (colorado state uni in fort collins) and CU (Boulder), and now in the UK (University of Wales, Cardiff) and Oxford (Brookes), I feel, in my opinion, that the UK is more thorough and a bit tougher.

In comparison, and as per Neil's point, the US accreditation process is a bit of a shambles, though there are many exceptions, but UK institutions are at least the eqivalent of RA in the US.

I think that Leicester will be a good choice, considering all the facts.

Cheers

 

http://www.le.ac.uk/se/courses/doced.html
http://www.le.ac.uk/se/courses/doced_modules.html

'Financial Times and Sunday Times rate the University in the UK's top 20' http://www.le.ac.uk/

 

The ranking of UK universities in business studies by The Times can be found at: (www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,714-125540,00.html)