Best Program Choice for MIS director in Higher Ed

I've been a reader of this forum for quite some time and I would like to get some advice about selecting a program.

My ultimate career path is to be an IS/IT director in higher education and teach as an adjunct in Information Systems. I have a masters in both education and information systems.

My question is, assuming that Northcentral University does receive accreditation, which program do you think would be better - a Ph.D in Business Administration with a specialization in MIS from Northcentral or a Ph.D in Educational Leadership and Higher Education from University of Nebraska.

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

 

My opinion: hand down choice. The PhD in Educational Leadership will be a much better choice in the area of secondary education. Secondly, NCU is an upstart even if they do achieve accreditation - so go with the state school.

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Howard Rodgers

 

Why not just do an already accredited IS graduate program at Nova in information systems?

John

 

One of the things I'm trying to do is keep the cost down since I'm paying for this on my own. The other factor is that I'm trying to keep residency to an absolute minimum. Neither Northcentral or Nebraska require any residency, although Nebraska strongly encourages an on-campus experience.

An additional consideration with Nova is that I've asked locally about people's impressions and the responses have been univerally negative, except for faculty who are in adult education. I don't know if this is a historical remnant or what, but quite honestly, if it's going to be a problem I really don't want to have to deal with that stigma. Strangely these same people don't have this negative impression about other DL schools although, of course, none of them would be as good as a residential degree . I actually had one faculty person tell me that the only solution was to find a job and relocate to a place where I could do my Ph.D. residentially.

 

I think that time has come for NSU alumni to mount pressure on NSU administration to do something about the negative image of the school. The administration could pay professional PR experts to do it for them. If nothing is done by the university authority, the negative impression that people outside Florida have about Nova will never go away.
One solution is for NSU alumni association to lead the image-making efforts by mounting serious pressure on NSU President to do something to improve the school's perceived image in other states. After all, if Al Gore could be repackaged and re-imaged, Nova could also be re-imaged. It will only cost money.

Ike Ononkwo
Ph.D. candidate
(who hopes to escape in 2002)

 

Ike,

I agree. Interestingly enough most of the negativity I get on NSU seems to be on this board and at best it varies. In the post above the Ed.D. is looked upon favorably while in other threads it is not. No one discusses the professional schools and their quality. Hence, its a mixed bag.

I am heading out for holiday vacation. When I get back I will post a letter to the Institutional Advancement office and see what type of reading I can get on image.

A very proud NSU grad (and never had image problems).

John

 

I would think any stigma about NSU is personal bias. It would seem that the bias exists due to the fact that Nova was a pioneer in graduate distance ed. Being one of the first schools to offer non-traditional graduate degrees did give the school a poor image because the traditional community believed that DL graduate study didn't compare in quality. NSU has weathered this storm and is now the largest private university in Florida. The programs are of good quality and you should read the recent thread on NSU where this was debated. It is time to put those perceptions to rest. I guess my question for you is the reason why the people you talked to looked upon NSU negatively? There are so many postives too. In a ranking discussion US News graduate school edition had ranked the NSU Med school very high and on par with such schools as the University of Chicago. Go figure?

John

 

John and Ike,

Which schools in Nova did you study in, SCIS or Education? Are either of you employed in academia now? I'd be interested in hearing about the positive reception of your degrees in academia.

Thanks,
Howie

 

I would agree with you completely. Unfortunately, in higher education, this can be a powerful and pervasive force though.

Undoubtedly true.

I think part of the problem is that other schools like Capella, Walden, ARgosy, etc., are not ranked by US News at all and so remain somewhat of a mystery to many. Nova, unfortunately, is ranked in US News as an institution in the 4th tier National group. The graduate programs in Education and Computer Science aren't ranked in the specific school listings at all.

Personally, I think the US News ranking are very overrated and very biased. But, unfortunately, many people in academia give these types of rankings quite a bit of weight.

Howie

 

SCIS

 

SCIS. Yes, I am employed as an adjunct professor at Kean University in New Jersey. Kean University is the third larges public college in NJ. I teach both undergraduate and graduate courses. I have been contacted to apply for an open full-time position in the department last year but I declined because I have a good paying job. As far as reception is concerned, I think it has been generally positive. However, I believe that there are some faculty members who do not have much respect for distance learning. One of the professors actually suggested that Nova should have some kind of affiliation with a local university here in New Jersey if they want their degrees to be respected.

 

I meant "largest" not "larges"

 

I agree with Howard regarding the choice of University of Nebraska versus Northcentral. Since you have graduate degrees in both ed. and MIS, that will carry some weight at most higher ed institutions (many of which have IS/IT directors without doctorates who also teach as adjuncts, that is, if they can find the time).

I assume that you are looking at the doctoral program at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I have looked at that program myself and it appears to be one of the better RA short-residency doctorates around--a superior choice to Northcentral.

Tony Pina
(a Technology Director who also teaches as an Adjunct Faculty for California State U. and who is completing a doctorate in educational leadership with a technology specialization)

 

This is the first time I have posted anything, but I feel I need to chime in on the Nova issue. I have been an advocate of DL for quite a while. I educate those around me about the issues surrounding DL. Nova is one of the last ones that I would recommend. Not because of the quality of education, but because I don't regard it as a true DL school. Nova, like most other colleges have online components, but most of their work involves the "classroom". For some, however, The Regional Program would suffice. I would have no problem recommending Nova in that case. I just don't understand why the RA/DL School with the most residency for Doctoral programs gets so much flack for being a DL school. Also, I would have no problem going to a physician or a attorney who graduated from Nova.

Regards,

Darren

B.S.B.-Management, U of Phoenix
M.B.A.-Fontbonne College

 

I am a fulltime faculty member teaching computers at a community college. I just received an Ed.S. in instructional technology and thought about a doctorate. I also looked at the Nebraska program. Here is a question you need an answer to: What percentage of students who start actually finish? I ask that of all the programs I considered. Nebraska was always nice and helpful but told me they did not track that statistic(!) I was told, however, that the percentage was lower than for those on campus.

Given that, I asked myself some questions:

1. Motivation for a doctorate? Why do I need it? I don't. Would I "get off" by being called "doctor?" Nope, not me.

2. Cost effectiveness. The Nebraska program is the most cost effective of any doctoral program I could find. And they seem to indicate they would take in transfer all if not most of my Ed.S. work. I also got accepted to an online MBA program that is even cheaper than Nebraska's Ed.D.

My choice: online MBA program. It will take me two years to pay myself back versus four for Nebraska. Argosy, Capella, and Nova are far too pricey. I talked to a fellow faculty member who did a Nova doctorate and she told me it took her 14 years to pay herself back. $30k-plus just isn't worth it to me to be called "doctor." Heck, I got one of those online ministerial credentials if I feel the need for a title.