LSU Independent Study, "Dubious Quality?"

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Maniac Craniac, Apr 29, 2010.

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  1. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Business at Elizabethtown College
    [​IMG]

    Wow, that was harsh. What are they referring to? I am not going to Elizabethtown, so I'm not worried about one random school's opinion, but just what is so bad about these courses, AND, would transfer to other schools be a big problem? I am waiting for an answer from Columbia College about their acceptance of these courses (they have been unbelievably slow in answering my questions. I asked them something 2 weeks ago and counting...).
     
  2. TonyM

    TonyM Member

    The credits are straight forward LSU credits. I know that some schools limit the number of correspondence credits from anyplace. I bet there is some odd back story to the Elizabethtown policy. Maybe they were losing money to LSU and found a way to stop the process.
     
  3. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    And maybe it's just academic snobbery.
     
  4. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    That's only funny because I spend way to much time on this forum.
     
  5. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    That's my concern. Columbia limits "nontraditional" credit to 50% of your degree. By the time I enroll, I will already have maximized that through CLEP, AP, and ECE. I need to know if Columbia considers the LSU credits, coming from a regular college transcript, as "traditional" or "nontraditional." The answer will directly effect whether or not I take these courses.

    Also, for them to make such a remark does worry me about the quality of the courses. I don't want to take them and either 1) feel they are so easy that I am just paying for credits or 2) get a GPA-destroying grade on a course where the requirements are obscure and the faculty is inaccessible.
     
  6. Vincey37

    Vincey37 New Member

    Don't worry, the LSU courses are more or less as good as all the other independent study providers out there.

    As for Etown, perhaps there might be a bit of "me too" elitism. Can't be easy being the unknown liberal arts college living in the shadow of Haverford and Swarthmore.
     
  7. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Actually, I wasn't joking for once. There is nothing wrong with those credits, IMO, and there is no reason not to accept them. It seems like a bit of elitism. LSU is Louisiana State University, right? Just because it's part of their DL program is no reason not to accept the credits. Correct me if I'm wrong about the school.

    I suppose it did seem like I was referring to and making a joke about the "Why the Snobbery" thread. Which was quite an interesting thread.

    Do you spend too much time on this board? Naaaa!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 29, 2010
  8. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Yes, LSU is.

    I agree with what you say, however, I must bend to the will of the college(s) I attend.
     
  9. scaredrain

    scaredrain Member

    Or maybe its just greed.
     
  10. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    That's right, every class they don't accept in transfer is another class you must pay them for.
     
  11. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    What do you mean? :confused:
     
  12. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    If they don't accept certain credits, I either can not take those certain courses, or, I have to find a college that will.
     
  13. threedogs

    threedogs New Member

    Since I spent way too much time at my local community college (including a short amt of [TORTURE!!:eek:] time at a couple of work-studies), I can assure you that many, many people at colleges, instructors and administrators alike, know very little about distance learning. In fact, many have a tough time hard time email. As a result, I think, they fear it (fear losing their own jobs, too).

    Just a little bit of an observation...
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 30, 2010
  14. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Yes, that's the old guard and they are still in power at most traditional universities. I think when the younger generation of of tech savvy academics rise to power in the universities, attitudes about DL and technology in general will change for the better.
     
  15. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Oh, sorry to be dense. You are saying that you must take what they offer or walk...no other choices. Got it.
     
  16. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Good news! Columbia accepts them as "traditional" credits, so I will be able to use them to fill in the difference between my non-traditional limit (60) and my transfer credit limit (96).

    The only question now is whether the quality/feedback/method is good enough that I can at least bear it for a greater purpose. If I actually like them, then Whoo Hoo!!!!!
     
  17. doghouse

    doghouse New Member

    I'm doing one of these courses and it is not easy at all. I have to complete 15 or 16 different lessons, each of which is 6-9 essay questions. Each lesson ends up being 10+ pages. Plus there's a midterm and final.
     
  18. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    :)

    I just browsed the faculty list of that pinnacle of educational rigor, Elizabethtown College. They have NO doctorally-qualified Accounting faculty. The only permanent Accounting instructor besides the program director has his Masters degree from The American College, an online institution. I'm sure it's a fine school (even though their website has more adspeak than UoPx site has), but please tell me how it's any less "dubious" than LSU IS? As I recall from when my wife took LSU classes, they were supervised by actual LSU business school faculty (including the department chair) and had the same requirements as LSU on site classes.
     
  19. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    Good news. Just in case, save and document all emails.

    From what I have seen of the DL LSU courses, they are basically structured like the University of Iowa DL courses.

    Abner :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 3, 2010
  20. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    It's funny how they have chosen a very classy sounding name. I suppose that's the typical MO.
     

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