UNISA Degrees: USA Utility?

Those are great questions. My only knowledge of UNISA, like you, is what I've read here. I know that as far as cost goes they simply cannot be beat unless there have been changes I'm not aware of.

 

I was told by my employer's accreditation czar..( lol) (Houston Community College) that UNISA is a great school and he thinks highly of the school. He uses a service in Florida (recommends it too) to validate degrees in the US. As far as utility, I still think it comes down to research, writing and publishing. Degrees from other countries do not really come into play. That is my take on it.

 

In addition to the facts and numbers, I would like to see some anecdotes as well. For people with South African degrees, do you find yourself doing a lot of explaining, eg, how you have a degree from SA, why you chose them, and if you have ever had to explain the entire foreign accreditation situation from A-Z? Or, is a fully accredited South African degree considered a no-brainer?

No, I do not have to explain in detail, but I do just let them know ( of the process).

 

I will inform you all more on my program later today.

 

Ok. This is the quick version. I have two co-committee chairs. One here in the United States and one in South Africa. They oversee my dissertation until it passes their muster. Then it goes to a committee of four experts in my field. My two committee chairs pick the experts, but after that, they are finished with the process. Then my dissertation goes between the experts until they are satisfied. Then I am finally done. I have set a goal of finishing by December 2012 ( I started July 2009). I paid 1600 dollars for one year and am expecting to pay 1900 dollars this July. When they say you are on your own, you are on your own. Really. I have spoken with both of my chairs at length many times and they are great. I love the program for I know what I am doing and what needs to be done. I am not sure whether I would go to Pretoria to walk. I have not decided on that yet. I am not worried about the utility of the degree. Again, it is your teaching, research and writing that counts. It is all about the points you earn to get to the next level during the application process ( told to me by an adminstrator ( and historian) at UH. Does not matter about the degree. Why do I say that? We have a newly minted PhD in history adjuncting for us. University of Michigan. He still is working to get a gig.

 

I have an Australian Doctorate that was earned as an external student. The fact that in my resume I show that I worked in Canada while doing my doctorate in Australia is an issue that needs to be explained in job interviews. I was interviewed for full time faculty positions this year and few people questioned the degree for this reason, in my last interview I was required to show evidence of dissertation submission and letters from the University that confirmed attendance and explained the degree program.

The fact is that there is a lot of fraud when it comes to academic credentials. It is not a secret that people buy degrees from accredited Universities from lesser developed countries.

There is nothing wrong with a South African degree but many times you would not be given the chance to exaplain the degree in a interview as your resume might be tossed out before consideration. Although UNISA is a strong school, I would rather get my degree from the same country of my place of residence, this would raise less questions in my opinion. If you really want to go for the foreign route, try to select a country that has credibility as you would be required to defend your choice in the future. I just find too difficult to defend an UNISA selection besides the cost issue. Many people might think that you went there just because you got an easy ride or bought it, this might not be the case but this might be the perception based on my experience.

 

Many people might think that you went there just because you got an easy ride or bought it, this might not be the case but this might be the perception based on my experience.

I think, and this is just my opinion, that will change over time.

 

I believe that the source of the PhD degree will become irrelevant as you build your resume with post doctoral experience. I believe it can be an excellent option for a person already working at the community college level as full time faculty and that is looking for a doctorate for a pay bump but not so evident for a person that wants to break into academia. In my experience, academic positions are very competitive and I don't see someone with 20 years of sales experience getting a tenure track after a DL doctorate from UNISA, I just don't see it.

 

This would be another great examination within HR departments at universities. I know within community colleges, and you are right, it does not matter. It is all on a point system to get to the first set of interviews (all graded for degree, experience and whatnot) then you are on your own after that. It is how you teach in front of the committee (community college) and how you perform in your interview that gets you the job. In the university setting, I am not totally sure.

 

It can still work if you are already working full time as a lecturer with your master's and get the doctorate from UNISA after. Some Universities give you an automatic raise and promotion because the doctorate. Some others might give you the option to apply for a tenure track once the doctorate is achieved, if you work already as full time lecturer the hiring committee will be less likely to question the doctorate.
It can also work if you get your doctorate from UNISA and then do a post doctoral residential study at a prestigious University, the hiring committee will tend to focus on the post doctoral work and the UNISA doctorate will become a check mark.
It might be even work if you are originally from South Africa and your resume shows a complete career history in that country, if the candidate moves to the US after then hiring committee from an American University won't question the doctorate as they will never know if this was earned by DL.

 

This topic comes up a lot and it is always intriguing to me. For many of us who have degrees outside of South Africa we give the impression that ours are better. However a look at the world ranking may say otherwise.

For many of us who are planning to pursue a degree we give the impression that that we can we can find a better rating degree somewhere else. Maybe so but I doubt it.

Medical doctors and nurses from South Africa are coveted and are poached by western nations. How many of us will walk away from a physician office if the degree is from South Africa?
Presently do you think you get better training as an accountant in the US and an example, than in South Africa? I do not know the answer, but if I am looking for expertise in IFRS then the answer is very easy.
Using the MBA as an example; if we all frank with our self an MBA is more hype than substance; especially if it is taught by professors who have never work outside of academia. The MBA is formula driven, the courses, material, cases etc is similar in most cases. Why will an MBA from western school have more utility than one from South Africa? The answer may not lie in the quality of the programs but in the perception base mostly on @#%$& which many of us don’t want to face.

Hey I hope I am not flaming here. But I have first hand experience from my birth country where mostly nurses where recruited to filled western hospitals.

 

This is that:...LOL


World Universities' ranking on the Web: Home

http://www.webometrics.info/top100_continent.asp?cont=africa

 

Hi MC
I am in agreement with you that the rank of some excellent universities may have been understated by the webtronic research- especially those in South Africa. Here is an Academic Ranking of World top 500 Universities . The University of Capetown; the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Kwazulunatal are listed in the top 500. An argument could be made for Stellenbosch to be in the top 500 also. However, it is like every other ranking-not perfect.
ARWU 2009

 

Wits, UCT (medical professionals from SA are highly regarded, largely because of the fame Chris Barnard gained here for performing the first ever heart transplant, we also have the world's biggest hospital) and Stellenbosch are great universities. But it also depends on your area of study. There is a long list of excellent universities is SA like Rhodes University (undoubtedly top in many areas), MEDUNSA (Medical University of South Africa) and the University of Pretoria. There are about 25 universities here and MOST are very good.

UNISA offers courses by DL only.

 

How is UNISA looked upon in South Africa?