APU gives units for Wal-Mart training in deal

Lots of talk on the board about the deal between APU and Wal-Mart. What has just come to light is the fact that students will get APU credits for Wal-Mart training, and in some cases, apparently, just for doing their jobs.

The Chronicle of Higher education reports that:

For example, cashiers with one year's experience could get six credits for an American Public class called "Customer Relations," provided they received an "on target" or "above target" on their last performance evaluation, said Deisha Galberth, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. A department manager's training and experience could be worth 24 credit hours toward courses like retail ethics, organizational fundamentals, or human-resource fundamentals, she said.

Altogether, employees could earn up to 45 percent of the credit for an associate or bachelor's degree at APU "based on what they have learned in their career at Wal-Mart," according to the retailer's Web site.​

The article reports that Wal-Mart also approached U of Maryland, University College. One of the reasons an arrangement could not be made with them was:

"We feel very strongly that any university academic credit that's given for training needs to be training or experience at the university level," Ms. Aldridge said. "And we have some very set standards in that regard. And I'm not certain that we would have been able to offer a significant amount of university credit for some of the on-the-job training that was provided there."​

However, one of the comments was:

You need to understand that UMUC competes tooth and nail with AMU/APU and Dr. Aldridge's comments were at best, ahem, self-serving. ​

Is 'Wal-Mart U.' a Good Bargain for Students? - Technology - The Chronicle of Higher Education

 

This is sad, anyone with an APU degree will be screwed in the end. I can't belive that they will give so much credit for crap.

 

Wal-Mart and APU

Yes, you're absolutely right. Nobody will take an APU degree seriously after this.

In addition, In my opinion, online education is not well-suited for students with poor preparation in writing and math skills, which are surely common in Wal-Mart employees. Math, writing, and oral communication skills are expensive and difficult to teach or monitor online and a commercial online school has no motivation for requiring it.

I'm not stating these skills can't be taught online but it certainly is not easy.

Real life isn't a multiple-guess exam.

 

How is this different from those that went to big 3 schools? And who is nobody? Maybe academia but generally, employers aren't going to care as long as it's fully accredited. They have no idea I almost tested completely out of my BS degree. All they care is that a regionally accredited school graduated me. It'll be the same with APU. 95% of the time, it won't even be an issue and the last 5% of the time APU would have been an issue even before the Wal-Mart deal.

We have to remember, we are WAY INTO distance education here. Most people have no idea and I bet most people won't even know about this Wal-Mart deal in 6 months. I'm not thrilled to see APU enter into this agreement but I don't think it's going to change things for APU grads one way or the other.

 

This post is needlessly condescending to Wal-Mart employees. Do you actually know any Wal-Mart employees? I do. My mother works at Wal-Mart, in the pharmacy department. Yes, she can read, write, do math and speak flawless English. She taught me to read when I was 5 years old. By the 6th grade, I was reading at a college level. Let's not paint the employees of Wal-Mart with such a broad brush. You may not like the company, but that doesn't mean the people who work there aren't intelligent. It is one of the most successful companies in the U.S. They must be doing something right.

I think some members of this board are reading way to much into this. APU is offering a discount to Wal-Mart employees, not forming "Wal-Mart U". How is that different from a school offering a discount to military service members and veterans? How is it different from a local community college offering free tuition to LPN students (which a school in my area does)? Because it's Wal-Mart? Grow up.

 

Do we have all the details? No. Anything said here is really speculation. Maybe there is a college level exam like a CLEP/DANTES required to be passed by those wanting college credit for their job experience. How would that be a bad thing?

 

speculation

This is not speculation. This is comment based upon a reputable source, The Chronicle of Higher Education. quoting a Wal-Mart spokesperson that employees will get college units just for doing their cashier job.

The Chronicle of Higher education reports that:

For example, cashiers with one year's experience could get six credits for an American Public class called "Customer Relations," provided they received an "on target" or "above target" on their last performance evaluation, said Deisha Galberth, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. A department manager's training and experience could be worth 24 credit hours toward courses like retail ethics, organizational fundamentals, or human-resource fundamentals, she said.

Altogether, employees could earn up to 45 percent of the credit for an associate or bachelor's degree at APU "based on what they have learned in their career at Wal-Mart," according to the retailer's Web site.

 

I wonder if they would get a degree in psychology for working in customer service and returns? Or maybe a organizational management degree for being in charge of a department?

 

Where does it outline the process to get these credits from your job? It doesn't. That is my point. All this says is that employees COULD get credit from experience. It doesn't say they will automatically get it. Like I said earlier, they might still have to pass an exam to get the credit. The work experience might qualify them to take the exam. Assuming they pass, they would get the credits. They might also just get 6 credits automatically which would be unfortunate but we don't have all the details. All we are going on is the above quote. In my mind, the actual details of how this is going to work are all speculation on our part.

 

Just a stupid question - has anyone gone through the WalMart training? Isn't it ACE accredited? I never went through the training so I am just asking...