Thread: Transfer alternatives for a PhD Candidate?

Originally Posted by Maniac Craniac

This is curious. I thought that for teaching positions the courses you took, and thesis, if one, were much more important than the name of the degree

You would think so, but I can assure you that any school that is SACS accredited is very strict on the degree titles and content (18 hours) for prospective faculty. I have heard SACS is more strict than any other body in thos regard.

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Originally Posted by mkmarin

After five years at Northcentral university (NCU) and having completed the comprehensive examination (and so getting the PhD candidacy letter), I’m ready to leave NCU. The reason is simple; over the past five years I have seen NCU transform itself into a money sucking machine to the disregard of their students. Cost and time have gone up and customer service has gone down. The newly announced 2011 changes are really too much for me, and I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Every new communication from NCU increases the time and cost of the degree, and the lack of response from its mentors and administrators do the same. At the current rate, I can see myself spending two to three more years in the dissertation series. The fact that you cannot calculate the duration and plan your dissertation is killing me.

The real question is what transfer options a PhD candidate has? I’m looking into a doctoral or PhD program on Business Administration , IT, or computer science (my current NCU degree plan is on Business Administration with emphasis on Applied Computer Science ).

I have listed the following universities: TUI, Argosy , Walden, Capella , Nova Southeastern , and University of Phoenix . But it is not easy to find out their transfer policies, and I’m trying to avoid a bunch of unsolicited calls from those schools. Ideally I shortlist two or three of them based on their transfer policy and then get in contact with them.

Any help/suggestions/comments will be appreciated.

PhD Business and Management courses Australia: PhD Business and Management course Australia: Business and Management courses
Here is a link to nine Australian universities that offer fully online DBA/PHD Business. A decision to go with one of these universities is better that staying with NCU. There is a Canadian on this site Evalve I think who can give you some good pointers. One of the best financial decisions I have made in my whole life was quitting NCU. If you do the math a few of these Australian universities may just be cheaper than continuing with NCU. You will also earn a degree that you will be proud of.

	Argosy University Argosy University Argosy offers online Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate in Business Administration, psychology, and HR-related degrees, with many specialty degrees, including organizational psychology, exercise psychology, HR, public administration, higher education administration, and many more. Argosy also offers the same degrees and more from 19 locations across the U.S., and is a leader in the distance/online education field. Argosy has one of the largest graduate student communities in the nation, and is regionally accredited, the most widely recognized accreditation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school.

	Capella University Capella University Capella provides working adults the opportunity to earn online degrees in the fields of business management, health care, nursing, criminal justice, higher education, psychology, social work, human resources, information technology, mental health and counseling, K-12 education, public safety and public administration, and public service leadership. The school is regionally accredited, the most widely recognized accreditation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school. [/center]

	University of Phoenix University of Phoenix UoP is probably the largest, most popular online school in the US. With the largest selection of degrees, you can easily find the specific program you are interested in. They offer Arts & Religion (Associate's and Bachelor's), Business and MBA (Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's), Computers and Information Technology (Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's), Education and Teaching (Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, Doctoral), Health and Medicine/Nursing (Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's), Science and Technology (Bachelor's), and Social Sciences/Criminal Justice (Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, Doctoral). The school is regionally accredited, the most widely recognized accreditation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school.

	Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern NSU offers online Certificates in Information Security Administration, Information System Security, and a Educational Specialist; Master’s Degrees in Brain-based Teaching, Teaching (with concentrations in Curriculum and Instruction, Elementary Math, Elementary Reading, K-12 Technology Integration, Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, Computing Technology (Education), Information Security, Information Technology, and Management Information Systems; and Doctoral Degrees in Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, Computing Technology (Education), and Information Systems. The school is regionally accredited, the most widely recognized accreditation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school.

	AIU Online Aiken Technical College Online degree programs from AIU help you acquire industry-current credentials in your field of interest. Many of our online degree programs offer concentrations in some of today's most in-demand professional fields, empowering you to tailor your education to address your specific career goals. AIU offers degree programs in Business Administration, Education, Information Technology, Design, and Criminal Justice. AIU is regionally accredidated, the most widely accepted form of accredidation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school.

	Concordia University - Portland Concordia University - Portland Located in Portland, Oregon, Concordia University is a private, Christian, liberal arts university. The school offers a variety of online degrees, including an MBA, Masters in Education with specialties in ESOL, Curriculum Instruction, Methods of Leadership, Science, Reading, and Special Education. The school is regonally accredited, the most widely recognized form of accreditation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school. [/center]

Originally Posted by okydd

One of the best financial decisions I have made in my whole life was quitting NCU. If you do the math a few of these Australian universities may just be cheaper than continuing with NCU. You will also earn a degree that you will be proud of.

So, are you saying I should not (or could not) be proud of my NCU degree?

Originally Posted by Randell1234

So, are you saying I should not (or could not) be proud of my NCU degree?

Dr. Randell, you should be very proud of your accomplishments. It takes dedication, tenacity, and sacrifice to have earned your PHD

I really appreciate all the help I got in this thread. You all helped me take the right decision for my situation. Before I describe my decision let me further describe my situation:

First, I’m around ten years from retirement, and so, a PhD is for personal satisfaction and will not have an effect on my future income. I may teach part time after retirement, but I’m planning to retire in Costa Rica.

Second, my current employer pays for the PhD, but only directly to the school by check (that works well for me), but NCU don’t want to receive checks anymore, because they want to charge a personal credit card. This past year (after NCU decided not to accept checks anymore) I have been having trouble every time I register. In fact they claim they did not find the last check (mailed in September 2010), and are asking me to configure my credit card in their system to charge for my current course. From my employer perspective, I don’t have security privileges to access to paid checks, but they assure me it was paid.

Third, after planning for the dissertation series at NCU, it turns out it will take me a full two years. There are twelve milestones (read reviews) starting with the concept paper approval by the dissertation committee to the oral presentation. In the pass the concept paper was approved during the research courses, not anymore. Now it needs to be done during the dissertation series. Just a back of the envelop calculation using one month per review and two review cycles per milestone gives two years.

Therefore, based on my situation and your suggestions I concluded that my best option is to go with UNISA PhD in Computer Science program. I know the main problem is to go to the registration process and then deal with the bureaucracy (but NCU is going the same way). Some of my reasons are:

1- It will take around the same time (UNISA site said two to five years) but at a fraction of the cost. I already have formulated my research and have the concept paper, and I’m sure I will need to make changes but that should be easy. UNISA minimum requirements are the first year to define the dissertation and write a peer review article, and the second year to complete the dissertation.

2- I get the PhD degree that I want (in Computer Science ) and not a business administration degree.

3- With UNISA prices I can pay myself, and will not be required to work with my current employer for two years after graduation.

4- Looking at the areas of research in the Computer Science department, I can see at least two professors that have interest in my area of research.

5- A minor point but interesting is that looking at UNISA dissertations, I can see they allow references that are older than five years, which is not allowed at NCU and forces a lot of creative writing to avoid it…

Thanks again to everyone in this thread for their valuable information. I assure you that I looked over each piece of information you provided. My next challenge is to find UNISA PhD students to gain a better understanding of the process.

Regards,
Mike Marin

	AIU Online Aiken Technical College Online degree programs from AIU help you acquire industry-current credentials in your field of interest. Many of our online degree programs offer concentrations in some of today's most in-demand professional fields, empowering you to tailor your education to address your specific career goals. AIU offers degree programs in Business Administration, Education, Information Technology, Design, and Criminal Justice. AIU is regionally accredidated, the most widely accepted form of accredidation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school.

	Concordia University - Portland Concordia University - Portland Located in Portland, Oregon, Concordia University is a private, Christian, liberal arts university. The school offers a variety of online degrees, including an MBA, Masters in Education with specialties in ESOL, Curriculum Instruction, Methods of Leadership, Science, Reading, and Special Education. The school is regonally accredited, the most widely recognized form of accreditation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school. [/center]

I understand that the computer science program at Nova doesn't accept transfer credits. But this is not so in their DBA program:

"Because our doctoral students are active professionals it is sometimes the case that they have completed a select number of doctoral courses at institutions other than the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship . For this reason, NSU will accept as transfer credit up to two courses (eight credits) of doctoral coursework completed at another regionally accredited institution. The following conditions apply to transfer courses:"

This points out a key aspect of Nova Southeastern - the various programs at NSU can vary significantly on their policies.

R Andy

Originally Posted by Cyber

Nova Southeastern accepts no credit transfers (they don't play).

	Ashford University Ashford University Ashford offers online MBA, bachelors, and masters in many fields, including Business, Accounting, Business Administration, International Business, Economics, Business Information Systems, Social and Criminal Justice, Communication, Early Childhood Education and Administration, Education and Public Policy, English, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Studies, Finance, Health Care Administration, HC Studies, Health and Human Services, History, Homeland Security and Emergency Mgmt, Human Resource Mgmt, Journalism, Communication, Operations Mgmt, Organizational Mgmt, Political Science, Psychology, Public Admin, Public Relations, Social Sciences, Sociology, Risk Management, Sports, Teacher Certification, Education, Health Care Administration, Organizational Management, Teaching & Learning with Technology, and Public Administration. The school is regionally accredited, the most widely recognized accreditation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school.

	Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern NSU offers online Certificates in Information Security Administration, Information System Security, and a Educational Specialist; Master’s Degrees in Brain-based Teaching, Teaching (with concentrations in Curriculum and Instruction, Elementary Math, Elementary Reading, K-12 Technology Integration, Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, Computing Technology (Education), Information Security, Information Technology, and Management Information Systems; and Doctoral Degrees in Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, Computing Technology (Education), and Information Systems. The school is regionally accredited, the most widely recognized accreditation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school.

	Concordia University - Portland Concordia University - Portland Located in Portland, Oregon, Concordia University is a private, Christian, liberal arts university. The school offers a variety of online degrees, including an MBA, Masters in Education with specialties in ESOL, Curriculum Instruction, Methods of Leadership, Science, Reading, and Special Education. The school is regonally accredited, the most widely recognized form of accreditation. Click Here to receive FREE information on this school. [/center]

There are schools out there that offer a doctoral completion program -- I think Fielding University has one.........I also found this thread on the subject.

http://www.degreeinfo.com/distance-l...l-program.html

p.s. oops - just checked Fielding and they have a respecialization program, not completion for ABD...

You were all warned...

Originally Posted by Dave Wagner

You were all warned...

That is a productive observation.