At the end of this semester, the Board of Trustees at my university approved my tenure. I work for a medium size Catholic university on the east coast in the IT department within its School of Business. My university offers doctoral programs and the School of Business is pursuing AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation --- the gold standard. Tenure is awarded like most schools based on outstanding performance in teaching, research, and service. I completed my PhD at Capella in IT Management in 2004 and began my tenure track job in 2008. The good news about my experience with Capella is that I was able to complete the program in 2 years and 3 months even though I had to change doctoral advisors twice for a total cost of about $36,000. I don’t know if these cost or time targets are still possible today. Without a PhD I wouldn’t been hired in a tenure track position. Fortunately I also published five papers in peer-reviewed journals during my tenure track inspection period. I wanted to let some posters know that it is possible to obtain tenure with an online degree; however, the best and least risky route is still through a conventional doctoral program. Unfortunately for many of us, a traditional program is not always an option. I have over 35 years of experience in almost every IT position known to the universe. I have worked as a programmer, analyst, web designer, director of a large government IT center, director of software research, and chief technical officer. I have also had the opportunity to sit on search committees for IT faculty. I have seen an increasingly large number of resumes from online universities. In general and without any intentional insult, the most poorly prepared letters and resumes that came from applicants with degrees from Walden and the University of Phoenix. I am not implying that all resumes from these particular schools are substandard but only the limited sample I have reviewed. Because of the poor quality of these resumes, the search committed didn’t pursue any further contact with these job seekers. I want to spotlight that it is especially important for holders of non-traditional doctoral degrees to present excellent cover letters and vitas.
Congratulations, and thanks for the report. It's always good to hear things from those who have actually done them!
