At this point, looking at the response to my post about "Webster- McDonald's" which has since been deleted open and proves some interesting points. First, I posted this after serious thought- and certainly not to "smear" anyone. I simply wanted to state the truth about my terrible expereince with this "massive scale" program that creates over 4000 masters degrees a year and cares little for quality. It is peoples' right to know what goes on in companies like Webster and my right to tell them how I experienced this program, firsthand. Indeed, I wish someone had the guts to have told me about the program before I started. Doing a Masters degree is a very expensive and time consuming thing not to be taken lightly by the student or the school! This is where I have the problem with such an awful program like WEBSTER HAVING SUCH HORRIFIC STANDARDS AS I EXPERIENCED THROUGH MY 10 COURSES OR SO. And this has been going on for years and will continue to do so with Webster - just read the US news and World Reports article titled "A scholastic gold mine" Author(s): David L. Marcus Issue Date: JANUARY 24, 2000. Just as a final thought: if you want to believe me fine, if not go ahead and take a Webster course online or in "class" and see for yourself (see if there are proper masters levels of quantitative and business training (beyond high school level), any spreadsheets at all, and professional level expertise taught for your $1100 per course). If not, then demand a refund! or post your results here! No smearing intended, just reality! Take the Webster test! Paul
While serving in the military, I was transferred before I could finish my MBA. National University allowed me to take the final four classes at Webster and transfer them back. I found my classes to be as challenging as anything I'd experienced at National (or Chapman, for that matter). Ten years later I was teaching for Webster's MBA program. I was reasonably impressed with the organization, and my students were quite capable. (I taught Inferential Statistics.) Webster has a long track record of delivering degree programs to military bases around the world, and has branched out into the civilian marketplace. Unlike Phoenix (or National, for that matter), Webster has a long history of traditional, campus-based educational programs; they've been in business since 1915. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, and to state it. We've heard one, now you've heard mine.
14th Edition of Bear's Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, in the Degree Mill chapter, it says, Webster University (Georgia) Identified as a diploma mill by E&T. (There is an accredited school of the same name in Missouri. No connection, of course.) Perhaps we're talking about two different institutions?
Spreadsheets in an MBA program? Spreadsheets in an MBA program??? Of course there will be some spreadsheet analysis, ratio studies, cash flow forecasts etc. My MBA program taught me all of that and more. Any MBA program that doesn't have finance and managerial accounting as part of its curriculum is definitely missing a very important part of the business equation. Rafael BS, Western State University JD, Western State University, School of Law MBA, Pepperdine MS, Financial Planning, Kansas State University, 2003
Lajazz Of course any MBA program should have finance and management accounting as an integral part. I have taken multiple courses in each of these fields and don't remember any particular significance of spreadsheets. Perhaps the assumption was that the preparation of spreadsheets was a basic skill. I took 5 math related courses in my undergrad business program but was never taught how to add.
Spreadsheets in an MBA program??? Of course there will be some spreadsheet analysis, ratio studies, cash flow forecasts etc. I would believe that spreadsheets is in the MBA curriculum (You guys don't know much about managing but you got spreadsheets for each day of the week to show us! JUST KIDDING [well not really..]). Best Regards, Bill PS. I don't know if they teach this in management school or what.. What's with the word "so" at the beginning of EACH sentence: So, we need to increase equipment availability by 90%. So, we need to cut RMA cost by 90% So, your fired. Pick up your last paycheck. Is this just where I work? Its the damnest thing.
This is all I could get from the U.S.New & WR' site (the rest costs $2.00). What exactly did the writer go on to say about Webster? "Title: A scholastic gold mine Author(s): David L. Marcus Issue Date: JANUARY 24, 2000 Words in article: 916 Lead Paragraph: During a decade in the military, Bill Reid dabbled in higher education. He took classes at Rhode Island College, the University of North Dakota, and the Community College of the Air Force, but he never finished his bachelor's degree. When he moved to Florida to work as a police officer, he looked at the local public colleges. In the end, however, he picked a branch of the University of Phoenix, located on the top floor of an office building overlooking a suburban shopping mall. The school" Interestingly USN&WR lists Websters masters degree programs as a 2.8 out of 5.
Re: Re: Wesbter- Amazing The US News system is interesting and not without it's detractors. I think some schools see this and other rankings as a sort of tyranny due to the amount of publicity (network nightly news, PBS, etc) they get (mainly USN&WR) and disagreements over methodology. Webster manages to and has for a few years come out as one of the Top Schools in the Midwest among Masters level institutions. When you look at Nova Southeastern University and National-Louis University they are both 4th Tier National schools with their academic reputation listed as a 1.8. Is that fair? I really don't know. Personally, I have a feeling that Nova just gets a raw deal. They have been leaders in DL and have a large residential program and a number of professional colleges. These ranking are kind of one-upsmanship but for better or worse colleges are forced to deal with it. I mentioned in another thread that in Canada my alma mater tried to ignore MacLeans rankings and found that was not productive so they planned to make a couple of minor adjustments which they felt would cause their ranking to rise. They had to play along. North
Rankings In Canada MacLeans magazine rankings tend to be as irrelevant to the real world as is MacLeans magazine. The rag published in the centre of the universe, Toronto, seems to always choose the University of Toronto as guess what - the best university. Criteria include admission grades. Note that Ontario students graduate with an average 10 to 15 percent higher than Alberta, my province. They sure must be a lot smarter. Also included is amount of federal research grants. If any federal money actually leaked west of Lake Superior, I am sure they would build a dam. Most of the criteria are equally ridiculous and everyone knows it but universities actually change their operations to do better in the rankings. The University of Toronto is just a generic provincially (read state) run university not unlike ones in every province in Canada. Many people would consider McGill, Queens, and Dalhousie to be quality universities. North's school, the University of Saskatchewan has great respect in western Canada, but probably little in Toronto. Rankings really don't tell much except the bias of those doing the ranking.
