Doctorate Decisions, narrowed to two different avenues!

As many of you know, I am deciding on a doctorate program, and have been given many different ideas from this board. I have narrowed to two, please let me know your thoughts, but here is my situtation, which may help in deciding between the two.

I want to teach at the University or Community College level eventually in CA. I will be paying for this entirely on my own. And I am very committed to this, cutting back at work and making over 40 hours available a week to study alone. Looking for a business degree.

TUI - Has a great program, self paced, but only RA. ( won't elaborate about TUI, since most of you know about this University).

Henely Mangement College - Will have to travel to England, and has a residency requirement, but am willing to take a short time in England. Their program is a research based program, DBA, not PhD. AACSB accredited.

Both seems like great choices, I hesitate with TUI becuase of accreditation, but am finding as I read more on this board that accreditation is not everything, though I still worry about the ignorance in the "business community". I also see Henely as a DBA and not a PhD as a disadvantage.

Any thoughts would be great. Thanks to all that have inputted this far, I have really appreciated the help!!!!

 

Henley Management College is considered a top tier university and it is AACSB accredited. TUI is a virtual university with no name yet. If you want to teach at the community college level, then the TUI PhD will do just fine since normally the PhD is not required but having one can give you a competitive advantage. If your goal is to teach at the university level, then Henley Management College degree is a better option given its AACSB accreditation and solid reputation.

Other option is to try to get a part-time position at the university with your MBA and try to develop a solid teaching reputation and internal connections. At the end, if your teaching is very solid and people like you then it won't matter if your PhD is from TUI or any other RA university. At university level, I find it is either connections or a top tier university degree that can give you the job.

 

It has been my experience that at the Junior College level those who are teaching with the Doctorate could also have taught with the Masters. In Alabama, it is so political that when a job at the Junior college is posted there is either: a) no one available that anyone at the college knows and likes or b) the job has already been filled, the posting is simply a formality. So, if you are getting the Doctorate for the sole purpose of teaching at the Junior college level I surely hope you are not disappointed.

 

You mean like the government jobs I used to apply for that had a grade 3 education requirement, demanded no relevant experience and paid $100,000 per annum.

 

Re: Re: Doctorate Decisions, narrowed to two different avenues!

Very True!!

 

Employers aren't going to know either school. But one of them is in the U.S., while the other raises questions because it is foreign. I agree that Henley is a better school, but that might not matter if you don't even get an interview because you have a degree from a foreign school.

While the above conclusion is supported very well by the research I hope to publish soon, I would guess that the reverse is true in academia. I would rather pursue a job in higher education with the Henley degree--and then explain that I did it with short residency.

 

You may want to take a look at Argosy or Nova.

 

Kristie:

I agree with RFValve. If you get inside (and that is the hardest) then you could attend either school and probably be ok. I am currently working at a Community College in NC and it took me over a year of applying to every possible job to even land an interview. I had great GPAs at Brick and Morter schools (Undergrad. and Grad.). But without the experience in the system, they can be very picky about who they let in the door. You may also want to try and get in through a window or back door.

What I mean by this is, many Community Colleges as well as Universities have Continuing Education deparments. A lot of times they offer many course to the public as a service and they look for instructors from time to time. Now, this would not be a mainstream position, but you could gain experience teaching at nights or on the weekends for classes that last 4-8 weeks. Also, you could be making contacts with the Deans of these departments and others in the system.

As soon as I got in the door, I was making contacts with our President as well as with other Community Colleges in the area just by going to siminars and other events that the state was holding. Good Luck and regardless of where you get your degree the college's/university's reputation, in part, is built off of what students accomplish after they graduate so if you believe in yourself, it will not matter where you go.

Duff

 

Thaks to everyone with the responses, and yes I have tried to get in as a part time professor - still working it, unfortunately I don't have alot of contacts, and that seems to be the problem. Even the unpaid volunteer positions have a waiting list.

Until that happens, I thought I would continue to go to school, it couldn't hurt.

Nova and Arogsy - I will check into them, but I think they are both RA as well.

 

[
Nova and Arogsy - I will check into them, but I think they are both RA as well.


They are both RA, Nova-SACS & Argosy-NCA

 

You might not also get an interview if they find out that your PhD is from a virtual university. If the university is bias against a foreign degre, I would assume that they wouldn't be too keen about virtual universities like TUI either.

 

Yes, but discerning the nature of a school is much more complicated than finding its address. (People normally include the location of their schools on their resumes anyway.)

Employers do a poor job of checking up on degrees earned. If it looks okay, it likely will fly, and they often base their decisions on impressions, not facts. For example, a degree from Columbia State is more likely to be accepted than one from Capella. You figure out why.

 

If it helps in your decision, I'm including some links from professors that hold Henley DBAs, I couldn't find any from TUI.:

http://www.aud.edu/faculty_and_staff/faculty.htm

http://www.racu.org/faculty/business.html

http://www.anglia.ac.uk/artdesign/artstaff.htm

http://www.mba.athabascau.ca/Titan/aucimwebsite.nsf/AllDoc/0ED66D3288D9EE7287256B7B006FB075?OpenDocument

 

"If it helps in your decision, I'm including some links from
professors that hold Henley DBAs, I couldn't find any from TUI.:"

In fairness to TUI ... their program is still VERY new, and
only has a handful of graduates ... that will change over
the next few years as more current students complete
their program and related dissertations.

The field of education seems to be undergoing some
interesting changes ... the next few years may prove
to finally see some major paradigm changes as more
of the 'old school' <no pun intended> retire ...

Disclaimer: Yes, I am one of those TUI students who is
positive and planning to be ready for such changes.

Billy
Touro - Ph.D. student

 

Henley it has to be!

The Henley Management College DBA was the first DBA to be offered in Europe and has an excellent pedigree. In my view, it is also the hardest DBA to earn. There is 18 months course work and portfolio development to complete, nearly all of which is related to the 80,000 words supervised research thesis (dissertation) you'll have to eventually submit. The degree is awarded by Brunel University since Henley only has degree-granting powers of its own at the master's degree level at present. It has an application pending to award its own research degrees. Along with the Cranfield and Strathclyde DBA, students have to do more work than most other DBA programmes in the UK and USA.

Students get to meet many fellow students from all over the world during the short residency sessions and the College must have one of the most wonderful locations in the world set in a manor house by the side of the River Thames. The place is extremely friendly, students get a great deal of personal attention and nearly 70% of DBA graduates end up teaching full-time or part-time in higher education institutions all over the world. The average age of students is around 35-45 years (some are younger and some much older) and many hold very senior positions in industry. It has a number of North Americans on the programme, candidates from South East Asia, Germany, France, Austria and, of course, the UK.

How do I know all of this? I used to be on the full-time HMC faculty and remain an Associate Fellow teaching and supervising/examining doctoral theses, part-time, on the DBA programme!

The requirements for getting the degree are not to be under estimated but the selection process is extensive and once you are accepted, providing you put in the work, you will get the degree. There is an exit stage at the end of Part One (18-24 months) of the programme for candidates not making the grade or who are finding the programme too tough or for people who just find out they don't have the time to commit to the programme. A Postgraduate Advanced Diploma is awarded to candidates who successfully complete the first 18-24 months and decide to exit. The College is thinking of turning this diploma into a master's degree.

Hope this helps.

'telfax'

 

Re: Re: Doctorate Decisions, narrowed to two different avenues!

Here is a listing of schools where graduates of Argosy/University of Sarasota are currently teaching.



Argosy University/University of Sarasota

University/College

American Intercontinental University DBA
Armstrong State Atlanic University Ed.D
Arizona State University Ed.D
Barry University Ed.D
Bowie State University DBA
Buffalo State College DBA
Central Missouri State University Ed.D
Charleston Southern Univesity Psy.D
Clermont College DBA
Columbia Commonwealth University DBA
Cornell University DBA- Adjunct
Eastern Mennonite University DBA
Embry Riddle University DBA
Emory University Ed.D
Fairleigh Dickinson Univ DBA
Florida Gulf Coast University Ed.D
Florida International University Ed.D
Florida Memorial College DBA
Fort Hays State University DBA
Freed Hardeman University Ed.D
Georgia Military College Ed.D
Georgia Southeastern University DBA
Georgia State University Ed.D
Grand Canyon University Ed.D
Hamline University DBA
Harden Simmons University DBA
Indiana Weslyan University Ed.D
John Hopkins University Psy.D
Johnson Wales University DBA
Kent State University DBA
Liberty University DBA
Lincoln Memorial University DBA
Long Island University DBA
Marist College DBA
Marshall University DBA
Montclair University DBA
Morgan State University Ed.D
Mount Mercy College Ed.D
National Defense University DBA
North Carolina State UniversityDBA
North Park University Ed.D
Northwood University DBA
Ohio State University Ed.D
Ohio Valley College DBA
Pepperdine University DBA
Philadelphia University DBA
Plymouth State College Ed.D
Shenandoah University DBA
Southern Connecticut State University DBA
Springfield College DBA
Sul Ross State University DBA
The University of Louisiana at Monroe Ed.D
Thomas College DBA
Troy State University Ed.D
Saint Xaiver University DBA
Southwestern University DBA
University of Cincinnati DBA
University of Connecticut DBA
University of Houston DBA
University of Kansas Ed.D
University of Maine DBA
University of Mass DBA
University of North Florida DBA
University of South Florida Ed.D
Wilmingtion College DBA
University of Wisconsin Ed.D

 

I would definately recommend Henley Management College over Touro. I explored pursuing their DBA a couple of years ago and found it, and the school, to have a very high international reputation.

Another reputable option for a DBA is the University of Glasgow. Glasgow has a no residency DBA that is work-based.

In Canada, many university and college professors (I would hazard to say 20%) have British doctorates. I don't think you should have a problem with a Henley DBA in the USA.

Touro is a virtual university with no reputation to speak of.

 

Actually, I think they have only graduated one to date.

 

Kristie~

I'm not a biz guy, so my opinion on that doesn't matter. But I think the state we live in, and especially the area you live in, "only takes the best." Even if it costs some residency, it sounds like Henely is better, and RFValve's argument is persuasive too.

I vote for Henely.

Best wishes to you,

Chris

 

Re: Kristie~

It is all subjective....One selects the school based on his/her needs for career development. What ever that is....