Western Illinois BOT BA residency requirement

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by June, Apr 18, 2003.

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  1. June

    June New Member

    In WIU's materials, they state that the BA requires 30 hours --10 classes worth-- of WIU credit. Does anyone know if that can be satisfied with test credit? Since they have a two-class-per-semester limit, those 30 credit hours would take two years!
     
  2. plumbdog10

    plumbdog10 New Member

    I requested information from them a long time ago. All they sent me was a course catalog, with no info. on the BA. I finally gave up, and went with another university. I did, however, enroll in one of their courses for the summer quarter. I haven't recieved anything back yet.
     
  3. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

    My wife Rosie is (officially) still enrolled in WIU BOT BA, but it will be much faster for her to get her degree elsewhere. They are the most responsive university we've dealth with, though: when they receive a transcript, usually they send Rosie e-mail the same day, denying credit for it! (In contrast, Excelsior College takes 6 to 8 weeks to evaluate a transcript.) Why not phone WIU ( 309-298-1929 ) and ask?
     
  4. alexn

    alexn New Member

    CLEP and DANTES exams do not count towards the residency requirement.
     
  5. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    A colleague of mine is a professor in WIU's College of Education and has done several portfolios for the BOT/BA program. Western Illinois U. has enjoyed an excellent reputation for their BOT BA program. If memory serves, the program used to require only 15 units of residency and those could be completed by taking independent study/distance learning courses. The requirement now appears to be 30 units at WIU, but you can still meet that requirement via DL courses, so on-campus attendance is not required. I have known people to take a full load of independent study/DL courses for the degree program, so I'm not sure what you mean by the 2 class per semester limit. If you took a full load (12-15 units), you could complete the residency requirement in 2-2 1/2 semesters.

    Tony Piña
    CSU San Bernardino
     
  6. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

    June is correct about the 2-class-per-semester limit. At http://www.wiu.edu/users/miisp/courses/content.html#gen_info , it says: "Students may enroll in two Independent Study courses per term."

    Anthony is correct that until 1999, the program used to require only 15 units of residency -- which, originally, could be fulfilled at any of several Illinois universities that had a joint "Board of Governors" program. The course subject distribution requirements used to be much easier to fulfill, as well. New state regulations seem to have compelled all the Illinois universities to adopt more stringent requirements.
     
  7. June

    June New Member

    BOT vs. BOG

    Thanks, all.

    Interesting about the distinction between BOT and BOG. It looks like EIU and WIU offer the BOT BA, and Northeastern Illinois and Governors State the BOG. Years ago I talked to someone who had completed most of her residency at NEIU via portfolio, but had to take the remaining credits in person, as they don't offer IS classes.
     
  8. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    That is a pity. It diminishes the desirability of WIU and makes Thomas Edison, Charter Oak and Excelsior look better. If you took 2 classes during summer term you could complete the degree in 5 semesters. Perhaps Lawrie Miller's "BA in 4 Weeks" site could be useful to you:

    http://www.geocities.com/ba_in_4_weeks/

    Tony Piña
    CSU San Bernardino
     
  9. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member

    The BOT BA program confuses me somewhat. I have looked into both WIU and EIU and although they both have BOT BA programs, the degree requirements appear to be VERY different, with EUI having the more liberal program.

    According to EIU's website, you only need to complete 20 semester hours to graduate and the remainder may be transferred in.


    Degree Requirements for the EUI program...

    To graduate with a Board of Trustees Bachelor of Arts Degree, a student must complete 120 semester hours of credit which include:

    40 semester hours at the junior/senior level
    20 semester hours earned from Eastern Illinois University (via on-campus, off-campus or distance learning courses)
    12 semester hours of credit in math and/or natural science
    12 semester hours of credit in social science
    12 semester hours of credit in humanities
    6 semester hours of communication/language
    3 semester hours of senior seminar
    1 course in cultural diversity
    EDF 2985 - Adults in Transition
    Meet Writing Competency Requirement
    Meet Constitution Requirement
    Maintain a minimum of 2.0 cumulative grade point average (4.0 scale)


    I dunno...you would think that the two universities would at least try to get their ducks in a row.

    Cy
     
  10. LeeKay500

    LeeKay500 New Member

    You may want to take a closer look at GSU. They are very flexible. They require 24 hrs at GSU, 120 hrs to graduate, with your own degree plan. They suggest 2 classes per trimester, but you may consult your advisor to take more classes. They served me well, and I completed classes & portfolio in 2 trimesters.

    http://www.govst.edu/bog
     
  11. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    I am frankly all agog
    to know wot's BOT and wot is BOG.
     
  12. June

    June New Member

    an update

    I just talked to an advisor at NEIU, where I had actually enrolled in the BOG program back in the day. He said that while my file was inactive, it was not beyond resuscitation. He also said that although they don't have distance courses, I could do all 15 hours (!) of resident credit with GSU and/or WIU credits.

    NEIU requires BOG candidates to attend an on-site orientation, so I don't know how much if this will help anyone else. It seems like it would be worth a try if you lived within driving distance of Chicago.
     
  13. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

    NEIU

    June wrote:

    > I just talked to an advisor at NEIU [...] although they don't
    > have distance courses, I could do all 15 hours (!) of resident
    > credit with GSU and/or WIU credits.


    Thank you very much for this info, June. I wish I'd known about this earlier. My wife Rosie already has 9 WIU credits, so I'll keep this in mind in case other possibilities don't work out for her.

    > NEIU requires BOG candidates to attend an on-site
    > orientation, so I don't know how much if this will help anyone
    > else. It seems like it would be worth a try if you lived within
    > driving distance of Chicago.


    I flew to Chicago a week and a half ago (to attend a Lewis Carroll convention at which Douglas Hofstadter was a speaker). The airfare was cheap enough at priceline.com.

    "Computer Science is the most boring subject in the world." -- Douglas Hofstadter
     

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