Another Look at Amber University

The last time I looked at Amber U's website I may have been stupid or sleepy. I just looked at it again last night and it does seem to have been drastically updated. I wandered to http://www.amberu.edu last night as I was looking for something to diminish my disappointment at the lack of really good affordable options for distance MBA seekers these days. All are either too expensive or not desirable to employers--many of them suffer from both these fates.

I liked what I saw at Amber U, though. They seem to have added new degree options. Of course, they are still offering the same MBA programs that they have been for some time now. I think, however, that the MS in Human Resources and Traing, and the MS in Human Resources and Business are new offerings.

There are still more changes at amberu.edu, They've included a piece about the school's history. I had no idea that they started out as an "extension campus of Abilene Christian University;" not that it's some earth-shaking revelation, I just didn't realize that they had sprouted from another school. Amber U was established as a school that would cater more to the needs of adult learners. This is sort of like the relationship between the University of Maryland and UMUC, on a smaller scale.

Amber U has also updated its catalog to include better course descriptions and explanations of the "major competancies that are taught in each course." This is meant to give students a better idea of what new knowledge and skills they should come away with after completing each course. I think this will help students to benchmark their own progress. If you're not picking up these competencies, perhaps you need help.

So, I'm taking another look at Amber U's MS in Human Resources and Training. It looks better to me than it did before.

Tracy <><

 

Hi Traci,

Looking at the Amber Univeraity 2000 catalog, The MBA does NOT have complete distance classes. The Matsers' In Human Relations & Business and Human Resources and Training are both online as well as the MA in Professional Studies. With 12 of the 36 credits open to transfer the MBA could still be done on line using Baker University (College?) for the non-online classes.This is my presumption as I have not confirmed with the school this type of opotion.

Dan Snelson
COSC class of July 2001 ish
And then on to AMBER

 

Uh....that was suspposed to be a wink...

Dan

 

At $165 per credit Amber is in the $6000 range (OK $5940 + tax license and all carring fees)it may not be Heriot-Watt BUT it may also be Easier to Say Amber University in Texas than trying to explain HW.

As I am doing this for me (it's ALL about me! ) and do not expect a raise for the additional schooling cost does matter for me as well.

Dan Snelson

 

Myself, deep in the heart of Texas, have not have any difficulty with HW... neither have the others I met in the land of the Bushes.

 

Ken,
I don't really think there would be for most people,including myself. The extra $4,000 on the other hand...

My problem is working with M.D.s, to them the only degree is MD anything else just does not stack up! (I have a close working relationship with 4 Orthopedists), but also 12 orthoepdic residents with "attitude" each year. heavy sigh...

Dan

 

The problem I have with Heriott-Watt is that I am not sure that it *really* has all that good of a reputation here. In fact, DL MBAs in general seem to be frowned upon. I know there are many who would (and could) dispute that, but, speaking for self, I just can't get comfortable with the idea of a DL MBA. Nope, not even the free one from TUI. Believe me, I've tried to get and warm and fuzzy for the DL MBA option, but it just isn't there.

A degree in human resources and training was among my first choices when I began considering my post-graduate options. Looking at sites such as the one put up by the American Society for Training and Development ( http://www.astd.org ), it appears that corporate training departments don't frown upon internet HR and training degrees. And--this is a key point--in some cases, especially in corporations that use CBT and the Internet to train their employees, and DL HR and training degree *may* even be preferred to the traditional one. Certainly, the ASTD--itself, the premier advocate in America today for HR development and training--doesn't seem to have a problem with internet degrees. On their career question and answer page, the HR development gurus often suggest DL degrees to HR develop and training degree seekers, even when the poster does not ask about DL degrees, in particular. That, coupled with the fact that I have more experience in the area of training adults for thier jobs (9 years informally, 2 years formally), than I do in any specific business function, means that an HR and training degree would be a better option for me. I enjoy it, and I think I could market myself better as a trainer, or even training manager, than as a marketeer.

Still, I haven't quite finished my BS degree from COSC yet, so there is still time to for me to change my mind (which is actually what I'm the very best at).


Tracy <><

 

I have a feeling that M.D.'s drop that attitude when they visit their dentist. Or at least they can it while in "the chair"

Bruce

 

Oh yeah! that will give them a Sunday go to meeting change!

The residents usually get "slapped around" if they try too much attitude to staff

One of my attendings is a Canadian eh!

He went down to immigration and found out just how LITTLE they cared he was a doctor. But in safe confines of our Hospital he is #1 in our hearts, right behind the Chief and Assistant chiefs' of staff.

Dan

 

I've held an RA MBA (National University) for 17 years now, and not once (NOT ONCE!) has anyone asked me anything about it. Not what I studied, how I earned it, my grades, nothing. In that time, I've interviewed for several special assignments in the Air Force, a field rep position with Prudential Preferred, training manager for a corrections company and a hospital, assistant professor at a large state university, assistant professor at a large private university (teaching in their MBA program,no less), plus many other positions I didn't get.

This whole idea of AACSB accreditation or the method by which someone earns his/her MBA might matter in some situations, but I suspect not a lot. The people posting on this board are much more aware than the average consumer (employer), who really doesn't even understand accreditation, much less the fineries of nontraditional higher education.

Rich Douglas, Ph.D. (Candidate)
Centro de Estudios Universitarios
Monterrey, NL, Mexico

 

stan

Hi Tracy,
I just have completed my HWMBA this summer, and got job with swiss government. After prospecting in various places, I did not encounter any problem with HWMBA because:
-it is a chartered university
- it is a british degree, therefore recognized in all Europe, Commonwealth and US
- it is exactly the same degree ,courses and exams as campus students follow

I had to meet some collegues who got their MBA or postgrade (often a con...) and many of them to do have the rigourous way to analyse situations as we have to learn ourself in order to pass the 9 exams.
It was definitely a great time to study at home, encountering students on watercooler forum.

Thanks,
Stan

 

I made a writting mistake : it is DO NOT have the rigourous way.
By the way, I do not have rigourously check my msg before posting, hahaha

 

Good luck with your career, Stan. I know that a lot of people really liked their experience with HW and I wish them all well with it.

Notwithstanding my little rant about DL MBAs, that warm and fuzzy has returned for the Touro UI MBA. I sent in my application and fee for their DL MBA program on New Year's Eve.

I decided that the Touro MBA would work for me since I don't have aspirations for consulting work, and I am willing to work my way into management positions. The purpose of the MBA (w/concentration in IT Management) is to help me leverage a career change into technical/marketing writing after I retire from the U.S. Army.

I had initially wanted to go into some area of marketing management, and was looking for an MBA that could help me do that. But with competition in many industries being as tight as it is, businesses (whether right or wrong) seem reluctant to hire MBAs from lower-tier or DL schools for management positions.

In any case, my career aspirations have changed(perhaps I have read "Dilbert" once too often, and I am no longer all that thrilled with the marketing management types), so my perception of what I need a degree for has changed. I think that there are several DL MBA options that might have worked for me. Considering the experiences of Eli, Steven, and Billy at Touro--taken together with Touro's price--I am, once again, very comfortable with Touro's DL MBA.

Tracy<><