University of Phoenix

From what I was told, as far as the UoP courses, Drexel did not believe in the UoP accelerated learning model. As if a ten week quarter vs a 15 week semester isn't an "accelerated" model. Drexel runs on quarters.

Do they take CLEP or any other credit by exam? That is as accelerated as you can get!

A coworker of mine goes to UoP and from what he is telling me, some of the classes are REALLY accelerated (5 weeks he said his management course is hes taking now).

Bill

 

Five weeks at UoP vs. 20 weeks in the traditional semester system?

 

SNIP

Five weeks at UoP vs. 20 weeks in the traditional semester system?

No, actually these are accelerated weeks which only have 4 days vs traditional week which has 7 (They do not accelerate days though because that would just make no sense!). Actually, I think calcoast has accelerated days (12 hour days). We will have to break into a non-accredited/calcoast threads and ask them.

 

Accelerated days vs

A standard course is typically1,2,3,4, or 5 days a week for 10 to 15 weeks. What do you mean by accelerated day or week?

 

Re: Accelerated days vs

In my experience taking courses at around a dozen different schools a semester unit is based on 15 hours of class time (30 hours) of lab time. Quarter units are 2/3 of semester units.

I have taken several courses that lasted one weekend (about 10 hours) for 1 QU including most recently at UC Riverside.

 

Accelerateddddddddddddd

As far as I know Drexel takes some CLEP credit for undergraduate courses in statistics.

Undergrad courses run 5 weeks and graduate courses run 6 weeks at UoP. I teach in the areas of math, statics, operations managment, and business research. Yes all the courses really move. For instance, what I used to teach in statistics in a 15 week 3 semester hour course is all covered in 5 weeks. In stats you get tested in class every week from the second through fifth week. About half your grade is determined in the last night with a team project persentation and individual final exam.

Think of it as going to "summer term" all the time! A student can only take one course at a time. You move through the progarm with your cohort and dropping out of a class can really set you back time wise. Most of my academic life was spent on the quarter system and when I shifted to a semester system, I thought I had time on my hands.

Regards,

Dick

 

...and at KWU?

You stated that ...

'...Most of my academic life was spent on the quarter system and when I shifted to a semester system, I thought I had time on my hands...'

Did you work under this to get your PhD just recently at Kennedy Western?

How do you rate the KWU program? ...it is being discussed under another heading here, and i have been looking forward to your contribution.

Peter French

 

You mean 16 weeks right?

 

I think it is important to note a couple of things.

UoP's model, imho, is no less effective than the traditional 16 week semester model. Yes, it is only 5 weeks, but the classroom time is the same. The difference is that students typically are encouraged to take one class at a time. Therefore, they can concentrate on one subject at a time. Also, UoP helps to develop stronger writers than I have observed coming from traditional, non-elite colleges.

In the typical setting, students are taking 3, 4, or sometimes even 5 classes at once. Although the material is spread out over 16 weeks, it is often dilluted by the information in other classes. I can remember frequently being in situations where I did not know which way was up. I would get my professors confused, and put the right answers on the wrong exams.

With regard to public opinion of UOP, it is expected that the leader in distance learning will draw some criticism. It is also expected that some of it is deserved. This is the case with all programs. I can tell you that I am glad to have experienced the program at UoP. I feel it has prepared me well for the challenges ahead.

 

No problem here

No problem with UOP, it's issues like the following that hang up the transfer process;


1. The course title and scope does not match up

2. Some classes may be 2 credits, the transferring school may require 3 - 4 credits for the course

3. Semester vs quarter credits

4. The school has a policy stating that (example-) 15 to 30 credits must be completed at the new school, thus you can't use all of your credits

I'm unclear if your talking about a BS/A or MS/A program ?

UOR let me transfer 6 units into their MBA program from UOP's MAOM program, the schools policy stated 6 transfer maximum.

With UOP's program BSBA, I was able to transfer all into Regens College.

 

Re: ...and at KWU?

Good Morning Peter Etal;

My work was independent of any semester or quarter hour time frame. The student is give an 18 month time frame based upon enrollment date to complete all requirements. The clock starts from the dated letter of acceptance into the program. The student receives the syllbus for the first two of their selected courses and the student manages their coursework from there. Basically you either work on two courses in parallel or serially. I did mine serially. If the student cannot complete their progam in the 18 month time frame, a six month extension is granted upon request with no charge. For any other extensions, if approved, the student is charged a $100 monthly maintenance fee. I did my program in the alloted 18 month time frame so I cannot speak specifically to how extensions are granted.

I did find the 18 month time frame to be agressive. The student is supposed to start the "Fianl Paper" process when the last two courses are taken. My dissertion took me 13 months to complete and I started on it "unofficially" prior to my last two courses. I was glad I did. I had my topic selected before I ever enrolled. Capital Justifcation has been an interest of mine since 1982.

I have a problem with the way KW grants credit for the capstone work. The BS is requied 75 pages, the MS 100 pages and Doctorate 150 pages minimum. Tables, graphs, appendicees, abstract, title page, table of contents do not count in the page count. All papers are given 3 semester hour credit for the proposal and 9 semester hour credit for the final submission. Outside of KW, all my thesis and capstone work was given various credits and the quantitiy reflected the level of the degree. I cannot see the justification of granting the same semester hours of credit for such widely varing expectations of scholarly work.

I opted to have my dissertation copyrighted. I am waiting for the letter of approval.

As far as the challenge of the program, I was no "A" student. I did manage to garner every grade KWU had to offer. I am living proof that at least one student failed a KWU exam. For the doctoral exams, the typical format is essay questions. I did take one exam that was a mix of math problems with essay. I used the full alloted three hours for every exam. All my exams were proctered and I took them at my company's technical training center at my place of work. My program was Engineering Management. So I cannot speak to the level of difficulty the poster RTJ refers to in the HR program.

My posts on the KW PUB are a matter of public access. As far as the accredidation issue goes, there is a post I resurrected from the moderator concerning the KW business model. They make their case in the post as to why KWU does not seek accredidation. KWU is what it is and the management makes no bones about it. During the interview process prior to enrollment, Angela Rasmussen answered al my qusetions and at no time did I feel any high pressure sales tactics that others described.

I am aware of the accredidation issues. I am currently serving a term with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers as an ABET Volunteer Visitor for progams in Manufacturing Engineering.

In my adjunct position with University of Phoenix, I required a Masters degree with 5 years experience to teach coursework in my area of expertise. I am currently certified to teach 20 courses in the undergraduate and graduate business programs. My KW degree is irrelevant to this position. University of Phoenix does not recognize non-RA degrees for their faculty positions. I have taught at the Philadelphia Campus for the past two years. At age 56 I have no desire to pursue a tenure track position at any university.

So why did I do all this work??? I am a registered PE and I do consulting work from time to time. I plan on continuing my practice after retirement from my current job. My dissertaton topic supports the area I like to consult in. So the Ph.D, although unaccredited. does open some doors of opportunity. I concentrate on small business in manufacturing. Unbelievable as it may seem, the vast majority of manufacturing organizations in the SIC 35 classification are those with less than 50 employees. These organizations typically do not have full time engineering staff concentrating on Capital Justification. I believe my tools can be of use to them. The dissertation is a useful tool to extract info out for the managerial decision making process while the copyright gives me some legal measure of protection for the way in which I present my ideas. So in response to your question, I do rate the Engineering Management program right for me.

Is KWU a good place to go for everyone? Of couse not. But if you have your goals and expectations firmy aligned, it might be good for some. I never specifically recommend KW to anyone, but I do recommend they closely look at what they expect any degree to do for them. A choice of a particular program is a deeply personal one. I believe the individual should carefull examine their goals before they rely on the word of someone they really don't know from the internet.

I typically know who from KWU Pub posts in forums such as this one. The persona "RJT" is one I have not been able to figure out. Whoever this person is has stated inaccuracies with respect to KW. I really don't know the motivations for the post.

I trust this post sheds some light on the the issue and that I have answered all your questions.

Regards,

Dick

 

How many weeks? 5? 8? 15? 20?

Dcross,

I’ve seen several different models, to include:

• The 20 week semester system
• The 15 week "compacted" semester (not traditional)
• The 15 week quarter system
• The 8 week ”compacted” semester (not traditional -- which is what I'm currently in)
• The 5 week UoP program (wham, bam, thank you ma’am )