http://www.detc.org/downloads/Occasional%20Paper%2013%20-%20Building%20a%20Distance%20Education%20Faculty.pdf for anyone interested page 7 is pretty clear regarding faculty credentials. Just in case the link is bad the paper is DETC occasional paper 13.
This paragraph from page 9 is interesting: A warning needs to be posted here. As we soon found out, there are credentials and then there are “credentials.” Not only must you determine that your graduate student candidates attended accredited postsecondary educational institutions, but you must do the same thing with your faculty. When AMU started recruiting faculty, one applicant with a “PhD” looked perfect for a particular subject course we wanted to include in our program. The only problem was the school at which he took his doctorate was an unaccredited diploma mill and his degree, in the world of accreditation and licensing, was valueless. That one mistake on our part was quickly rectified and, because of that problem, and a lack of dedication to teaching, the individual was dropped, even before our enrollment phase began.
Oh good. That is the clarification I was seeking. LOL, I guess I should have caught that myself. BTW, if any doubt the sincerity of my viewpoint, please look up the old distancedegree.net pages. I thought it was pretty cool that Quinn landed a position at AMU. Tony
Thanks, Myoptimism. Overall, minus the final outcome, I count it as one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I learned a lot about my likes and dislikes. The people at APUS are hardworking and dedicated. Examples of some of the positive things I came out of it with.... Well, the students were great. I believe all of my student were American military men and women, and it was just at the time Americans were being deployed to some very dangerous places. Here these people were, being sent into God only knows what, and yet they all made every effort to get their papers in on time and arrange for proctors for the exams. Even if it meant doing their papers on laptops from parts unknown. I tried to make the courses challenging, and most (all?) of the students were up to it, despite the workload and their other obligations. (AMU courses are done on a timeline -- not on an open ended system -- students were granted extensions due to their deployment, but most found time to try to get everything in on time.) I'll never see another man or woman in uniform the same again. I was totally impressed. I also learned that I do like teaching. Not because of image or position, but because it was an extreme challenge. Ultimately, it wasn't meant to be. But it is a time of my life that I will never regret, despite the final outcome. Anyway -- things are very busy for me lately -- so I'll be signing off. Everyone take care.
