Is Walden University a well-respected school?

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by sonshine27, Jun 20, 2009.

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  1. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    Kizmet is correct. Where is get your degree is only one of many factors involved in hiring. Hiring is a very subjective activity, so it is likely that you will run into people who do not like online degrees. Research is showing that these folks are diminishing. The best advice that I can give is to find the program that works best for you and amass the experience and other credentials that will make you competitive in your discipline.

    Walden PhD grads would have trouble getting full-time tenure-track positions at brick and mortar universities. However, in virtually any other setting, there is a good chance of acceptance. Walden has the reputation of providing excellently designed online courses.

    When I am considering candidates for adjunct faculty for my online courses, I consider someone with an online degree to be at an advantage. Of course, as a dean over online programs, I am not your traditional hiring director.
     
  2. nj593

    nj593 Member

    You didnt make it did you ? Thats why this post was a rant?
    Come on be honest. But you shouldnt knock the school then if you didnt. I see alot of kids do that with UOP because they couldnt pass the english courses.

     
  3. nj593

    nj593 Member

    I didnt know you could take credits in other places and transfer them in on a phd or masters level. Im going to have to look into it and try that.
    I know many schools that have been complete idiots about allowing students only 14 credits or so to transfer in for masters level. So now that Im wrapping up my BA i will have to look into this. Any ideas you could provide would be great.
     
  4. Petedude

    Petedude New Member

    You have the basic idea. It varies from program to program-- most of the ones I've seen will let you transfer 9 credits into their Master's programs (about three classes).
     
  5. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I think that Pete is right. If you do a random sampling I think you'll find that 9 is the standard. There are some that will go to 12 and maybe one that will go to 15 but I'm not sure I'd choose my grad school based upon the number of credits they'll allow in transfer.
     
  6. Question for Kizmet or Anthony Pina or others who might know

    Thanks everyone for sharing your viewpoints and experiences.

    I'm starting a doctorate at Capella. My goal is to be able to teach higher Ed. in online, adjunct positions while I continue my current job as a Jr. high teacher.

    1. Would there be an advantage to getting a PhD over a practitioner doctorate such as a DBA? I'm going for a doctorate in business, or maybe education.

    2. Anyone have any idea of which field of study, business or education, would yield better adjunct teaching opportunities?

    3. Anthony, hypothetically speaking, would you consider hiring Capella grads? I'm not asking for a job, by the way! :)

    Many thanks! Mike
     
  7. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    Answers here:
    http://www.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=32415
     
  8. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    Thanks, Ian,

    I knew that I answered these questions somewhere else.

    Tony
     
  9. rcox81

    rcox81 New Member

    I just finished the MBA and i can say that there were more than a few people who totally just coasted through. The classes I took at APU were much less rich in BS content (im talking about students, not teachers).

    Ive also had more than one person make snide comments about me going to a degree mill, which makes me pretty happy about the fact that I did have to come up with more than a hundred pages of content for the whole thing.
     
  10. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    Since I am serving on a couple of Capella dissertation committees, it would be pretty hypocritical of me not to consider Capella grads.
     
  11. Brian Bates

    Brian Bates New Member

    I know this post is old and the discussion finished, but I must say that Walden is no Micky-Mouse school. I can verify from the Phd level.

    If you believe you can run through a Phd degree with Walden, forget it. I average about 50 hours per week - and that is not enough,.

    Brian Bates
    On going Phd in Management with Walden University
     
  12. burgerv

    burgerv New Member

    Although Walden University is accredited, it is by no means accommodating to students. A major reason students choose distance learning education is mainly because they are continuing professionally, want to take classes at their own pace, have more say with their coursework, etc. Walden does not allow for these to happen. Initially, I thought this university was a progressive school who truly cared about navigating and shaping their students into people who will have real life tools to make a difference in the world. I had attended an eight day doctoral residency on the east coast and met so many wonderful staff members who all preached this statement, and for some reason I believed it. It it really seemed that Walden wanted to work with professional students who aimed to not just obtain a degree, but to have AN EDUCATION to be successful in their field of choice.

    Two years later, I have not seen it in action. I will try to summarize my experience here, the best I can. At the moment, I volunteer, am a marathon runner and work full time for a public health department. I choose Walden after months of research, because I thought it was unlike traditional graduate schools. For my undergraduate education, I attended the University of California, Davis, and although I enjoyed my time there, I no longer have the luxury of choosing classes at all hours of the day and dedicating my week to be a full time student.

    I have had nothing but heartache and hoops to jump through with academic advisors, the bookstore and especially financial aid. With the masters program, the student does not have the right to change their own classes, they must go through their academic advisors, and good luck getting a hold of them. Also, the bookstore will automatically send you the "required" books for your classes, weeks before the classes start, whether you need them or not. Additionally, they will charge your account full price. Lastly, while travelling in Asia with my husband, I had planned ahead and brought my books, laptop and had been able to finish out my classes while abroad. Unfortunately, while in Thailand, the last few days were were there, the area did not have any internet connection. Keep in mind, the citizen riots and protests were also occurring and I assume there was a direct correlation. One week we returned to the US and I had immediately contacted my professor (Dr. Arroyo), asking if she advised if I continue with the class, even though I knew that I would have difficulty with the subject (Bio-Statistics). She advised me to withdraw and start the course again when I was able to start again and not miss any of the coursework.

    Because I withdrew for a quarter, Walden then had withdrawn my financial aid, saying that this was not an unusual circumstance and I would not be granted my financial aid. I attempted an appeal, sending along my correspondence with my professor, as well as the emails with my academic advisor. They wrote back saying that a "vacation" is not an acceptable excuse. So I wrote back in fury:

    I understand that your team must follow policy procedures, but let me further indulge and hopefully better explain my stance on this situation. The reason I decided to go with Walden University is because it is a distance learning master’s program. I thought the core values of Walden were to help working professionals and community minded individuals strive toward a higher education? My "vacation" was more than just that. It was an opportunity to enhance and broaden my understanding of social surroundings and cultural awareness. If I wanted just a "vacation" as was stated in the last email to me, I would have gone to Hawaii or Cancun. I firmly believe that I took all the necessary precautions while in Malaysia and Thailand. I brought my books, my laptop and stayed at hotels that I knew would have internet connection, even if it cost a little more, just so I could keep up with my work.


    During my stay in Thailand, while the citizen riots and protests against the government happened to be were occurring. This is an unusual occurrence and completely out of my control. Although I happened to be there on "vacation" I implore the Advisory Board to please describe it as something other than an unusual circumstance. What about in 2012, when the city of Manhattan had a severe power outage? Didn't that count as an unexpected, unusual or temporary circumstance? Just because I happened to be in a different country which experienced extended days of limited internet and phone connection, I feel as though I should not be punished. I believe I took the responsible route by contacting my teacher and academic advisor and asked what I should do to ensure I(could still be successful in her class. I had only missed one week of class and could have very well taken the grade deficit and this would have not been an issue. But instead, I decided to be practical, and used my ingenuity to make sure I did not fall behind in a class I knew would be difficult for me.


    I urge you to please convene with your team again, and possibly reconsider.

    Best,

    Vanessa.


    ****CRICKETS******


    HORRIBLE.
     
  13. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    I keep thinking of "Doonesbury".
     
  14. mattbrent

    mattbrent Well-Known Member

    With the program I did, the classes were sequential. We had to do them in order, so there was no reason for students to try to "change" their classes.


    You're complaining because the school provided you books as part of tuition and didn't require you to buy them separately? Wow... That just seems odd. I enjoyed the fact that books were included when I was there. I'd rather have a book I can use in class, and then sell back if I choose, than to simply pay a fee for "online access" to materials like some schools.

    I don't know the exact situation, but did you consider the fact that they may have been following federal guidelines? If students aren't enrolled, they can't get financial aid. That's pretty standard practice, otherwise we'd have students applying for student loans and whatnot without ever attending a school.

    While it may be true that you had no control over the riots, you did choose to go to Thailand, right? Why would you enroll in a course knowing that you were going to be away for a chunk of it? Why not just take a small break? I hate to sound like a jerk, but that just sounds like poor planning on your part.

    It's unfortunate you had a not-so-good experience with them. Mine was pleasant, and I'd recommend the school to anyone. Though the tuition has jumped quite a bit since I finished up, the quality was great. I enjoyed the resources that were provided to me as a student, and I still have many of them.

    -Matt
     
  15. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    I think Walden was innovative for its day and I liked the name (Walden Pond). One thing to weigh was cost versus return on investment. All things being equal I would chose them over University of Phoenix. I am not sure how many of Walden's doctoral grads went on to publish academic papers or become professors as opposed to adjuncts at colleges and universities. I think they were pioneers in a field that has now become crowded with U of Ph and Capella and a host of other high priced options.
     
  16. phdorbust

    phdorbust New Member

    Walden

    All depends on your intent. If you want to work at a 4-yr teaching institution of medium to high quality, the faculty won't respect the degree. It's 100% valid, RA, all that. But reputation and validity are very different. It's hard to break that snobbery.
     
  17. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Walden is not a bad place for a M.Ed in curriculum and design as they have expertise in the area given their large offering of graduate and undergraduate programs. It is one of the better online schools as they are making a genuine effort to be perceived as a strong University. Walden has several research journals and offers a large variety of graduate programs.

    It is not a bad option. It is not Harvard but your average accredited University with some reputation in areas such as elearning, education technology among others.
     
  18. rosed

    rosed New Member

    Everyone got an A

    This has not been my experience at Walden. The course is more rigorous than my face to face classes ever were. There is at least 5 hours of work to do every week that is very challenging (speaking of the Masters in Ed program). There is coursework to do, papers to write, discussions to post, answer questions and much more and all of it ties into the resources, textbook and other learning materials and you have to find outside research as well. All of this in order to get an A. This is not an easy A program with little effort. I am currently enrolled now and am very pleased with the content and the education I am receiving. Even the discussion posts must be tied into the resources and referenced in original post and follow up responses. It is now September 2016 and I will finish my Masters program in May 2017.
     

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