Thinking about dropping out of my online PhD.

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by SurfDoctor, Jul 22, 2010.

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  1. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    Definitely. In this case the DETC doctorate sounds perfect.

    You could still adjunct on the basis of your master's degree at some schools, and the doctorate would give you the pay raise.

    This sounds like the best of both worlds.
     
  2. distancedoc2007

    distancedoc2007 New Member

    Best I could negotiate was 2 weeks of the "doctor" treatment. I'll take it!
     
  3. Shawn Ambrose

    Shawn Ambrose New Member

    After reading the posts, I agree with McJ on this. And while your "alma mater" may not let you teach, there are plenty of schools that will let you teach, esp. at the community college level.

    Shawn
     
  4. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Would also like to get an MDiv, but again the ROI issue comes up.
     
  5. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    My wife refused call me doctor, but she did offer to play doctor with me. :)
     
  6. SoldierInGA

    SoldierInGA New Member

    Have you contacted NU? They might be more amenable to you teaching with them as they have a huge online education "division".
     
  7. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    National University is a great, RA school. I enjoyed earning my credential and my masters with them. I contacted them and they were not willing to talk to me. They never said they were against online degrees, but they were not willing to discuss the mater with me.
     
  8. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    I agree, you can use $45K for something else. I don't think the price is justifiable unless your employer is paying for it. Have you looked as South African or Indian degrees? They are lot cheaper and still will satisfy the RA equivalent status required to teach at the University level.

    The DETC doctorates can be a good option if your school is willing to consider a DETC degree for promotion.

    I could recommend Australian degrees but they have increased dramatically in price almost at the same level of NCU.
     
  9. obecve

    obecve New Member

    Frankly completing an academic doc is way to hard to do just for ROI. It has to be about much more. It has to be about what's important to you and what drives you!
     
  10. SoldierInGA

    SoldierInGA New Member

    That's weird. I received my B.S from them and while there, they were heavily setting up and markettttting the online components of their B&M offerings. In fact, Prof Parks who was in charge of the IS B.S was gonna take charge of the online B.S and M.S in I.S. I graduated in 04 and haven't contacted them since. So I don't know if and why they changed their stance.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 22, 2010
  11. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    Michael,

    I was considering posting a question along the same line of your question (this thread). I recently enrolled at NCU. After browsing the learner site, especially, the student discussion board and complaints, I've been feeling very uneasy with this institution. Frankly, if the cost wasn't really up there, I would ease of a bit. I think a doctoral degree is a culmination of one's studies - hence, a very important degree that should be "done" the right way. One thing that has become very clear with online doctoral degrees is that there are worth almost nothing, except for folks that got it earlier, and have secured all the adjunct positions in the world that have and will become available (which was my main reason for attempting to attain one).

    Since the ROI of online doctoral programs are not worth much, it is practically a waste of time, money and effort. Let me tell you: I recently was denied admission into a doctoral program at a state university, and I think it was due to my master's degree (4.0 GPA) being from an online-only school. This level of outright rejection of a degree from an online only school indicates to me that getting a PhD from an online only school will be laughed at .....

    Bottom line, you're thinking about withdrawing, do it immediately, right now, today, this minute - to avoid pouring in time, effort and money into something useless.

    Here's my plan of action: I have sent a withdrawal letter to the registrar immediately after reading your post (when no one commented on it). I intend to register for an MBA or another master's degree at a traditional B & M institution (even though i intend to take classes through DL). I plan on reapplying for admission into the state school that I have just been reject upon completion of this second master degree or MBA. Enough with online-only school! Goodluck with your decision.
     
  12. obecve

    obecve New Member

    Actually if you will get several refereed publications along the way, build a consulting expertise and adjunct somewhere, you would be suprised what RS institutions might hire you.
     
  13. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Yes, they seem very interested in delivering online degrees, but not as interested in hiring online grads. Hmmmm.
     
  14. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Agreed, but the competition is getting more intense all the time. It also takes a long time to do what you are suggesting. I would say a minimum of 5 to 8 years. I'm not in a position to be able to invest that much time or money to do all of that. That is for people who are younger than me.
     
  15. fritzy202

    fritzy202 New Member

    I'm sorry to hear you are having second thoughts, but better now than when you are more invested in the program. Firstly, as a community college instructor I would say don't let your previous Dean's comment about not hiring someone with an online degree to mean that is true for all schools. Then I would think about looking at community colleges or other universities for teaching options. Honestly, we have a lot of university faculty come to our community college after a few years because they just feel like a number at the university and are not allowed the time to truly connect with their students. So think about why you want to teach at the university level vs another area. I would caution you to really think about your true future goals. Your current school may accept a DETC or NA doctorate, but a CC or university will NOT. So if you think you may want to move into higher education then I would recommend you save your money and invest in a local more reasonably priced RA doctoral program. Can you tranfer anything you have done so far at NCU?

    I agree ROI is important. At 47, I'm getting ready to start grad school and then I have a grad cert I want to do. I don't plan on going on for my doctorate, even though I would love to get one in education, because I doubt I will ever recoup the investment. I would just hate to see you sell yourself short by looking more at the short term then the long term.

    I personally, highly recommend community college teaching as a wonderful experience. I also know that over the next few years as online education becomes more the norm, more and more universities will change their view about online education. I would personally challenge anyone who made such a statement to me to prove a valid reason why, then I would make the acknowledge that they are also invalidating their own schools programs. I suspect that your Dean's opinion that may have had more to do with the school reputation, accreditation and his lack of understanding of current online education. Our state, NC, known for it's excellent higher education universities, have seen a 1600% growth in DL offerings in the last few years. Some of our state education specialists predict that in the next couple of years DL will be the majority of students and F2F will account for a very small portion of total student population. That will change your Dean's mind! I'm not expert, but these are just my observations and experiences. Good luck working through this tough decision!
     
  16. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I typically think it's smart to not make a decision like this until you have to make a decision like this. I'd say, take a semester off. Relax a bit. Try to get a sense of how it feels to let go of that particular goal. You might be alright with letting it go or you might decide that ROI is not the most important factor.

    For me, the investment factor is not the money, it's the time. You can find ways to get your money back (if you want) but there's no way to get back the time. I am sooo busy right now, doing many different kinds of things, all of them very fun or very important (to me) that I couldn't give up 15-20 hours per week, even if I had the cash.

    Every school lets you take a semester off. I'd suggest you go that route.
     
  17. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Thank you for the insight, Marianne. NCU is regionally accredited so my classes will transfer.

    Our community college situation is very intensely competitive here in California. Our budget and state fiscal situation, as most people know, is in a shambles. The education cutbacks are huge and community colleges are severely affected. So getting a CC job right now is not likely even though I would love it.
     
  18. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Right on, Kizmet. I forgot to mention the time factor. The time requirement is huge to get a terminal degree. It would become exponentially more demanding at the dissertation phase.
     
  19. fritzy202

    fritzy202 New Member

    You may be pleasantly surprised. Our community colleges are seeing huge growth in enrollment because of the economic conditions and that means more hiring, albeit part-time. Most of our faculty start out as part-time then move into a full-time position. You are more than qualified to teach now and since most CC are trying to really grow their DL courses, you bring a unique skill that a lot of faculty don't have, experience with DL. I have worked at 4 community college and I started out as part-time all except my current position. I was sought out specifically for this job, but only because of my reputation with a program I started from scratch and built to a huge full-time program and position from a single 6-week course contract. It did take me 3 years of working close to full-time hours as a part-time faculty member, but I was able to create a program and my position at the same time. That then led, to this wonderful more advanced position at another school. It can be done and it is a great way to get your feet wet and perfect your skills while you learn a new system. It may be worth a little looking to see what you can find. Granted, I'm not familiar with CA, but all the stats I have seen say all community colleges in the country seeing huge increases in demand. Good Luck!
     
  20. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Thanks, I'll look into that. I teach Jr. high full time right now and love it. I don't want to leave my current position, so a PT job at a CC would be just the ticket for extra income. The only problem is that my master's is in educational technology which I don't think would qualify me to teach much at CC. What do you think?
     

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