Sullivan University PhD in Managament now available

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by Cyber, Sep 21, 2010.

Loading...
  1. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    Actually, our colleague Dave is a bright individual who has some very good ideas. He provides examples of what Ph.D. programs should not do, and I am trying to make sure that our fledgling program never is guilty of those things. Dave and I disagree on really only two items: 1) He claims that for-profit and/or online doctoral programs purposely enroll large numbers of doctoral students who they have no intention of graduating and 2) Only 10% of those enrolling in online and/or for-profit doctoral programs graduate (compared to about 50% of doctoral students in general). I say that he has no data to support either of these claims, even though he may be correct that there might be an institution for which these are true. It is definitely true of Sullivan University--that is why I work there.
     
  2. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    Don't apologize--I am happy to answer any questions that I can (and I try sincerely not to cross the "shilling" line). Most of our existing students are working adults with families and the workload is, indeed, heavy. The first assignment in their first research course is to articulate a doctoral success plan, which includes identifying the potential barriers that they will face and specific strategies and actions that they plan to put into place to address those challenges. Time management is always #1.

    Since our students tend to be working professionals, they have already had some experience balancing these demands. Sullivan's program is definitely not for everyone--it is for the person who is serious about completing the Ph.D. coursework in two years and the degree in three. The program is small (microscopic compared to Capella, Phoenix, etc.) and we hope that our anti-ABD strategies will work and that our program will not bear any resemblance to the kinds of programs that Dave Wagner describes. It is possible that we may reach a point sometime in the future where we can offer the option of one course per quarter, but this would change our three-year program into a five-year.
     
  3. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Thanks for the info, Dr. P. Don't worry, we would never consider you to be a shill, (that is unless you did offer Ginsu Knives with enrollment).

    I have a question, as well. You mention that your PhD will be a three year program, but isn't it likely that it will take longer for some students, many of whom will have to do numerous rewrites on a dissertation? If that happens, is your program designed in such a way that it would drive up the cost of the degree because the students will have to be enrolled in more dissertation classes?
     
  4. Gbssurvivor1

    Gbssurvivor1 Member

    Dr. P,
    The program sounds very interesting! I really like the sound of the Strategic Management and Conflict Management concentrations. With that, I just cannot swing the 63K for the program right now.. :0( I do wish that everyone in a position such as yours followed your lead and actually took more feedback to heat and worked to make the program better than to solely concentrate on the bottom line.... Nonetheless, I wish you the best with your progress at Sullivan U.!
    GBS
     
  5. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

  6. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    The weakness that I have seen with numerous doctoral programs is that students complete their coursework and comp exams, advance to candidacy and then are "cut loose" before they are clear on what they want to do for their dissertation. They now rely completely upon the availability of their committee members (who are usually teaching and advising other students as well). The way the Sullivan program is structured, students take courses in which they are able to work on drafts of their first three dissertation chapters (Introduction, Literature Review and Method). During their last quarter of coursework, they work with their committee to get these into a final form for their proposal. Once they finish their coursework, they should be ready to hit the ground running and start collecting data.

    I am one of those persons who tends to do numerous re-writes (unless, of course, when I am posting on Degreeinfo, which is why I make typos). I would expect that our students would do the same thing that I did. I had to take 12 units of dissertation, so I started taking them one unit at a time (which would have given me a maximum of three years to complete). When I got closer, I took more units at a time and finished them up the quarter that I defended.
     
  7. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    For most students tuition and fees will run about $55,500, which is still a hefty investment. I am conducting a study comparing our degree with similar programs offered by others (a study had been done previously, but I need to determine whether the figures quoted by the other programs are, indeed, accurate--so far, I have found a few "hidden" fees here and there).
     
  8. mgmtprof

    mgmtprof New Member

    Just to add to Anthony's reply. By the time we hit the third year, we will have done a LOT of writing in preparation. The first course required a publish-ready research report and the second course during the first semester introduced the dissertation. Do you know the Sea Bee motto - "We build. We fight."? At Sullivan "We read. We write." Once you get used to the pace (basically through not sleeping), you should be able to complete the paper in a year since so much of it will be completed. ANd where else can you complete a PhD in just three years while still working and be proud of the rigor and quality of the education?
     

Share This Page