University of the Cumberlands Online PhD in Information Technology

Discussion in 'IT and Computer-Related Degrees' started by Marcus Aurelius, Jan 29, 2018.

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  1. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Wow! You're writing an 80 page lit review with 125 references all in the last 2 years, in what I assume is a 16 week course? That does sound tough, but hopefully good preparation for the rest of the thesis. Is the 2 years because you're doing Blockchain? I'd imagine there's plenty in most areas of research that extend back. I'm used to limiting searches to 10 years back.
     
  2. snark

    snark New Member

    Hi Dustin,

    The course is 16 weeks long, but the draft is due in week 11, and the final document is due in week 14. In reality, we have 9-10 weeks to complete the first cut, which equates to 8-10 strong pages every week. I think that researching and writing every day is the key to completing the literature review. The prof mentioned that most people fail because they do not make consistent progress and attempt to write only on weekends, or even closer to the deadlines.

    The two-year requirement ensures that the research cited is current and relevant to the research problem. We can include older references as well, but they do not count towards the 125 reference requirement.
     
    Dustin likes this.
  3. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Cool, thanks for that info! UC is on my short list. I just joined the Facebook group to learn more about the program and it's been really valuable.
     
  4. cwocarpenter

    cwocarpenter New Member

    I wanted to reach out and see what the options are for taking LEAR 850. The folks from GSS are saying that you have to have had 736 prior to taking LEAR 850 and that many are taking it in the first half of 839. Is anyone else experiencing this?
     
  5. Frank Smith

    Frank Smith New Member

    I thought it might be time to give an update on this post as I'm still in the program and things have certainly changed. I enrolled in Fall of '19, and it looks like I will be done in Fall of '23. I have had to go one-class-at-a-time because I have too many work and family obligations, so I've been able to watch as things progressed over a non-trivial amount of time. I am in the non-specialized Ph.D. in IT program.

    First - my professors have been much better. I get constructive feedback much of the time. I don't have the class management dysfunction that I outlined from Fall of '19. That was absolutely an outlier in my time here. Grading is returned in a fairly prompt fashion. I don't feel like I have been graded in an unfair way - I think they've been pretty accurate.

    I have reduced the potential issues from poor interactions on the message board by just fishing for the best students and constraining my responses to them throughout the courses. This has resulted in some good back and forth - I feel much more fulfilled in this regard. This being said, when I review the posts that I don't want to engage with - I get the impression that the plagiarism has been curtailed to a significant extent. While the posts may not be great or perfectly on topic, they do not appear to be copied or run through an article spinner.

    This is probably the best improvement I've seen over my time - U of C went hard after cheaters. They hunted down the offending WhatsApp channels, they seem to have been investigating students who participated there. I'm not so naive to believe plagiarism has been ended here, but the school has made it more difficult and higher risk. U of C deserves a lot of credit for this, and if any administrators follow this channel - thank you. I felt really hopeless early on witnessing this stuff and nearly dropped out. Just the mandatory work prior to each class making sure that every student understands what plagiarism is - it felt like a big boost.

    I start ITS 736 this Fall. Happy to answer any questions from people looking to enter the program.
     
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  6. kicksix

    kicksix New Member

    The light at the end of the tunnel was not a train :) Side note: out of everyone in my 931 class, only two successfully defended our dissertation and graduated this past December. I only mention this because it's not a walk in the park to complete 931 and successfully defend. Good luck to everyone!
    upload_2022-2-17_13-29-57.png
     
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  7. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Indeed it wasn't. But you knew that. Congrats! Big-time! Huge achievement! May it bring you all the success you could possibly hope for!
     
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  8. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Do you have any sense of how big the class was? If someone doesn't complete 931 does that mean they're not ready to defend or that they defended and failed (or maybe both)?
     
  9. kicksix

    kicksix New Member

    We had 13 people who were in 931 and only two of us graduated, so 15% successfully defended and graduated. I have seen elsewhere the success rate was around 20% for another class. I do not think anyone scheduled for defense fails; instead, the manuscript review process (full dissertation review - QC) is the barrier. You will have to submit your completed dissertation for review (outside of your chair and committee). They will comb through your dissertation and provide feedback on every chapter, such as making sure the problem, purpose, and research questions are aligned, and the appropriate statistical tests were used, among other things. I would highly suggest that you submit your dissertation for QC review as soon as you can (it can take some time to receive feedback). If you have issues, you will have to resubmit, and the waiting process starts over to see if your corrections are acceptable. The quality control process at Cumberlands is comprehensive for dissertations, and I can guarantee the QC team will find any issues in your work. I had a few issues, such as using future tense in place of past tense. All that to be said, towards the end of 931, you will receive reminders on registering for 932 if needed. Seeing those e-mails is stressful because they come before your dissertation defense date is scheduled ha! Time is your enemy in 931, but you will cross the finish line if you remain diligent.
     
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  10. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Interesting! Thanks for that detailed review. UC is definitely on my shortlist.
     
  11. snark

    snark New Member

    Congratulations on your achievement!
     
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  12. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

  13. xorben

    xorben New Member

    Congratulations! Now you are playing with the bigger boys, don't you ;-)
     
  14. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    I was recently accepted to this program and will begin in July! The application process was very straightforward.

    You create an account on the Patriot Portal and enter some basic information about your educational history. You are then prompted to upload your transcripts (unofficial at first, official later.) They require a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. The longest part of the process was actually waiting for my transcripts to be received because I applied during the holidays when all of these schools were closed. Once they opened back up, my transcripts were received and my Patriot Portal was updated. My admission decision was generated fairly quickly.

    After accepting the offer, I had to accept when I wanted to start. Although I had applied to Summer 2023, University of the Cumberlands uses bi-terms. I chose to start in the second bi-term which will be in July. This will give me time to wrap up my 1-year Affiliate Professorship with Eastern.

    After that I was prompted to fill out a Course Preference form. Similar to Eastern, you need to indicate which of your courses you want to take for the first term or two and then you're free to keep going once they've made sure you know what you're doing. They registered me for the course. Tuition will post to my account in April and I can then complete the FAFSA.
     
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  15. snark

    snark New Member

    @Dustin
    I hope that you have a good experience.
     
  16. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

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  17. datby98

    datby98 Active Member

    Congratulations! Now we will have one more Doc on DI in the next few years~:p
     
  18. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    I start my first course in this program next week. I am excited! I debated making a new thread for my progress in the program but but for now I'll piggyback off this one.

    ITS831 Information Technology Systems in Strategic Planning

    Week 1 activities will include making a post on the discussion board, signing the Academic Honesty Pledge, reading 3 articles and participating on a discussion board. The 3 articles are:
    • Dent. (2015). Aligning IT and business strategy: an Australian university case study. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(5), 519–533.
    • Al, M.Y.H.S., Abdulrab, M., Alwaheeb, M.A., Shamsuddin, A., & Jazim, F. (2022). The impact of technological capability on manufacturing companies: A review. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(1), 1-12.
    • Ricardo A Santa, Alejandro Acosta, Silvio Borrero, & Annibal Scavarda. (2020). Corporate, operational, and information systems strategies: Alignment and firm performance. Estudios Gerenciales, 36(157), 454–464.
    I am interested to see if the material is dripped out week by week or if I'll have access to the whole course in week 1 like at Eastern. Right now I can see the syllabus but little else. The LMS is Blackboard. The syllabus for the 8 week course sets out what assignments are due each week. Most weeks involve some reading, posting on the discussion board and substantively responding to at least 2 other posts, and then some other activities. There are 3 research papers, something called a "Practical Connection Assignment" and a Final Portfolio Project in the 8 weeks.
     
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  19. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    Be careful, despite the syllabus says 8 week-course; the reality is only 7.5 week-course. Most professors expect all week 8 assignments and exams turning by Thursday, some professors expect Wednesday.
     
    Dustin likes this.
  20. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the heads up!
     

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