From Nova Southeastern To Charles Sturt

Re: Question

It sounds like the one department.

Any school, even a Harvard or a USC, will likely have someone unhappy with it at some point. Personalities may clash, professors may stink, etc. During my undergrad years I was fortunate to have caring professors. Often, my profs would pray for us before tests and quizzes. It was a wonderful time.

Later in my academic life I took courses elsewhere and blam...I had some crummy profs. At CSUDH, in my distance MBA program, I had some good profs and two less than wonderful ones. Most often I had good experiences everywhere.

The good thing about so many schools is that if you are unhappy with one you can switch to another.

 

Re: Question

I have to say its across the board. I posted a complaint recently and Nova's move from eUniversity to the WebCT platform. I was in the MIBA program and I found the program challenging and rewarding.

I must preface my next statements by saying that I received my BBA online a few years ago and completed many other credits ground throughout my (on and off) 15 year academic career. I love the self discipline of online learning and would not want to continue my education any other way.

Having said that, my Nova experience has been mixed and progressively got worse. I started Nova ground based and found the professors to be very engaging and full of knowledge that they want to pass on. When I went wholly online, I noticed that I was not getting as much feedback or responses back quickly. But that was OK because with eUniversity everything was well organized and, as a full-time employee and full-time parent, I didn't need to worry about technology issues when going to school.

The most serious problems began when they introduced WebCT. I did two semesters with it and said enough and transferred out to UMUC. We had connectivity problems and professors would not honor assignments that were not uploaded even if the upload did not work (as LadyExecutive stated). I have worked in IT for many years so I understand the need to be patient during a transition. But what burned me was that the administration was not responsive to our many complaints about the subject and it seemed as if they did not care about our wants or needs. I sent numerous emails from the dean on down and was given the brush off.

I felt leaving the school was the only thing for me to do. To me, I have to enjoy the learning experience to get the most out of it and Nova started to treat us not as customers and that is the reason I left. I really liked Nova and wanted a Nova degree because the school is local (I live in Fort Lauderdale). One of my uncles is an alumni and my wife's uncle is a long-time professor of the school. So it pained me to leave but I would never go back.

 

Re: Re: Re: From Nova Southeastern To Charles Sturt

This is not an area of expertise for me but it has been my understanding that there is no restriction on a non-profit organization actually turning a profit, even a big profit. The restriction applies to how the profits are used, no?
Jack

 

I had bad experiences with CSU. The faculty of business seems to be responsible but I had problems with the faculty of science. It took them more than a year to actually get back to me with the right information.

CSU also is not the most prestigious school in Australia.

 

Re: Re: Question

I recently finished a MS in MIS at Nova and the only complaint I had was that the grading was too easy. The student mix was too unbalanced. Several good students but many were ding-a-lings. I had no problems whatsoever using WebCT and I thought their delivery method as well as the electronic library was excellent. I think the lady in this thread is totally unrealistic if she believes mixing a social life into a PhD and work schedule is a credible possibility. Nova hands out MS degrees like candy but I'm sure they are much more rigorous as they should be when it comes to PhDs.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: From Nova Southeastern To Charles Sturt

Jack: I'm certainly no lawyer, but I've been told that, yes, the restriction on non-profits apply to how that profit is used, but I've never been told what those restrictions are. On the other hand, I once knew a fellow tutor who had been to law school and she once told me that a non-profit is allowed to make money and then the executive director can declare big year-end bonuses for himself/herself and his/her friends. Any comment from the lawyers? But, yes, I have to agree that far too many non-profits abuse the situation by trying to get naive people to believe that they're not making a profit off their students (unlike them 'dirty' for-profits ).

 

Re: Re: Re: Question

I concur.

 

Re: Re: Question

How did you arrive at that conclusion? The school of business and the school of school of systematic studies don't represent the entire university. Nova Southeastern University has 18 different colleges and schools.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: From Nova Southeastern To Charles Sturt

For the most part, you are correct. Think of it this way, if you are publicly traded the company must be more cut throat (in comparison) as the "street" (as in Wall) is always watching. Many times a non for profit is much more enjoyable to work for as their is less heat on the staff. Conversely, you tend to get less done. I currently work for a Fortune 50 company, needless to say, it is pretty fast paced.

It is *not* about profits. You can make a profit - lots and lots, it all about how it is spent, allocated and recognized on the books. It also creates a fun tax situation. Too many people think non-profits can not make money or "profit" from their activities. Not so.

I know of a non-profit that took all the "extra" profits and cut bonus checks to all the employees at the end of each year (how’s an extra $8 - 12k a year sound?). This of course was after everyone received new monitors, chairs, etc ....

From an academic perspective I feel all schools are for-profit, some just have different business / tax structures.

FYI -
Capitol is private, non-profit, an odd combo.

 

Re: Re: Re: Question

I understand that each school is different - I was talking about the system change from eUniversity to WebCT which affected all online programs that used them. Some people may have had no problem with WebCT but many of us had major problems (some of which were technical and not user error). My complaints stemmed from the administration's failure to communicate with us, the students, when we inquired about the problems and their lack of caring overall (from some teachers and some of the administration).

 

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

I stand by my initial complaint regarding Nova. I am in the program now and I just returned from my first RI. I was disappointed. It was not organized and as I have indicated at the onset of this post - the professors themselves appear confused. I did not expect to be fed with kid gloves in a PhD program. Difficulty has never been an issue for me - structure is. This semester I shelled out almost $10,000 for tuition. For that amount of money, I am well within reason to complain if I am not happy with the service I have received so far.

I have no idea if Nova has a problem across the board, I do know that the Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution Department needs to look into the way it conducts business. At RI we had two and three classes going at the same time. Students were required to attend all three. I ended up having to attend one class for half the time and make it to the other for the remainder of the session. I have seen students cry because they became frustrated.

The lady has decided to move on...and continue her PhD somewhere else...

Thanks..

 

Re: NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

According to some on the forum you are acting like a customer now rather than a student of a non-profit school. Does being a student rather than a customer give you any rights to complain?

Seriously, I am sorry to hear that your Nova experiences were so sour. Others have good reports about their experience with the Nova programs.

I wish you the best of luck in finding the program that is right for you. Make sure to let us know how your search goes. Based on the criteria you gave in other threads I don't have any suggestions for you. You might want to move to a location that has a school with an executive type format that meets at the B&M, or other site, but is largely composed of a distance study option.

 

THANK YOU

I thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I look forward to continuing my PhD with another school. I'll keep my finger crossed and hope that another institution like CUP arises and take academia to another level. In the meantime, I hope I didn't discourage any of you from applying to Nova. My rants are about my experience. Yours may very well be different. I encourage you to create your own bridge to academia, to find your 'nia' if you will.

I shall keep you posted!