Online diplomas are trash

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Bill that's so true, I see it all the time. I teach for many online universities at the PhD level (including yours), the Masters and bachelors levels. If the students can't cut it and the teachers are paying half attention, they are out, and quickly.


Danielle Babb, PhD
www.teachonlinebook.com
www.commissions-at-risk.com
www.drdaniellebabb.com

 

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Dr Babb,

Many of the readers of this forum are considering a PhD from an online school like Capella as a way to get a tenure track position at a B&M school. As a Capella graduate, What are your experiences when applying to full time tenure track positions at B&M Universities?

 

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Hi.. I've had no issues at all. I tried only twice however; my goal isn't a tenure-track position. I do know many others who have successfully done so. I am not finding it to be a big issue ... are you finding that Capella is getting a bad rap out there?
D

 

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Not all, as a matter a fact, I like the program in IT as is very rich. However, we had many discussions about this and many feel that online degrees are looked down when applying for tenure track positions but this might be more for research based Universities.

In your case, it might not matter because you are in consulting and part time teaching so the bias against online degrees might be less.

 

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That's true, it may well be the case. I know precisely six others though that have gotten tenure track positions after.. so I'm assuming that it's dependent on the individual's CV and their professional work.. Ill call at least three tonight and find out what their experience has been. A few in my workplace at the time said "What's Capella?" but there was no discussion after I explained it.. hm..

D

 

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RFValue - As we've talked before, one needs to be careful not to set their expectations too high about what a non-traditional PhD will do for them. Yes, there are folks with tenure track positions at schools that have non-traditional degrees. I am one such person. But realize that if there is much competition for a position, non-traditional degree holders may suffer. As the caliber of the school goes up, the challenge for non-traditional grads goes up.

I don't believe that it is a matter that non-traditional education is fundamentally flawed. By itself, there is no signficcant difference (or so the research says) between on-line and on-ground education - all other things equal. But all other things aren't often equal. Non-traditional students rarely get the research opportunities and one-on-one support that tradition B&M students get. Non-traditional students, especially at the for-profits, lack the library support of traditional students. Time is another factor. B&M students often spend 5-6 years full-time earning a PhD. We see on-line programs here claiming 3 years of part-time study will do the trick. Both approaches may yield the letters "PhD" - but the experience is significantly different.

I'm not saying that non-traditional programs aren't without merit. They aren't trash as the author of this article says. But at the doctoral level, there are significant differences between non-traditional and traditonal B&M programs. Both have a place - but it isn't the same place.

Regards - Andy

 

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Two thoughts:

1. The blog author seems to have an unusually negative opinion of an online program in which he was barely qualified to teach with respect to his academic training.

2. Non-traditional and online Ph.D. programs may not differ that much from B&M programs with respect to training. It might depend on the online program. I've roomed with Ph.D. students from top B&M programs at a couple academic conferences. They were highly screened and had one or two publishable papers in the works with their advisors but they were not trained significantly different than I was at TUI. The main differences were that they were in kindergarten when I earned my bachelors degree and I have previous nonresearch doctoral coursework before TUI.

Dave