WNMU Spring 2011

Howdy folks!

The spring semester for WNMU begins tomorrow. What have you all signed up for? I'm enrolled in POLS 580 -Public Administration and HIST 514 - History of the Southwest. These are my last two courses in the program, and I'm looking forward to being done. I have to complete my comps later on this spring.

On a side note, for those of you enrolled in a WNMU program, have you courses shown up in Blackboard yet? Mine have not, and I find this strange in that every other semester they were available days before.

-Matt

 

Hi Matt, I am applying for the summer wit the same two concentrations. Can you tell me how demanding it is. Is it mostly writing (essays, papers,etc.) for grades?
Thanks for any information, Nikki

 

Matt, I am intrigue by WNMU MAIS so are a few members of degreeinfo. Can you post the syllabus for POLS580 on degreeinfo or send me a pm? I am interested in anything you have to say about the POLS major. I am thinking about enrolling in PSYC/POLS majors. Thanks you.

 

Hi Nikki,

To be completely honest with you, it totally depends on the professor. I will say this, though. You get out of it what you put into it. Don't think it's easy just because it's online. I totally busted one of my fellow students for plagiarism (twice!) during my first semester there. I actually brought the issue up to this board, and with their advice, I made sure to report the student. I didn't want my degree tainted by the fact someone else was cheating and getting away with it.

Here's what I've observed since I started in the Spring of 2009. (Wow... seems like so long ago!) One thing to note is that many of the courses are cross listed, so you can take them as either history or political science (or criminal justice in some cases). As a result, there's a rather thin selection of professors, in my opinion. That's not necessarily a bad thing though. You can get to know them pretty well, and that's definitely good. Here's what I've learned about some of them and their teaching styles.

Dr. Manzanarez:
Classes involve discussion with 3-4 "position papers" thrown in. These are 6-8 page essays that involve some sort of issue related to the topic. He also does peer reviews for these position papers in which you basically edit and comment on other students' essays (which is how I caught the girl plagiarising) and then revise your paper. He also requires a larger research paper about 15-20 pages. Depending on the course, he might also have you do about 2 book reviews of 6-8 pages.

Dr. Hernandez:
He poses discussion questions as well. (I think that seems to be a standard in online classes.) He has you do book reviews as well, though you get to choose the books. Regarding papers and essays, he assigns 2-3 page essays here and there and a major research paper of about 20 pages. He's pretty laid back, and I liked that.

Professor Warren:
Let me start by saying that he's a lawyer. He's a really nice guy, but in some ways, he's too darn nitpicky. I LOVED his classes though. I took 3 of them. He's really big into quizzes, so you have to do the readings about 10 times to make sure you get all of the little tidbitty material for the quizzes. He's not so much into papers though. He has this fascination with 5 paragraph essays, and you have to follow his format... or else.

Dr. Fritz:
This is my first class with him. He really has his course structured very with with learning modules. He has you do a 3-4 page essay for each module, along with a quiz and discussion. I'm really liking it so far. It's not so intense that it turns me off, and he gives you enough options for your essays that you can really take it as an opportunity to further your learning.

Professor Jackson:
Like Fritz, this is my first semester with him. He requires, at least in this one class, discussion each week. We basically have to do a minimum of 8 postings. That's not hard, but it'd be easier if everyone else was actually doing it. Of course, that's not his fault. Each week he also requires a 2 page essay. This course has a midterm and final, and a 12-16 page research paper, which is totally doable.

All said and done, I have really enjoyed my experience with WNMU. I enjoyed my program at Walden as well, but had I found WNMU first, I totally would've done it earlier. It's super affordable, and it's a brick and mortar school... albeit a small one... out in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to attend graduation, but it's just not feasible. It's like a 3-5 hour drive from the airport, and that's just not affordable at the moment, but I digress. Since starting this program 2 years ago, it definitely seems like they've worked out some kinks, yet there are still some to go. I'm starting to think I should've gone with a thesis, but at this point I'm just going for the comps and hopefully I'll have another piece of paper to hang on my wall. (With a frame of some sort, I might add, though velcro or tape my be an option... That's a joke from another thread.)

I really hope you choose WNMU and stick with it. The classes are good, and they're constantly adding new ones. The only downside is that a lot of their history courses are focused on the Southwest, but given the school's location, that's understandable.

Let me know if you have any other questions!
-Matt

 

I'd post the syllabus, but it's basically just a lot of standard information. The schedule for the course is pretty much a chapter per week with the exception of exam weeks. Here's the grading breakdown.

Midterm Exam - 25% of Final Grade
Final Exam - 35% of Final Grade
Research Paper - 20% of Final Grade
Discussions / Other Assignments - 20% of Final Grade

As for the Political Science courses, I took 3 with Manzanarez. They were good. A word of warning, the 4 week summer courses are ridiculously fast. The 8 weekers aren't that bad, but I took a 4 weeker each summer, and WHOA! It was crazy.

Here are the classes I've taken.
POLS 505 - Constitutional Development (A MUST take course for any PolySci student.)
POLS 516 - Border Issues & US/Mexico Relations
POLS 508 - World Politics
POLS 580 - Public Administration

I should point out that the 580 courses are listed as "workshops" which basically means it's the first time the course has been offered. Usually they get renumbered. I did take a bunch of history courses as well which were cross listed as political science. However, for the sake of meeting the distribution requirements, I signed up for them as history courses.

When I first enrolled there were very few POLS classes. I'm glad to see they're expanding them. Public Admin is new, and there's also a Political Thought class coming up. I totally would've taken that if it were offered earlier. Also, Professor Warren is working on rolling out additional Constitutional Topics courses. I took Age of Marshall, but he's trying to get additional ones on the Taney and Berger courts. Essentially, the program is growing, and that's a good thing!

-Matt

 

Matt, thank you. I have just applied to WNMU MAIS. I hope I am accepted. It is going to be Psychology and maybe Political Science. I may do my doctorate after that maybe from UNISA or ZOU. No for profits unless someone other than myself is paying.

 

Hi Matt - This is great info for people to get. Thanks for taking the time to put it out there.

 

Best of luck to you. I'm sure you'll be accepted. I wish I could offer some information about the Psychology courses, but I'm afraid I know zilch about those. They seem like they have a good selection though. My wife looked at taking some of them so she could get her 18 hours in, but she hasn't applied thus far.

Keep us posted!
-Matt

 

My pleasure! So many folks from here helped me out with various programs and course information, so it's only logical that I do the same. That's what makes this community great. And, by the way, when I finish in May, the party's at my place.

arty::banana::dance::fest30::beerchug:

-Matt

 

Thanks Matt, for all the info. That answers a lot of what I was wondering about. I am hoping to transfer in 6 credits from other graduate degrees. Okydd, I am hoping to start in the Summer or Fall. Maybe we will have class together.
Nikki

 

I posted this link under another topic. I am reposting here, because it is not that easy to find the information on the WNMU's site.
http://ggsc.wnmu.edu/Brochure/MAIS%20Brochure.pdf

 

Professor Warren, WNMU

Matt, just out of curiousity, do you know if Warren is licensed as an attorney and what his background is? I couldn't find a listing for him in the NM, AZ, TX bar directories. Maybe he has a JD but didn't take/pass the bar?

 

I suspect he is admitted in Kansas.

Virtual Campus - Online Programs

 

Thanks, I saw a PR release that mentioned that he went to Washburn Law.

 

WNMU Exit requirements

Are the options a 45-50 page thesis versus a 6 hour comp exam in each subject?
Matt, when you transferred in your 6 credits were they in the exact same courses? I finished the application and am getting ready to order transcripts. This board has been a great source.
Matt, I went to Walden, too, for two semesters in a doctoral program. I liked it but the writing requirements were too heavy for me at that time which is why I asked about writing at WMNU. I dropped out of Walden, went to law school and hated it. But, I stuck it out, finished, and passed the bar exam.

 

That will be great! My plan is to do Psychology and other closely related courses to Psychology, such as counseling or Special Education. I am a bit confused about what courses are offered online versus face-to-face. My fallback position is PSYC/POLS because both are offered online. My interest for PSYC is a new interest. At present I am doing two undergraduate courses at CCC which I am enjoying but I have realized that I have no interest in doing an undergraduate; not challenging enough plus too many courses to complete a degree.

 

I want to say he went to FHSU for his MA in History. I don't think he's practicing law anymore. I wish I had saved his bio, but unfortunately, I did not.

-Matt

 

From what I gather, the options differ for each discipline. I was never able to get definite answers, so I just opted for comps so I could just get it over with. I'll be taking this in a few weeks. I can't give you specifics though, because, quite frankly, I don't know myself.

Regarding my transfer courses, they were nothing like the ones that WNMU offers. I took a few extra through APU because I was trying to get my 18 graduate hours so that I could teach certain courses at my school. Let me just share that I completely misinterpreted the transfer rules though. I saw in the catalog that if you already have a masters, you only have to do 30 credits for the MAIS instead of 36. Then I saw the bit about transferring 6 credits, so I assumed (incorrectly, I might add) that I would only have to do 24 credits. That's not the case. They assume that if you have a masters already, you are, by virtue, "transferring" and that's why you only need 30 credits. I still asked that they be transferred though so I'd have 36 hours on the transcript for ease of seeing 18 hours in history and 18 hours in political science.

If you don't mind my asking, which doctoral program did you do at Walden? I've been considering doing the PhD in Education with the concentration in Leadership, Policy & Change. It's apparently new, and looks like it was taken out of the old K12 Admin concentration.

-Matt

 

Walden

Hi Matt, I hope this goes through as I have had the hardest time navigating this board. I was in a doctorate in business (DBA) program. The DBA is almost useless, in my opinion, unless you are a consultant doing research or teaching at a good university. The program was organized and I had a good advisor but I just couldn't get interested in it.
As far as WNMU, I plan on the same two concentrations that you have. I didn't think that the 6 credit transfer was a given. I took Public Admin in my Master's and Water Rights in law school so I am hoping that those will bring me down to 30. I am not going to enroll, assuming that I get accepted, until the transfer issue is resolved.
Regards, Nikki

 

Hi nikkita,

Here's the answer to why your posts are not showing up right away: http://www.degreeinfo.com/distance-learning-discussions/35100-new-users-ask-where-did-my-posts-go.html