Sofia University to expand its DL offerings

People might remember that Sofia University is one of the few places in the world where one might earn a DL PhD in Philosophy. Well, it seems that they are about to expand their offerings. Read about it here:

Bulgaria - Sofia University Launches Distance Learning Programs - Standart

 

Perhaps you should wait until you see what is offered before deciding to be disappointed.

 

This may be interesting. From my very, very limited knowledge, Eastern European Universities appear to have a different take on a lot of subjects. I heard this discussed just yesterday at a psychotherapy training centre which a friend of mine is interested in. The Eastern Europeans apparently have a different emphasis on psychology which is apparently more psycho-analytical in nature, whereas in this country we are more "Skinner Based" in therapy. As far as I know, only one University in Australia runs any courses on psychoanalysis which I am informed is mainstream in Eastern Europe.

If this is true, then it may be an example of a different focus that flows across a raft of subject areas, not just psychology. The differences may enrich distance learning and weave a broader global knowledge base. I would think that they would also be competitive in price.

I could not imagine, however, that this would be an easy transition for universities that have not been exposed to online learning technologies or dealing with offcampus, international students. The first enrolments may be problematic until the bugs are eliminated.

 

What does one do with a Ph.D. in Philosophy from a Bulgarian University? :shrug:

 

This is definitely promising. I know that I was looking at the school for Eastern Christian studies ages ago (when I first learned about it through the more questionable Ignatius University) but was never able to find more accurate information on the Sofia website itself. A shame! I look forward to hearing more in the coming months.

 

Sophia University seems to be a leading university in Bulgaria. And it isn't all that unusual for European universities in non-English-speaking countries to offer DL programs taught in English.

But I wonder how many of its professors actually speak English and are involved in the DL programs.

Here's something that worries me - Sofia's association with a mysterious something called Ignatius University, located in Indiana (or New York or someplace).

Welcome to Ignatius University

Sofia talks about this relationship and the Sofia DL programs here:

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(If the link delivers you to a Cyrillic page, click on 'English' on the right side, then on 'MA programs' on the left.)

They say:

I'm not sure what "educational licenses in the USA" they are talking about, given what Ignatius tells us on their 'accreditation' page. Not only is Ignatius unaccredited, they may not have any state recognition as a degree-granting institution at all. They say that they aren't subject to state regulation in Indiana because their school is DL-only.

IgnatiusU.com - Accreditation

Students apply to both Sofia and Ignatius and may actually receive their degrees from Sofia. Or something. So, are students taught by Ignatius professors with Sofia just recognizing the Ignatius credits and awarding the degrees?

The peculiar ecclesiastical stuff makes me a little nervous as well. As does Ignatius' history page that tells us all about the ancient history of the city of Antioch, which has nothing whatsoever to do with Ignatius University. (The connection seems to be the early church father Ignatius of Antioch.)

There may not be anything wrong with this arrangement, whatever the arrangement is, but I'd want to clarify matters a little bit before I sent them any of my money.

 

I spoke this morning through email to the director of the PhD in Philosophy program. There are 8 courses taken in year 1 of the program in 2 semesters, then up to 3 years to complete the Dissertation. 5k a year in American dollars.

If you search the school for rankings it is #1 in Bulgaria and ranks high in the world on multiple sites.

 

Not to be confused with Sophia University in Japan, which is very well-known in Asia and among universities in the US with study abroad programs.

Sophia University English Site| Sophia University Official Website

 

I would imagine someone receiving a PhD in Philosophy from the Bulgarian Sophia needing to differentiate their degree from Sophia in Japan's doctorate in Philosophy.

Graduate School of Philosophy| Sophia University Official Website

 

Frame it and hang it on the wall?

 

Right next to my picture of the president of Bulgaria...

wned2:

 

If you do psychotherapy with a masters-level credential, and want to be a Jungian analyst, this could be viable and more in sync personally than a Psy.D or clinical Psych PhD (though admittedly not as useful for billing insurance). Not that there are thousands waiting to do this, but I can see it.

Phillip

 

If you personally know operators of some online-only university, they can let you teach something like "Organizational Leadership" or Introduction to Management" at their school (remember online teaching only requires grading papers, and nothing to do with actually teaching anything - the students do the learning themselves, after paying the tuition....). Why do I say this? Because it is happening. When I attended TUI University, I had a professor with PhD in Organizational Development teach IT courses, which ofcourse he brilliantly turned the courses into "communications skills" courses. Who cares; afterall, my tuition was paid (from which a percentage was paid to the professor), which is what the school was really only interested in anyway. At the end of the day, every party who made money was happy, except students, who paid to learn IT Management and Foundations of IT, but were short-changed by being made to learn "communications skills." So a PhD in "whatever" from "anyway" can get you online teaching gigs, if you know some people who either own the schools or run it.

 

How cynical of you to imply that there is a profit motive in online education... :stooges:

 

At NCU, PHD-Accounting, I had a mentor who was a high school teacher in one of my courses, whose highest degree was a master. He was slow to respond but his feedback of my grammar was always welcome. I did all the learning on my own but that was what I wanted.

 

Most of these online courses are canned and solutions are given to the instructors. I used to be the faculty lead for an accounting course at an online University. Some of the instructors had no background in accounting and were teaching the course during many years.
Once I received a complaint from a student that was really upset because everytime she asked a question, the instructor would answer "I will post the solutions for you to see". I later found out that the instructor had a PhD in leadership management and the person that hired this instructor thought that any management degree would have accounting background.

Schools hire someone with a PhD just to meet accreditation requirements. In practice, the course could be taught by someone with a bachelor's and student wouldn't notice as all the solutions and material are given to the instructor. The instructor role at many online institutions is reduced to a grader with a PhD.

I know some people might feel offended by this statement. I'm sure many really put the time as an online instructors but the reality is that many manage to keep their jobs by teaching a subject they don't know and grade papers with an A to everyone just to avoid complaints. At the end of the day, students are getting their As and instructors and schools their money so it seems like a win to win situation.

 

It's only a win-win for the instructors and the schools who make money off the students. IMO, such practice is unethical and border-line fraud, because students pay to be taught by qualified professionals but are cheated off their money and provided with substandard courses by unqualified instructors. The question I guess is, why is this problem prevalent with online education? Because online schools are able to hide behind the computer to engage in fraud, as this sort of problem is easy to spot in traditional face-to-face schools. Would it be a win-win if say you need heart surgery, but end being operated on by a surgeon with specialty in skin cancer? Wouldn't that be subject to a lawsuit or possibly, other forms of criminal charges? I think folks deserve to know these scams. Also, I think we will start seeing lawsuits by students who graduate with huge student loans from online schools, and then blame their inability to get jobs using those internet degrees due the substandard courses/educastion that were a product of unqualified instructors that the schools knowing presented.

 

I think you may be a bit harsh. In my example, I was capable of learning on my own. In, most cases a person just need his paper graded with the standard " A" on a timely basis.