I had a charming conversation with a VP at South College regarding the DBA program they offer. Between the comprehensive information they sent at my request, and the conversation I had with him, I feel I have a clear understanding of the program. This is one to check out. First, the school. You can go to Wikipedia to get a history of the school, but here's the short version: it is a small, accredited (SACS), for-profit school no one has ever heard of. If you're concerned about the for-profit status and its potential impact on the utility of the degree, don't. No one has ever heard of this school anyway. The DBA program has some unique aspects. First, you pay a subscription fee of $US6,000 per 6-month term for as many credits you can/want to complete. Each course has formative and summative evaluations and can be completed at your own pace. (You take two course simultaneously to begin with, then one at a time after that.) A motivated student could do the courses in a couple of years or less, especially if you have some background in the subject. (The tuition can be lowered to $US5,000 per term for veterans.) The dissertation is the other (besides the self-paced courses) unique aspect. It is a professional doctorate, so you are not expected to contribute to scholarship. But the real difference is this: you must use extant data as the basis for your research. You cannot do original research; nothing involving human subjects. So, if you have a research topic already in mind, you might not be able to pursue it. On the other hand, students can save months of data creation/collection, instead taking pre-existing data and applying it in a new way to tackle the dissertation's research problem(s). Thus, if you're set on researching a topic that requires new data, this isn't for you. But if you're interested in something that can--and you really want to get the degree done quickly--this might be for you. The director of the program has a DBA from the University of Phoenix. I suspect that experience serves him well in creating this one.
I think that it is a good idea for someone who has expertise in Organizational Leadership, Healthcare Administration, Accounting, and Information technology. Then, read this book, Research Methods for Business Students, preparing for the research. This is what ESGCI's DBA program uses; most of the learning materials come from this book. Then, pay for one 6-month term for the dissertation, but it requires a lot of self-study. Organizational Leadership Healthcare Administration Accounting Information Technology
To be clear: is this the actual textbook they use (or its contents)? If so, your advice about pre-studying it is very valuable!
"They" whom TEKMAN referred to, were ESGCI - a school in France, not South College. I don't see anything in this thread about what texts South College uses. Here's TEKMAN's quote. You can see for yourself.
Okay, but there are tons of books out there on research methods. If this was the actual book they used, fine. Otherwise, I guess it might help, maybe.
I know. That's why I followed up. It seemed like a non sequitur. If it's not the actual text, it might be vaguely useful, but no more than any random text related to the curriculum.
That would be silly. Makes common sense to me, to find out in advance what text to use. But I'm no PhD. You're 45% of one - that puts you ahead. So I leave it to you.
One thing I do not consider Dba - South college because the school is for profit school. I do not like for profit school.
Please share your objections to for-profit schools. The main complaint is their aggressive recruiting practices, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. What other objections might you have?
There are many disadvantages to for-profit schools: Aggressive recruiting practices (i.e., University of Phoenix, Ashford University, etc.) Ownership changes frequently (i.e., Touro University International, Northcentral University, etc.) Permanently closure (i.e., ITT Technical Institute, Corinthian Colleges) However, this is not the case for South College, which has a long-standing existence.
I share the same opinion as TEKMAN. When you hear 'for profit,' it often brings to mind institutions like Devry, ITT, and others reddit feedback: https://www.reddit.com/r/nashville/comments/15vx1tf/south_college_goodbad/
There is at least one user I'm aware of who is doing or has done this program. I'll let that person out themselves if they want. Also, this program has been a hot topic of discussion on DegreeForum. There were a few people I've seen post about their interest in it, but I'm not sure if anyone has actually done it. I agree - interesting! I'd like to see more professional doctorates with a similar model.
I find it interesting too. They have an EdD program and a couple grad degrees that follow the same process. I would love to see them further expand their offerings. Some tech focused outside of the DBA would be great. Also, that $1,000/term discount is available for educators as well.
South College might start offering DIT (Doctor of Information Technology) to compete with Purdue University, Walden University, Capella University, and Charles Sturt University (Australia).
