City University BS Comp Systems

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Sonya, Apr 8, 2001.

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  1. Sonya

    Sonya New Member

    A little bit of background about me first -

    I have 2 years at Chemeketa Community College and 1 year at TESC. I was working towards the BSCIS at TESC when I decided they were not the school for me. I've been out of school for 1 year and looking for another school where I could get a degree that suits me. I want a good program at a good price. The school being accredited is very important to me. I would prefer one on the west coast, but that's not as important as the other things.

    That all said, I was looking around the internet the other night and noticed that CityUniversity (the one in Bellvue, WA) has two degrees of interest to me. Both are BS in Computer Systems. One is an emphasis in Web Design, the other in E-commerce.

    I'm seriously considering going back to school this summer or fall and am leaning towards CityU. I know that their name comes up occasionally here and on what's left of a.e.d. Anyone enrolled in these degree programs there? Anyone have words of encouragement to push me over the edge and back into school?

    Thanks.
    Sonya
     
  2. Tarbuza

    Tarbuza New Member

    Does TESC offers BS in CIS? What was your reason for leaving TESC?
     
  3. DaveHayden

    DaveHayden New Member

    I believe TESC offers a BA in CS and a BS in AST with various technical concentrations. Sonya is likely refering to the later.



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    Best Regards,
    Dave Hayden
     
  4. barryfoster

    barryfoster New Member

    Hi Sonya,

    I'm a City U grad - MBA, not the BS. I enjoyed the program. However, prior to the MBA, I had done some under-grad work at the school. I found the classes to be rigorous but quite interesting - with good faculty and student services support.

    Barry Foster
     
  5. Sonya

    Sonya New Member

    Dave is right.. it was the BS-AST I was working towards. Although I wasn't entirely comfortable with the content of it and I was thinking of switching to the Business Admin degree instead.

    I left TESC because it wasn't working for me. I'm sure it's a perfectly fine school for other people, but it didn't offer what I was looking for. I had problems with communicating with the administration at the school, with my instructors, with the testing center and had problems on my end with my proctor. It just was too much trouble for too little learning.

    After my first semester there I fully intended to finish my degree there after settling on a program. But the second semester was enough of a pain in the posterior [​IMG] that I decided to take a break and rethink it all.

    Sonya
     
  6. Sonya

    Sonya New Member

    Barry -

    Thanks for the input. What was your undergrad experience with CityU? You say that there was good faculty and student services support. Can you be more specific? How was the communication? Were emails answered? How was phone support? I don't expect immediate answers from faculty, but I'd like to be able to get an answer within 48 hours.

    Thanks for anything you can add.

    Sonya
     
  7. barryfoster

    barryfoster New Member

    Hi Sonya,

    The kinds of things you mention are exactly what I'm refering to re: support. Both faculty response and student services (registration, library, bookstore, etc.) were very fast - often the same day. I used both e-mail and phone. Very good support.

    I only took a few courses in the under-grad. But my expeirence was the same.

    Barry Foster
     
  8. ropark

    ropark New Member

    Hi Sonya, I am currently doing undergrad DL at City University. (Comp Sys). I'm finding it to be very challeging and I have a great deal of respect for the school. Are you going DL or On Campus?
     
  9. Sonya

    Sonya New Member

    I'm looking into the DL program. They sent me a pile of info in the mail today, but I haven't had time to wade through all of it yet.

    How is the communication with your instructors and the administration? How difficult was it for you to find a proctor for your tests? Is it just one test at the end of the course?

    Sonya
     
  10. ropark

    ropark New Member

    Hi Sonya

    I've been taking courses at City U since July of last year. I've completed 6 courses, a seventh (started April 1st) is in progress and I will start an eighth on May 1st -- All DL.

    When I first checked into City U, the advice I kept getting was "you can't go wrong with City U". Now after more than 8 months, I can honestly echo that advice based on experience (two issues to note below, however).

    My experience with the administrative staff has been nothing but excellent. My Academic Advisor has gotten to know me and is sensitive to my personal goals. He always has enlightening information on classes that I am preparing to take. The people in Financial Services have been terrific and so have the bookstore people (although their prices are about 3 to 4% higher than Amazon).

    I don't use Proctors so I can't really answer your question about them. One of the reasons I chose CityU is that I live in the Greater Seattle area where they're located. They have campuses scattered throughout and the campuses are all equipped as DL testing facilities. You tell the instructor which campus to send the exams to and then show up at that campus to take them in a controlled, comfortable environment. Their testing hours are quite liberal so I have no problem showing up on campus for them. Their locations are listed on the web site (www.cityu.edu). I've heard that their proctor standards are somewhat stringent, so if you can't make it on campus, you may want to have them send you their proctor approval guidelines.

    All but one of my classes so far have had one midterm and one final (in terms of number of exams). I'm on the Programming core so there are also a lot of assignments to be sent in. I think you could expect the same.

    Two issues I have noted and to be fair I have to say that I have no experience with DL prior to City U (my prior academic experience was on campus) so for all I know, these are issues with all DL programs everywhere.

    1 - Availability of Instructors.

    Of the 7 classes I have been in so far, the availability of the instructors has been somewhat less that I had expected. When I first exchange contract information with the instructor, I always ask the question "Do you have office hours?". The answer in all cases so far has been some variation of "no" ("Heaven's no, I'm on the road too much", "Oh nooooo, my schedule is too varied",etc). This is NOT to be interpreted as saying they are unhelpful! They have all been very helpful; just not always available. For example, when I received the introductory letter from the class I am currently enrolled in, it was accompanied by the note: "I will be on teaching assignment from April 14 to May 20 and will not be able to communicate with you during this time". Uhmmm.. ok. Given that the classes are 10 week classes and the class started on April 1 and ends June 10, he misses 1/2 of the class. Most are not *that* unavailable and hopefully that was an exception case. I do get the feeling that these instructors are doing DL teaching very much on the side. So if you are expecting total availability on their part, you may be disappointed.

    2 - Use of Online Resources

    It's been duly noted in this discussion forum that the City U Distance Learning web site has been "Under Construction" for a very long time (at least since last July when I started and probably prior to that). The instructors don't make much use of online resources-- there doesn't seem to be organized study groups or discussion forums. No scheduled class chat sessions, or anything. I get the feeling that their DL site is undergoing a major overhaul so perhaps that may change.

    Having said that, Distance Learning itself is an exercise in independent learning, self motivation, and fortitude. If these things don't bother you, and you can get the proctor thing worked out, I would say YES to City U.

    Hope this helps!!

    Ross
     

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