HI, DO MEMBERS HAVE ANY TOP CHOICES FOR USER FRIENDLY NON NORTH AMERICAN DL PHD PROGRAMS. PARTICULARILY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OR RELATED AREA. I HAVE HEARD UNISA FOR INSTANCE CAN BE A BUREAUCRATIC NIGHTMARE.
Seems to be somewhat individual. We have had members contact certain institutions and get warm responses and others get not so warm. Best thing to do is to contact some of the departments of Australian and South African Schools and see how receptive they are. One member Michael did this for Masters level Theology programs. This would probably be helpful information. North
Several months ago I had the experience of having one department head at the University of Pretoria express a willingness to go far out of his way to make my admission a possibility. The head of another department at the same school essentially slammed the door in my face (only a bit of exaggeration). You need to be VERY sure that you are up front about your need for 100% non-residential study (if in fact this is the case) because it is that requirement that will mess things up ultimately. Take the advice offered in the previous posting(s), contact the specific department(s) and make your best case. BTW, it helps if you can describe your specific research interests. Good luck, Jack
Were you able to find a program? My experience with South African schools has been somewhat limited to UNIZUL/SATS. Both of these institutions were extremely helpful, courteous, and timely in responding. Of course we have had those post who have had not such good luck both in S. Africa and Australia. North
My worst experience was with the UNISA Dept. of Philosophy. Oddly enough, one of my best experiences was with the UNISA Dept. of Sociology. Following my bad experience I was advised by others on this forum that this was not a typical experience. They were correct as I have had subsequent contacts with several persons/departments that were all positive. Prof. Antonites of the Univ. of Pretoria made me a generous offer to do PhD work through his department as well. In the end I simply felt uneasy about how the degree would be viewed by others. I know that this is a much discussed topic on this forum, and I don't mean to reopen the discussion, but a recent thread started by Barry Foster really helped me in my thinking. Combine that with a couple of minor revelations and some pragmatic thinking and what you get is an application to the University of Nebraska Masters degree program in Journalism (100% non-residential DL, and of course it's RA). Should this pan out as I'm predicting, this could be followed by a doctoral degree in Education. It's a bit of a shift for me but, what the hell, these interesting little shifts are part of what makes it worth getting out of bed in the morning. Perhaps soon I'll be ending my posts with "GO 'HUSKERS!" Let's hope not ;-) Jack