Farewell degreeinfo but not goodbye..:-)

Dr. Lady, Congratulations and I wish you the very best.

 

Hi David,

I was one of those you recently had a disagreement with here on Degreeinfo, but I certainly never took it personally. I just looked at it as two people with opposing viewpoints intelligently discussing their positions.

Congratulations on your new position at Aspen University. It is great to see someone who has gone through the DL experience attain a leadership post at a DL institution. I wish you nothing but the very best of luck. I know you'll do a great job!

 

Congrats on the new job, good for you! But I don't think that you need to withdraw from this forum given your new position - on the contrary, you're in an excellent position to continue to offer advice to other degree seekers.

 

Congratulations!

I recommend your first act as president is to offer free courses for all degreeinfo.com members. Seriously though, what a great story. Did you ever imagine you would end up president of a university?

 

They couldn't have picked a better man for the job! Good job, I am proud to be your friend. Aspen is a great school.


Abner

 

I would have to agree. Please continue to post here, your input and contributions are invaluable.


Abner

 

Congratulations.
I am sure you will do a great job.

 

Dave,

You are most certainly welcomed and encouraged to post here in your new role at Aspen.

I think there is sometimes some confusion about Degreeinfo's policy on promoting a program one is employed by or otherwise involved with.

We've never had any objection to representatives from legitimate schools from posting here, only to posting here without disclosing their affiliation. As other posters have said, there are quite a few regulars, and many other occasional posters here who work in academia, some, in fact, work in admissions/marketing for schools, and that's fine, as long as the information provided is honest, relationships are properly disclosed, and the posts are informational and not simply an attempt to shill or promote.

We do generally prohibit posters from advertising or promoting through their sigs for products or services unrelated to distance learning, or for sites whose primary purpose is to market schools or otherwise simply take traffic from degreeinfo.

 

Congratulations!

 

Congratulations! Great news!

 

Congratulations, Mr. President!

Roscoe

 

Everyone, thanks for the warm replies and words of encouragement.

Based upon the above, here will be my policy around postings:

1. As you can see I removed my signature line

2. I'm not going to initiate any threads, but I will respond to a thread if requested to, or if alerted that my response would somehow be beneficial ([email protected])

3. I'm not going to follow each thread that asks for program recommendations, and say Aspen, Aspen all the time, however if Aspen looks like the right choice, PLEASE feel free to refer people to me for addition comments or information, which I will happily provide

4. If Aspen comes under fire, or there is some legitimate confusion, please let me know and I will comment as best I can

5. If I and someone disagree, refrain from using the "no response must mean I'm wrong or concede the argument" approach. I have seen that used here and it is a terribly sophomoric approach. I am now under different legal and ethical constraints than many of the other posters here; I can no longer post conjecture or opinions, and have legal considerations for what I write going forward that many others do not.

Finally, ANYONE from degreeinfo should feel that you have an open door to me at [email protected]. Contrary to much of the debate here, the education received, and cost to attain it in time and money, can often times out way other more pedantic considerations (and sometime not). Obviously my Aspen degrees served me pretty well; I rose in the ranks at one of the world's largest and best respected hospitality companies, and now have the opportunity to be a leader in DL education. Honestly, while much of it is luck, and I am very blessed to have gotten luck many times, what more could anyone ask for.

DEL

 

One opportunity is for someone to speak generally about directions of nationally-accredited schools as a category; there is still much to be achieved with respect to employer and academic acceptance.

 

Dave,

My best to you - you should be proud of your multiple accomplishments - and please, don't be a stranger.

Shawn

 

Good deal!

I'm glad you took our/my advice. Your voice is welcome here.

You should also re-post to the Distance Learning Success Story thread!

 

First of all, congratulations on finding a new employer. Getting hired by someone, along with a good salary, invariably feels good.

However, it's important for students to be educated on what they are getting when they enroll in any educational endeavor, whether it be vocational-technical, DETC programs or regionally accredited college or university degrees. Each type of program has a scope of utility; and students should be informed of the utility of any educational endeavor that they seek. That's where forums such as this come into play -- because potential students are informed of all the various kinds of accreditation's that exist in the United States, along with their utility -- or lack thereof. As long as potential students know of the pitfalls of various kinds of degrees, then they can make an informed choice. It is a shame when a student spends time and money on a degree, only to find out that it isn't recognized by certain employers.

Many years ago, Dr. John Bear wrote a book that outlined the various kinds of accreditations that exist in the United States -- and it helped to clarify a confusing issue for many students. As a result, many students chose to avoid certain kinds of accreditations, due to their lack of utility. For example, it would be a shame for a student to unknowningly seek a DETC degree, only to learn later that he can't transfer to a state university for a higher degree or he can't teach at the college level with a DETC degree. Is there a DETC degree that leads to certification to teach children in any of the 50 states (k-12)? Dr. Bear's book has done wonders for educating potential students of the pitfalls and advantages of various kinds of degrees.

Hopefully, you will inform potential DETC students of these various issues -- so that they can make an informed enrollment-choice -- thus, knowing the limitations of DETC degrees. Their time, their money and their lives should not be toyed with, as some sort of an experiment. DETC schools benefit financially when students give them money, but will a DETC degree help them to achieve their dreams? When you got hired by Aspen University, you get a salary; but when a student graduates with a DETC degree, will they be bitter in the end when they find out the limited utility of such a degree?

 

It is good to know that you are out there looking out for the greater good.

The wonderful thing about the internet is that everyone can have an opinion, they are all presented as relatively equal, can be repeated over and over again, and can be presented as authoritative.

What is even better is that everyone can do their own research and gain access to good information.

Best wishes.

DEL

PS - Be sure to point out since I have stopped replying to this argument that that must somehow mean something. Oh, and look up "straw man" for future reference

 

With Aspen growing, will it seek regional accreditation?

After I finished my degree with Walden, I came across a program in education focusing on Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory. (I believed this was at Aspen, but I tried to find it on the website, but couldn't.) I was very interested in that program, but upon finding out the school was not regionally accredited, I decided to drop it. In Virginia we MUST have a regionally accredited degree to teach. While yes, I could've still completed the program, but none of the schools in Virginia would have recognized it.

While this does not specifically pertain to just Aspen, I still have to wonder why more schools don't try to seek regional accreditation.

-Matt

 

I wonder if she is still working this board for Northcentral...

 

lol

Get more Dave!!!