I have an interview with UoP

Randell:

I am new to this whole area and trying to get into Phoneix now. Your responses have been very informative. Did you need to answer their initial online interview questions? If so, any tips from you nor anyoner else out there who has? Questions like how to motivate, handling difficult students, etc.

Thanks

 

They did ask a lot of questions. This is not something that you may have a canned answer - it is your experience that helps drive the response.

 

Good evening

Hi,
Congrats! Tell us how.

 

Axia College of University of Phoenix pay $1,235 per 9 week class.

If you put 10 hours a week it comes out to 13.72 an hour.

UoP pays $925 per 5 week class. They expect you to put 15 to 20 hours a week.
Am I missing something?
How can they have good instructors working for $10 an hour?

I think some barely squeeze this side jobs, is quality instruction taking place?

Are the hours calmative, you get 3 classes to teach? How many hours a week you put for 3 classes?

 

I'm not a huge fan of Axia / UOP.

I went through the whole process, jumped through all the hoops, learned all of their material, passed all the classes and found myself serious questioning not just the process, but the kind of education I was going to be called on to provide.

Got half-way through teaching my first class and realized that no, this really wasn't for me. Finished out the class but didn't care to continue. I think the feeling was mutual.

It's tough to separate between personal emotion and an objective analysis, especially when the sample size is one personal experience plus what background and outcomes I've read about on-line. Generally speaking, UOP wants a very particular approach used, done a particular way, involving a great deal of time and not a lot of money, with a learning outcome that doesn't seem to be much better than "middlin'" as my grandmother would say.

If you can make it through all of their hoops and love what you find, knock yourself out. If you don't make it through or find that it's not really your thing, don't by any means take it personally or look at it as baring any reflection on your skills or worth as an educator or practitioner in your field.

 

I'm not a huge fan of Axia / UOP.

I went through the whole process, jumped through all the hoops, learned all of their material, passed all their classes only to find myself seriously questioning not just the process, but the kind of education I was bein called on to provide.

Got half-way through teaching my first class and realized that no, this really wasn't for me. Finished out the class but didn't care to continue. I think the feeling was mutual with my mentor. LOL.

It is tough to separate feelings / emotion and an objective analysis, especially when the sample size is one personal experience reflected through what background and outcomes I've read about on-line. Generally speaking though, UOP wants a very particular approach used, done a particular way, involving a great deal of time and not a lot of money, with a learning outcome that doesn't seem to be much better than "middlin,'" as my grandmother would say.

If you can make it through all of their hoops and love what you find, knock yourself out. If you don't or if you do make it through and find that Phoenix isn't your thing, don't by any means take it personally. It isn't a reflection on your skills as an educator or value as a practitioner in your field.

(Didn't like how the prior one read... tried to edit it but had to repost instead.)

 

I'm very familiar with that system... It's a good educational system for students because brings rigor and consistency to multiple modalities, which makes the education possible to achieve. In my opinion, most of the new instructors who wash out do so because they can't or won't follow the system. Others don't like teaching. Some aren't very talented teachers. Still others love teaching but can find more lucrative pay elsewhere. Online teaching is not a well-paid profession but if you can get past the lack of money, it can be very rewarding.

 

What schools do you teach for or have taught for in the past?

 

Dave, I have no doubt that teaching can be rewarding. I've done teaching and counseling for many years.

My point though, directed mainly at the gentleman who was worried about and was assigning a great deal of value to teaching at UoP, is that for all of its marketing acumen, UoP doesn't have a lot of objective data to support statements of "greatness."

I'd be inclined to believe that their system was better than others if they turned out students that consistently ranked in the top tiers of graduates or if their programs had more than the most basic of accreditation. They don't. They're one of the few on-line schools that certain corporations are no longer choosing to reimburse for or to recognize degrees from. Those are important things to note.

UoP is very good at marketing, very good at bringing students into their programs, graduating them and even employing a percentage of those students in various teaching and support roles at the school. Again, things to note.

None of that should be seen to denigrate their students, most of whom are working very hard to better themselves by making the most of one of the few educational options they have easy access to. Or for that matter, professors who do give their time and energy to those students -- and to the shareholders of a very profitable company.

With all the on-line options out there though, my personal feeling is that if you are going to commit your time, energy and resources to getting either an on-line degree or an on-line teaching gig, UoP isn't my top choice to focus your efforts on.

 

Online Interview

Thanks for this discussion. I am just starting the process - I was sent an online interview....I completed it about two days ago...Anyone underwent this process please share your experience...I am also wondering what does the phone interview consist off.. Thanks so much.

Mel-

 

To echo what Dave is saying - as a faculty mentor for UOP, most of the problems I have had with new faculty are from those who will not or cannot follow the program. Everything for mentorship is clearly lined out for the faculty candidate. If a mentee will not follow the model with someone watching over his/her shoulder, what is the liklihood of following it when no one is watching?

You can find posts all over this board talking about how low the pay is, but those posts are generally not from someone who teaches at UOP. I have yet to spend 15-20 hours a week across a whole class teaching at UOP. At the very least, you can use UOP to build experience and get into higher paying adjunct jobs.

 

With all due respect to the Mentor gentleman, the pay at U of P is incredibly poor and is tantamount to an insult. They have a revolving door much like the retail market with faculty. They have difficulty retaining faculty at that low pay. They know it and still make a ton of money on the backs of these poorly payed profs. They ask a lot from the instructor and then expect to pay them so little for the work. If you love and obsess over an incredible amount of minutiae then the poor pay at U of P is of no consequence. I will say that I am thankful for one thing in my experience with U of P... I used them to get me a much better paying gig at a more "humane" school that treats their faculty royally. If you have ever taken the Holland Career test I assume that the folks who love teaching for U of P are those that rate highly on the conventional scale. That means they like crunching numbers, spreadsheets, programming tons of code, and get high on keeping track of endless lists, etc. The gig I have now pays almost twice as much and the work is almost half as much as that at U of P. Just my two cents.

 

We have already covered this ground. You said you used UOP to get a better paying gig - that was the OP's original focus of the inquiry.

 

Truckie,

I made my post primarily because of this statement:

"You can find posts all over this board talking about how low the pay is, but those posts are generally not from someone who teaches at UOP."

I know folks who still teach at U of P and consider the pay very low. As soon as they get another gig that pays better they are gone like so many of others.

 

I agree with you on several points. I have never said I love teaching at UOP or the pay is great. However, I see a great many posts on this board noting how it is lower than minimum wage or held in some similar context and that is just not true.

Now before you attempt to start analyzing me and assigning me to one of your career type categories that you so frequently like to cite, let me say that I teach for several schools and they all differ in their format, methods, structure, etc.

My UOP experience is different than most, I teach the same course over and over again and rarely have a course of more than 10 students. The significant portion of UOP income comes from mentorships, directed studies, and course development work. These opportunities presented themselves after I worked for UOP for a couple of years. UOP is my least favorite of the schools I teach for and I am working on replacing it right now, but it does offer stability between the enrollment peaks and valleys at my other schools.

I will make 80K this year adjuncting for several schools and I turned down a great deal of work. This would be impossible if I were to work for $9/hr for any one of them.

This board is full of people inquiring how to get their foot in the adjunct door via UOP. Getting that first gig is the hardest part as you know. These people are looking for encouragement and advice, not condescending comments about their sense of self-worth for considering working for UOP wages.

You mentioned that you used UOP to get a better job as have many of the adjuncts I know. Everyone has to start somewhere and most cannot jump into a pay scale that is higher than the entry level rate. How will these people learn about what is good pay vs. what is not until they get their foot in the door and see what adjuncting is all about? UOP offers a portal for entry into adjuncting, but I would not consider it a long-term school for anyone looking to seriously adjunct. There is my .02 cents - have a nice day.

 

You Are Correct Truckie

I used UoP to get my foot in the door a year ago. I now teach at three different schools and continue to facilitate at UoP as well. I currently teach four sections of a course at the institution and I spend on average about 8 hours a week maybe. It also helps that I have taught this particular course about 30 times now. I think it is a terrific place to start your online instructing career. On the other hand I can see how some complain about the workload and pay as my other institutions do pay more and require less. Strangely enough I still make the choice to remain loyal to UoP....hmmmm.

 

UoP won't hire instructors from parts of the country

Kind of off topic, but while we are at it. What is the reason why UoP won't hire instructors from certain cities/states in the US. About two times they had me started on the process. The very first thing they asked me was to provide them with my address, and their response was, "based on your location we can not continue for now" this happened about two times. Does anyone know why this is, and if there is a get around to it? thansk

 

Perhaps there is an issue with the local labor laws or pending litigation in those states affecting or reflecting on U of P's hiring processes.

 

Perhaps you live in a state in which UoP is not licensed to conduct business as a university?

 

It may be due to unions, employment restrictions, and employment laws. Where I work most of our faculty and adjuncts are from the South, since many of the states in the South are "right to work" states. I have a friend of mine who is an adjunct for a college up in Seattle and i was shocked to see how much she was getting paid for one class, it was a nice little chunk of change, but she said its due to the unions.