University of Phoenix also ACBSP?

The Canadian market is a little different from the American. However, in general, a DL degree from a Canadian university is generally accepted quite well. All Canadian universities are "state schools" and meet very stringent requirements for post-secondary education. You can't go willy-nilly here and call a school a "university" unless it is approved by the provincial ministries of education.

Canadians get a little irked by for-profit (i.e. corporation) schools that offer "degrees" at very high prices. As such, "degrees" from American for-profit institutions (like UoP) are frowned upon, shunned and downright discriminated against. Personally, I agree with this academic elitism in Canada. I know my comments will offend some, but this is my impression.

 

What is my position? I think UOP is a good school. You can find many good DL programs at B&M schools, too, depending on your needs.

I think you meant to say "taught" or "teach"...

Dave

 

I'm not going to argue with you, Scott. Normally, you seem to be well informed, but not this time.

Dave

 

Huh!
It has to be right coming from Mr "WELL INFORMED" Himself.
Dave, a piece of advice, this is not your virtual UOP classroom.
Behave!!!

 

You seem to be suggesting that the academic world in Canada is incapable of rational thought. I doubt it. I'm sure the advantages and disadvantages of non-traditional or for-profit schools are well understood in the higher latitudes.

Dave

 

Suggestion: use verbs, and avoid comma splices by using either a colon or a semicolon.

You might consider these examples: "Dave, here is a piece of advice: this is not your virtual UOP classroom!" or "Dave, allow me to offer you a piece of advice; this is not your virtual UOP classroom."

Dave

 

Hey here you go Again Teacher!
You ran out of arguments....
Stop using grammar and fight like a man , SISSI

 

I agree. The candidate's work experience, if any, will be an important factor.

Dave

 

Hey Teacher,
Enough already!!!
Nobody cares if you agree or not!
Remember you are not in the classroom!

 

I doubt UOP has been hurt at all by the media attention; it seems to provide a platform for the school to make its case for serving students. I turn down classes regularly when I am busy and the invitations to teach keep coming. The school does not pretend to be perfect and it is not Stanford, but it is serving many, many underserved students and encouraging some of the traditional providers of education to be more competitive.

For example, I was recently asked to provide feedback to a new instructor who had taught adjunct for few years at a state university. The instructor was telling students to make a buddy early in the class so they could get the assignments if they had to miss class; under no circumstances would he repeat anything stated in class. I had to inform the instructor that UOP best practices are that the student can contact the instructor at any time during posted contact hours to ask any question about what was expected or how to improve. Of course, this type of instructor attitude probably is rare in other schools, but UOP has a system in place for remediating this sort of instructor.

For a large organization, UOP is surprisingly flexible and able to implement system-wide changes; this has always impressed me. The general attitude among faculty is that if there is something that needs to be changed, let's do it and move forward. I mostly teach stats these days, so I sometimes get tired of hearing about math anxiety, but that goes with the territory.

Dave

 

Teacher,
Enough bragging!
I told you already!
nobody gives a peanut about what you think or did!!
Go show off somewhere else. You don't impress anyone over here!
You're full of it!! Go get a life!

 

You people sound like a bunch of third-graders. Is this an education board or a freakin playground??

We get it - there are those that hate University of Phoenix. They could be admitted to the Ivy League and achieve AACSB, and it wouldn't matter. Move on.

 

Are you trying to tell us Lansbridge University is somehow better than all its DETC competition?

 

From the Chronicle of Higher Education May 11, 2007

username\password required

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i36/36a04001.htm

Faculty numbers:

 

Overall, I would say "yes" for the programs it offers. Lansbridge offers only BBA and MBA degrees, so within this framework they are probably better than the rest.

 

There are so many faults with this. First, UoP is huge, dwarfing almost all other universities in the U.S. Of course you're going to see and hear more complaints.

Second, UoP's population is largely older and self-paying. These people are used to getting what they perceive they're paying for, and not shy about complaining when they don't. You don't have that with traditional college students.

Finally, for many people, UoP is the metaphorical "face" of DL. Its name is invoked whenever DL is discussed, whether or not there is a specific reference to UoP. Just like McDonald's, which takes the brunt for all things related to fast food, even if they're not invovled with whatever issue is being discussed.

I've been on the inside of UoP as both a full-time campus chair and as a part-time faculty member. Also, as a faculty member, I've taken several training courses (Faculty Certification Workshop, ICS, Mentoring, Flexnet Certification, etc.), so I've experienced things from a learner's perspective too. (Although I haven't taken any courses as a student.) UoP has a great many faults, but they're definitely magnified by UoP's size and place in the market.

Specifics about UoP make great fodder for discussion. Hyperbolic, generalized statements do not. And that's not something we "teached" students, either.

 

Or AACSB. Because if UoP was accredited by AACSB, then AACSB would not be what it is now: geared towards traditional programs centered on full-time faculties, instead of programs like UoP, which bring working professionals (students) together with credentialed, working professionals (part-time faculties).

AACSB, because of its alignment with the top traditional B-schools in the U.S., has no reason to change. It serves its masters well. But the relationship is oh, so symbiotic. Schools without AACSB accreditation are often not perceived as being high-quality--even if they are. And AACSB, being a largely exclusionary organization, has no interest in expanding its scope. Very protected. But it works only if one accepts that the standards set by AACSB are correct, essential, and the only ones that should apply.

Just like the regionals, AACSB may face a need to change. In the 1970's, there were very few distance learning programs at accredited schools, and only a handful of accredited, free-standing DL schools. Not any more. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting an RA program offered by DL (not to mention entire schools based on that instructional methodology). Did RA standards lower, or did they just become more open to DL programs and schools?

AACSB may have to answer the same question regarding schools and programs geared to working professionals and taught by credentialed working professionals. As an instructor, I'd stack my 29 years of work experience against some professor's publishing record any day. And as a graduate of such a program, National University, and having been a full-time assistant professor at a traditional school (SDSU), I have first-hand experience with what works well for adult learners.

AACSB should get a clue. Except they don't have to, do they?

 

Dave Wagner, why don't you address his concerns instead of attacking his grammar? Pray tell?

Please don't disagree with Dave Wagner because... uhmmmm... it might upset his "sense of well being." Doh!

 

Thanks for your thoughts, Scott. I might mention that I'm Canadian and a graduate of a Canadian university (AACSB accredited).

I struggle with how, in a Canadian context, a distance learning MBA from UoP would be compared with one from, say Bellevue or one from Warwick. I hasten to add that Warwick has residencies (I think) and this will lend credibility.

I'd be curious to know your opinion - realizing that it is largely speculative as a job candidate is a package, and that package goes beyond one particular degree.