University of the Cumberlands Online PhD in Information Technology

We have a month left in 930 here in the Spring of 2024, but my semester is over because I'm not allowed to do any more work this semester.

Remember, I came into this semester (930) with Chapters 4-5 already written. I edited Chapters 1-4 in the early weeks of the semester. Then, I revised Chapter 5 about the same time. Understand, I work in academia as a faculty member, and so we have more time on our hands--more than you would working a "real world" job. For example, I had Summer of 2023 off, so I completed Chapter 2 and then Chapter 1 in 736. That put me ahead in 839, where I focused early on IRB approval, before completing Chapter 3. Getting that IRB approval early let me start collecting data immediately, where I hired a survey company. You can't write Chapter 4 without the data, but the company collected that quickly. Then I wrote Chapter 4 while still in 839. I had nearly a month off for Christmas, so I wrote Chapter 5 then and revised Chapter 4. For me, Chapter 5 was a quality check on Chapter 4--I found errors in the data reporting when I analyzed my findings in Chapter 5. That's how I ended up in 930 with Chapters 4 and 5 already written.

This Spring semester, I received Quality Control (QC) approval for Chapters 1-4 which just three suggested revisions. One was why does this sentence have so many citations? Well, because I said "the overwhelming academic consensus...". Sometimes, when there's not much to find QC feels pressured to say something. That's understandable. So I removed a few citations from that sentence. Another was to use a table in one awkward scenario where I was trying to report the theories used by other scholars. Using a table was a great suggestion. There was a suggested change to a word or two in one research question. Fair enough...

The next step (after QC on Chapters 1-4) was sending Chapters 1-5 to my committee for their review. After about a week, my committee members approved the dissertation draft of Chapters 1-5. They reacted quicker than I thought.

My Chair tried to send Chapter 5 through QC (which is the next and final step before defending), but the department sassed and said: Woaaaaah there son, slow down now. We have rules here, you know. You are trying to do too much work in one semester! You can't send Chapter 5, that you aren't supposed to have written yet, into QC. We gotta save some for the sequel, like those Rocky movies! (Sorry, I have a sarcastic sense of humor--they didn't actually say that in those words. But that's really what they were saying.) So, we're waiting until 931 opens so we can send the dissertation for the final QC on Chapter 5.

Then, I'm ready to defend--probably 2 or 3 weeks into the Summer semester--or however long it takes the QC to review Chapter 5.

Out of our original group in 736, there's maybe 3 of us left that will finish 930. The attrition rate is very high.

Crucial milestones:
IRB approval
QC approval on Chapters 1-4
Committee approval on Chapters 1-5
QC approval on Chapter 5.

Remember, each one of these steps can have a two week turn-around time. If a committee member or QC check finds too many things wrong and they want to see the revision before approving it, that's going to be however long it takes you to fix the document + another two weeks (or so). If you aren't careful, that can consume a lot of your semester!

 

Im finishing up 736 now, I also wrote 1 & 2 in 736

I have never heard about a QC process thanks for the heads up

Congratulations , kick that academic butt

How many did you start with and why do you think the attrition rate is so high?

In our group, there were some rumblings about AI and how Grammarly and other programs can increase AI % falsely.
I took comps and passed comps in 736. It was a huge burden off my chest.

Thank you so much for your tips wingshot. It has made the path a lot less bumpy for me

 

AI generated text cannot be detected in a a legally defensible way. We can detect plagiarized text because a tool (like Safe Assign or TurnItIn) can loosely search other texts for the suspected text. We can then prove the text was plagiarized because we have proof of the same or similar text that predates the student's submission. This is proof.

Running a black box algorithm on text and then claiming it was written by AI is not proof. It's an unproven assertion. The reason is the algorithm is not transparent in how it works and no one can verify that it's correct. The algorithm is merely making a claim. For that reason, most higher education institutions will not uphold a plagiarism accusation over AI when the student appeals. Professors huff and puff (as I do myself), but at the end of the day, I solved this issue by making the exams--proctored (for online courses) or in-person (for on campus) courses-- count a lot more--and other assignments a lot less. I explain that the assignments and quizzes prepare you for the midterm and the final, but if you are determined to cheat, we probably can't stop you. I note how odd it looks when students score 100s on assignments and then 25% on the midterm or final. You won't like your course grade if you circumvent the very tools in place (assignments, labs, quizzes) to prepare you for the midterm and final.

The stumbling blocks in the dissertation process, in my opinion:

See: "The failure rate remains as high for DSRT 839 ...":
See: "From what I've seen, two common problems doom students in the dissertation process:...":
University of the Cumberlands Online PhD in Information Technology

Also see this guy's post:
University of the Cumberlands Online PhD in Information Technology

Before AI, students at UC (and elsewhere) would pay others to write their discussion posts and smaller papers (5-10 pages). AI Just cuts out the middleman. AI struggles with a proper PhD level analysis, which is why, even with AI, most students cannot pass 736 and 839. If you can't write, how will you pass the comps? Can't use Google or AI there!

 

Forgot to say: Congrats on passing comps in 736. I didn't even try comps then. I waited until 839. Your approach is smarter since, if you did have issues, you can remediate in 736 and 839. The risk in 839 is you run out of "tries" to pass the comps, yielding an automatic "F" in the course.

Since you also have Chapters 1 and 3 done in 736, it sounds like you are strong path to complete the degree! Your next big hurdle is IRB approval in 839--which is EVERYTHING. When you get it, you can immediately start collecting data (if quantitative, especially with a survey instrument). Then, you can write Chapters 4-5...

Keep us posted on your progress!

 

Finished the Week 4 lab for ITS532. Pretty ridiculous.

Imagine being asked to type commands like sudo keystone-manage bootstrap --bootstrap-password password0 --bootstrap-admin-url http://cloud1:5000/v3/ --bootstrap-internal-url http://cloud1:5000/v3/ --bootstrap-public-url http://cloud1:5000/v3/ --bootstrap-region-id RegionOne with no explanation as to why, or what the settings you're being asked to configure do. If you type it wrong (and you will), things just don't work. Since you don't know what you're doing, you also don't know when something is failing because of you, or the lab. Expect to repeat each lab multiple times until it works.

 

So it isn't just me wondering why I'm sitting on my hands then? Phew! Granted, I'm in 839, but once I got Chapters 1 and 3 written and submitted, I've just been wondering..."is this how it's going to be from here to the end? Finish up ahead of schedule and relax?" It's a 180 from how it was at the start of the course getting everything situated. Fortunately I already had comps done in 736. It must be pure madness for those who have to worry about everything else AND the comps in 839.

We were encouraged to start collecting data if we had IRB approval early, but I've been holding off until the chair gives a thumbs-up on the drafts. The last thing I want to do is give SurveyMonkey hundreds of dollars to collect data on something that may be flawed. SurveyMonkey will turn the data around within a day anyways, so I'm not too worried. As I read my Chapters 1 and 3, I'm still wondering if what I'm collecting data for is even useful for anything, but so far everything else about the dissertation got the chair's blessing...

This is a big deal and it cannot be overstated how great it is getting the comps out of the way in 736. It's a free shot at the exam. The worst you can do is not pass it and just take it in 839. The best you can do is get it out of the way. Anyone who is on the fence about taking this in 736: just do it. If you can get it out of the way, you'll have a lot more wiggle room to play with in 839.

 

You had me at "sudo," (I have a Linux laptop) so "kudos" to you - for your persistence. Persistence will get you things and places that NOTHING else will. I think I'm preaching to the choir with that one. Congrats on finishing this bizarre exercise successfully. Maybe it's another "weed-out" thing. From others' comments, the program seems well-supplied with those.

I'm in awe, Dustin. You just dug in and DID it, regardless of how meaningless or frustrating it seemed, with no explanation. You are definitely headed to Doctorland -- and the heights beyond!

 

Hi Dustin,

Have you completed all the core courses?

 

Well, on the one hand, I'm happy to see there's actually technical labs available. On the other hand, instructions without context are brutal.

In the specialty I went through, all of the "labs" were just analyzing and discussing scenarios. The labs seem to be on the far ends of the spectrum

 

Not yet. 836 (Data Science and Big Data Analytics) is the last of the core courses I need to do. Actually since I took 6 months off I forgot what my course plan was! But luckily past me made a post here on DI about it. Here's where I stand right now:

Completed:

• ITS 831 - Information Technology's Importance in Strategic Planning
• ITS 832 - Information Technology in a Global Economy
• ITS 834 - Emerging Threats and Countermeasures
• ITS 835 - Enterprise Risk Management
• ITS 833 - Information Governance

In Progress:

• ITS 836 - Data Science & Big Data Analytics - In Progress
• ITS 532 - Cloud Computing - In Progress

To Do (Content Specialty Area):

• ITS 631 - Operational Excellence
• ITS 632 - Introduction to Data Mining
• ITS 630 - Organizational Leadership and Decision Making
• ITS 536 - Human Computer Interaction and Usability
• ITS 535 - System Analysis and Design

To Do (Dissertation Writing)

• DSRT 837 - Professional Writing and Proposal Development
• DSRT 734 - Inferential Statistics
• DSRT736 - Dissertation Seminar
• DSRT839 - Advanced Research Methods
• DSRT930 - Dissertation
• DSRT931 - Dissertation

 

The first lab was great! We created a virtual machine using Microsoft Hyper-V and then manipulated its settings, logged into it, passed data back and forth, etc. I'd never worked with Hyper-V before, but I could easily do that on my own now if I needed to. The second lab was terrible. We started an Open Stack server and added some nodes to it, but because there was little explanation of what the commands we were executing did, there's no way I could replicate what I did. I'm hoping the later labs are better, because I think the whole concept is super cool.

 

You can set this up in myUC too. Menu -> Academics -> View My Academic Plan -> Update Plan

It's very useful. You can register directly from the plan, and it'll also keep track of your enrollment/pass/fail status. You can also ask your advisor to look at it to make sure it all lines up with your degree program.

 

736 was hectic for me with gaining familiarity with the literature. 839 wasn't as bad. I used an unusual statistical technique that required some time to dig into, so I spent more time researching and documenting my approach there than anything else. That dovetailed into Chapter 3. Since the methodology was crystal clear in my mind, writing Chapter 4 came naturally after collecting the data.

But, no, I wouldn't collect data if Chapter 3 wasn't approved. When you work ahead, you don't feel deadline pressure and I think I get more done. I've done less work in 930 than since I started at UC. When you work ahead of the bureaucracy, you have to let its slow, churning wheels catch up.

I still think dissertations are "won" or "lost" in 736. You've either planned how the topic aligns with theory, identified a gap, identified research questions, and identified a data collection method that can fill that gap--or you haven't. And if you haven't been to plan the whole thing there, is it even possible given the constraints of the topic, theories, and data collection? I still think UC needs to force students to plan the whole roadmap in 736. If you can't navigate the maze there, you're making a large wager you will figure it out later, when in fact, you might need a new topic.

 

When 736 started, it felt like being thrown into a pool of gas with a match hanging off a frayed string. When I was done 736, I still wasn't sure which theory or population I was going to go with (even though we were "supposed" to pick it Week 1). There is definitely a misalignment somewhere in the process.

I sort of get why it's set up the way it is, but there most certainly is a better way than making you pick a topic, population, and theory, and making you feel like you're locked in to something before you've even started to crack open the books. I like your roadmap idea.

 

Nicely done! For me, I completed the following courses, but I think I am quitting after this semester as I want to dedicate more time to entrepreneurship instead of continuing education.

Completed:

• ITS 831 - Information Technology's Importance in Strategic Planning
• ITS 834 - Emerging Threats and Countermeasures
• ITS 835 - Enterprise Risk Management

Completed: (Content Specialty Area)

• BLCN 531 Introduction to Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies
• BLCN 532 Blockchain Development
• BLCN 533 Finance and Blockchain
• BLCN 534 Fundamentals of Database Systems
• BLCN 631 Blockchain Implementation
• BLCN 632 Data Mining
• BLCN 633 Global Marketing and Blockchain

In Progress:

• ITS 836 - Data Science & Big Data Analytics - In Progress

To Do (Core Course):

• ITS 832 - Information Technology in a Global Economy
• ITS 833 - Information Governance

To Do (Dissertation Writing)

• DSRT 837 - Professional Writing and Proposal Development
• DSRT 734 - Inferential Statistics
• DSRT736 - Dissertation Seminar
• DSRT839 - Advanced Research Methods
• DSRT930 - Dissertation
• DSRT931 - Dissertation

 

There must be some wildly different things occurring across the program/school. Our class has never been subjected to the QC process. It should have started in 930 and you shouldn't have been told to go to 931 without this event occurring, yet our Chair was told by the school to pass everyone and move to 931. We literally had people moving to 931 without IRB approval and nothing written on Chapter 3/4. Now, we're finishing up 931 and have several approved to defend (and 1 already done with defense) and they only needed approval from committee/chair - no QC board like the dissertation portal says. It leads me back to previous statements I made: if your chair/committee are cool with it, you're good to go. Why I believe this even more so now than ever: the email from Sandra Jones saying all grades need to be in by April 26 if you plan to walk on May 3. That means you could submit April 25 and defend same day and still graduate - no QC process of any kind occurring.

Are you actually receiving emails from a QC board or Graduate school with feedback or does it just come back from your chair?

 

The school sent out a link to do some training on AI generated content. If you haven't done it, it amounts to "we know you're going to use ChatGPT/similar AI, please just cite it." CopyLeaks boasts a 99% accuracy to detection, yet I can open a notepad and write out a paragraph and it'll flag. None are accurate enough to reliably go after people. I also think the fact that the school highly encourages the use of Grammarly which has embedded AI capabilities within it shows they're kosher with its use.

 

All we need to do is look at our SafeAssign reports to know how inaccurate some of these "plagiarism checkers" and "AI detector" tools are.

"Oh wow, how did I get a 45% on SafeAssign? I didn't plagiarize a single thing... *looks at the report* Cool, it's complaining about my reference list and two sentences, out of 10 pages, that have the opposite meaning of what it claims I was paraphrasing from a source I've never heard of."

Fortunately every single professor appears to understand that the SafeAssign score is...wild to say the least.

 

Where are you seeing a QC requirement at on the Dissertation Portal? I don't see it on mine. I even did a ctrl+f for "quality" and "qc."

 

Make sure you're on the new dissertation portal - link below. 930 + 931 have it listed as a requirement.

https://cumber.sharepoint.com/sites/DoctoralResearch/SitePages/DSRT-930.aspx