Why "Liberal Studies" nonclamenture?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by emmzee, Feb 8, 2010.

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  1. emmzee

    emmzee New Member

    I was browsing Fort Hays' site yesterday and noticed they have a "Management Information Systems" concentration in their MLS program. Looking at the courses required, it seems like it would be very interesting and practical:

    http://www.fhsu.edu/mls/conc/conc-mis/

    The main problem with the program as I see it is the "liberal studies" degree title ... in fact the site says the transcript notation for this degree would be "Liberal Studies (Informatics)"

    So my question is, why would they offer degrees with this title ... it would seem to me that a "Master of Science in Management Information Systems" or "Master of Management Information Systems" would be preferable to "Master of Liberal Studies (Informatics)". Like if someone applied for a tech job and listed "Liberal studies" on their resume, it probably wouldn't scream "tech" to the hiring person who was scanning it ...

    Is this due to accreditation rules, ie the rules on what constitutes a MLS degree are less strict than a MSc or other IT degree?
     
  2. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    I don't know. But why would Harvard www.extension.harvard.edu offer the degree title of Master of Liberal Arts in Information Technology?
     
  3. bazonkers

    bazonkers New Member

    I think each degree program offered needs approval from the regional accreditors. If they offer only one degree (MLS) but then offer different concentrations, that technically is only one degree program.
     
  4. emmzee

    emmzee New Member

    Harvard can probably get away with calling their degrees whatever they want ... if they called their undergrad degree a Standard Undergraduate Credential in IT (SUC IT) people would still be quote happy to have it on their resume cuz of the Harvard name :D Doesn't really apply to Fort Kays tho ...

    Yeah I was thinking that too ... it makes it easier for them I guess, but makes the programs less attractive (IMHO).
     
  5. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Is that to be pronounced like as in "suck it"? :D
     
  6. emmzee

    emmzee New Member

    That was implied, yes :D
     
  7. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    I was not implying that Fort Hays is equally as prestigious as Harvard ... far from it ... I was merely pointing out that Fort Hays was certainly not the only institution offering an accredited graduate IT degree with a liberal arts/studies degree nomenclature.
     
  8. AUTiger00

    AUTiger00 New Member

    It's because of the school it is offered through. Liberal or Professional Studies degrees are typically conferred through a school of Continuing/Professional/Extension Studies i.e schools inside a college/university that are designed to serve non-traditional students.
    There is probably little difference between the degree FHSU is offering and a MS-IT. The name is there because of the school that houses the program.
     
  9. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    I suggest listing it on your resume as:
    MLS - Concentration in Management Information Systems
     
  10. emmzee

    emmzee New Member

    Hmmm that's true. In fact listing it as "MLS - Management Information Systems" would be still be valid also, IMHO.

    Just in case anyone finds this thread considering this program at Fort Hays, since posting the original post, I noticed that they also offer an MBA with this same concentration ... more business focused obviously, with only 9 credits are specific to this concentration, and it's more credits overall, but, in terms of panache, MBA likely carries more weight than MLS:
    http://www.fhsu.edu/mba/concentrations/
     
  11. Ron Dotson

    Ron Dotson New Member

    The FHSU MBA tuition is higher than the tuition for the other Virtual College courses. It was around double the cost, the last time I looked. That was one reason I went with the MLS rather than the MBA. I, too, feel that the MBA might carry more weight, so if one is willing to pay more, the MBA might be better in the long run.
     
  12. MSwol

    MSwol New Member


    Are you currently in the MLS program at FHSU? Can you provide insight on the program?
     
  13. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef


    My guess is department vs department politics.
    The "real" IT department (or business school, or education college, etc) probably wants to maintain control over any degree associated with them. I don't know about specific schools, but as with Harvard- it's the continuing ed (Extension) college that offers the degree- thus those degrees are "in" liberal arts.
     
  14. foobar

    foobar Member

    Think "accreditation" rather than "politics." If the B-school is AACSB-accredited, or the IT degree ABET-accredited the department is accountable for any degree offered by their institution in their discipline. Exceptions are commonly made for extension programs, continuing ed, etc. if offered outside of their colleges.
     
  15. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    A clear case of institutions teaching what professors want or feel they want to teach (they call it academic freedom), and nothing to do with programs that students actually want to pay for. The MLS degree name at FHSU is just one aspect of it, the several courses that form the core, which only teaches what the professors that formed the program feel they should have students throw that cash away on, and again, nothing to do with courses that have real-world value. In my opinion, the MLS degree is just good for picking up 18 graduate credits (at a cheap tuition rate) to qualify for teaching, that's it. In some cases, if you list a "liberal studies" degree on your resume and then submit that to a non liberal" organization, would that not be an automatic path to getting your resume tossed immediately? Today's political atmosphere is polarizing enough. Add a liberal degree to that mix and then see where that takes you.....
     
  16. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    The "liberal" in "liberal studies" is not related to how the word is used in contemporary American politics. It's a reference to the liberal arts.

    -=Steve=-
     
  17. Go_Fishy

    Go_Fishy New Member

    People have lots of reasons to get a Master's degree. Jeez, some people here seem to think liberal studies are some kind of horrific disease. ;) We should be thankful that schools provide a greater variety of distance programs than always the same old MBAs, nursing-, and teaching degrees.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 11, 2010
  18. bennylinus

    bennylinus New Member

    And this years dumbest post goes to...
     
  19. cravenco

    cravenco New Member

    This is the same thing as a General Studies or Humanities degree; a jack of all subjects, but a master of none.
     
  20. Go_Fishy

    Go_Fishy New Member

    Let's stay polite here.

    Humanities are a group of academic disciplines dealing with the human experience. Literature, languages, philosophy are humanities, but also - to some degree - law, psychology, sociology, linguistics, etc, which fall can be seen as part humanities, science, social science, depending on the perspective.
     

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