UOP Students need to “grow a pair”

At the end of my class last night, the students were giving quick individual presentations over their Past, Present, and Future papers. Now, I talked to several members of the class before it started, and I got the impression that several of them had taken a decidedly negative tone with their paper in reference to the learning experience at UOP. However, when each of those individuals got up to talk about UOP during their presentation, when they had to verbalize their issues with both the isntructor and students listening, all of them chickened out of saying that their papers said.

They danced around the issue like there were on “Dancing with the Stars” and tried to make sure and put a nice polite bow on the topic. As a result, when I got up there and was decidedly more negative, the isntructor was sufficiently suprised. I made the statememt “I do not think my degree will really help me in my career.” After picking his jaw up off of the desk, the instructor asked around the room if anyone else felt that way? After some muffled agreements, the louder voices (with brown noses) started speaking about how much it will help them. I was literally watching the UOP bandwagon groan under the load as the rest of the class jumped right on board.

If we, the students of UOP, do not like what is happening at the school, we are obligated to say something about it. It’s not a recommendation to voice our concerns, it is our duty. And sometimes that means saying things that people do not normally want to hear. That’s why the majority of UOP students I have encountered need to “Grow a Pair”. If you aren’t willing to stand up in front of any member of the UOP staff and tell them what you honestly believe about the experience at UOP, then you have no right to complain. None. You should be forced to sit there and shut-up, and be happy with your worthless degree. I however, have made a habit of standing up and telling them. That’s why my name is on the desk of the campus chair. Becuase I voice my opinion, and don’t stop untis they hear me.

Now, I am feeling a little hypocritical on this topic, becuase I have not divulged my full info either. This is more becuase of the grey area involving my statements about my team members. I am not impressed with their work, but unlike my instructors, I need my team members cooperation in order to complete these classes. So with them, I have to be more tactful. But I do not need to the instructors to like me in order to pass the class. They are paid to be objective and teach the material. If they don’t personally like me or my opinions of the school, that should not affect my standing in the class. (That does not imply that all teachers are ethical in this area, but they should be.)

So, for all of those people who logon to the UOPSucks website and write their opinions, but aren’t relating the same issues to their instructor, academic counselor, team members, campus chairs, and anyone else who will listen, then they need to “Grow a Pair” as well.

What defines a school as a ‘Diploma Mill’

In my class last night, we discussed the case of the Cessna CEO who was ousted from his job becuase it was discovered that he had obtained two degrees from a known ‘Diploma Mill’. This got me wondering as to exactly what defines a school as a ‘Diploma Mill’. According to the comments from the facilitator, it was the fact that at UOP students are paying $1200 per class, not per degree.  But if the cost is really the only thing that keeps school from being a diploma mill, then aren’t we really just saying that a degree doesn’t count unless you pay market value for it?

 And really, in the case of the Cessna CEO, the man had been in charge for several years, and done very well for himself and the company. The fact that he had ‘fake’ degrees didn’t really have any impact on his ability to lead the company.

The more time I spend at UOP, the more I question just how valid a college education really is? Does going to college really prove anything, or really make a person a better potential employee. An ex-girlfriend of mine was convinced that she was more intelligent than I becuase she had received her degree. I am not saying that she wasn’t a bright individual, but I don’t think anyone can prove that IQ and education are related.

Everyone that I have spoken to at UOP seems to treat the college system like a necessary evil in order to achieve this single piece of paper that means so much in the corporate world. My contention is that once any part of a school, it’s instructors, studnets, administration, or staff start to adopt the attitude that the degree is the only important thing, then the school has already become a diploma mill. They are just overcharging for it.

The degree was never meant to be the focus on the system. The intention of college was to gain knowledge and intellectual ability. But when businesses start using a degree as a screening criteria in job applications, or parents start brainwashing their children that a degree is required to be successful, then we have subjugated the entire point of the college, and moved everything that much closer to being a diploma mill.

The more I think about it, the CEO of Cessna should have gotten a raise. He saw the college system for what it has become, and found a hell of a discount on the only part that anyone seems to care about anymore. 1 single piece of paper.

Professionals vs. Professional Teachers

I just completed week 3 of my current course, and now that I have recieved a combined 3 hours of actual instruction/lecture over the 3 class periods, I wondered if part of the problem at UOP is the teachers.

The old saying goes, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” No, aside from the fact that teaching is substantially harder than it appears, this statement generally is directed at the old professors who have hidden at universities and other academic institutions for so many years that they have lost touch with reality. In those situations, the adage is a concern. Maybe that’s why UOP has gone with the policy of using working professionals instead of professional teachers.

The theory is that the working professionals will be able to provide real-world experiences along with the academic information, making the classes that much more applicable. Goes along with the other policy one of the staff members told me that UOP uses. “Learn it tonight, use it tomorrow”, referring to how you should be able to apply the lessons from one nights classes directly to you work the next day.

The problem is that some times, people who may be very good in a particular area, are not qualified to teach that subject. Not everyone has the knack for instruction, which was evident in my class last night. Not only did we only spend 45 actual minutes discussing the material (and that is being generous) but we really only spent that time looking at articles online, and not doing any indepth discussion about how it applies.

Look at the teachers at you major universities. Their primary job is as a professor, that is their career. Yes, the may write books or do studies on the side, but if you ask what their profession is, they will undoubtedly state that they are a professor of something. Part of why that works, is that every professor, or at least most, want to believe that they teach at a reputable place. They are judged by their peers when it comes to recognition and respect, and the chairman of the business department at Harvard carries more prestige than the same spot at Podunk Community College. So it is in the best interests of all the professors to try to maintain the academic integrity of the school. If the schools reputation goes up, so does theirs. Classic example of the halo effect.

At UOP, the instructors are not professional teachers. If you asked most of them what they do for a living, or if you read it in their Bio, it will say something like accountant, CFO, consultant, etc……. Their livelihood and prestige is based on that job, not the professorship at UOP. So why do they care about the academic standards. It’s more work to carefully read each paper, provide thougough feedback, and critically grade each submission on it’s own. It just takes time, and that seems to be something that most of the instructors do not want to spend. I had one, who gave me full credit for a paper, where large sections are barely complete sentences. That what happens when I can write it during class, and or even after class and before midnight. (When you can write two papers in the 90 minute window between getting home from class and midnight, and get full credit for both you are either really smart, or the grades are really easy. You decide).

UOP needs to consider bringing in full-time professional educators, to at least lend some credibility to the school. The NYTimes article damaged the reputation, and I have fellow students that are now deeply concerned that the degree they will receive in a couple months won’t be worth anything in the outside world.

Personally. I am almost convinced that I will need to go back for my masters at somewhere more legitimate, just so that I can hide the UOP name on my resume. But lucky for me, my job and future promotions aren’t affected by the existance of a degree. And hopefully by the time my son is old enough to ask where I went, UOP will either be a good school or out of business.

Receiving a lowered education

Recently, the New York Times published an article about the University of Phoenix that condemned the school for providing low-overhead education that focused more of the profits of it’s parent company than on educating students. The full article can be found here. The schools president responded with this rebuttal here.

So beings it’s now out in the open, I figured I should contribute my two cents on the issue.

I do not completely agree with the NYTimes article. Not because I think UOP is the greatest university ever created, but becuase he focused on issues beyond my control. I do however agree, that the quality of the education that UOP deliveres is sub-par and for these reasons.

1. Admission Requirements = Check Writing
   If you have the ability to write them their check every 5 weeks, they will get you a college degree. I have had teachers tell the class at the first night that they will do anything to ensure that you complete the course. This is college, some people are not going to have the ability to do the work. If everyone did, then the college degree becomes no more valuable that completing the 6th grade. By not having any academic checks or controls on it’s incoming students (specifically those with prior college experience) then university ensures that the level of intelligence in a basic class room is so low that even the most gifted instructors can’t have a hope of really imparting all the knowledge students need on a given subject
2. Excessive Team Focus
   UOP has so much wrapped up in the “Learning Team” concept that they can disenfranchise students who are academically more capable than their class mates. You are given two options when you work with a team, either let them turn in poor quality work and share in the poor grade for it, or you re-do their work and ensure your own grade. Either way the poor performing members of the team do not learn anything more, and do not understand that their work level is not sufficient. Talk to the counselors on this issue, (which I have many times), and they will suggest that you switch teams. I have 21 people in my current class (I believe) and I only really respect the academic abilities of 1 of them. 2 people can’t make a team under the UOP guidelines, so unless someone transfers in, someone gets smarter, or I give up fighting, I don’t see this getting resolved any time soon.
3. Lowered Expectations
   Much like the SNL skit that used to run by this name, UOP has forced everyone to lower their expectations. I have seen papers get turned in, including from teams I was unfortunately a part of, that I would have found unacceptable from a junior high or high school student. Yet, this was in a 400 level class at the end of a bachelors program. Their is no excuse for this level of work being found acceptable unless the expecatations have been lowered so far that this is now acceptable. I showed one such paper to my academic counselor, who after she picked her jaw up off the floor, stated her surprise at the level of quality. However, the paper only suffered a 1/2 point loss in grade, and no comment was made about the quality of the writing. Now, thankfully not all of the instructors would have been so generous, but in my experience I have had only 1 instructor who consistently demanded the highest quality of work. 1, out of the 15 classes I have completed.Some people have told me that the writing style shouldn’t be graded, even some instructors have alluded to it. But that’s crap. These are people getting business degrees, and could reasonably be expected to have to create various papers for their employers, most of which are used to convince management to follow their idea. Would the CEO of your company really like to read a 3 page paper about quality management where 3 consecutive sentences started with the words, second, third, and fourth? Or give a presentation where during the introduction phase of the presentation, you said “This is the introduction where we are going to explain what the purpose of the presentation is”? I can’t make this kind of stuff up, I have really seen it in presentations. And more than once. Not only did it not get corrected, but the grade was not penalized for it. God forbide that someone on a project I work on does a presentation like that to my boss. I would have to shoot them just to save face.

Overall, the UOP experience has left me very disheartened. I do not intend to walk through the graduation proceedings because to be honest I am not really proud that my degree will say UOP on it. I am almost going to have to go back and get my masters somewhere else (even though it won’t really help me in my career), but just to say that I was able to actually handle the work load at someplace people might respect. When it comes right down to it, the NYTimes article is probably right. If the Apollo Group, which owns UOP, is really focused on achieving higher profits, then lowering the academic qualifications and expectations is probably a good way to do it. But they are lowering the value of a college degree for all people, and are giving these students who do graduate a sense that they have bettered themselves when they probably haven’t. Because from what I have seen if the people going through this course feel like they actually earned a college degree when this is all done, then they didn’t really have any business attending college in the first place.