My Ashford University Experience : tips

Routines and Rhythms: The keys to your success

Cajun — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:50:00 GMT

I’ve said it before I’ll say it again, two things you need to be successful as an online student, especially one who is also professionally employed, is good scheduling and time management skills. The thing that I use to meet the rigors of...(read more)

Combating the fear of starting a degree program

Cajun — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 01:58:00 GMT

No doubt about it, starting a degree program can be scary. We’re talking about committing to something that is very time consuming and that can cost more than a new car. The stress involved in researching and choosing a specific school and degree...(read more)

Long Days, Longer Nights

Cajun — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:07:00 GMT

“I guess it’s easier to get an online degree” she said to me shortly after congratulating me on finishing the requirements for my MBA.

“Whaaaaattttt?!?!?” was the reply that screamed in my mind. I suddenly had fuzzy vision as my blood pressure shot up with a white hot rage. Suddenly I hated her with the passion that only an office worker who has suddenly found his sandwich that he dreamed about all day is missing from the community refrigerator at work could possibly understand. But I calmly replied “not really” while my left eye twitched uncontrollably. How utterly dismissive was that right?

So for those looking into the “easy” online path, here is a little bit of what you can expect.

Expect:

1.) Reading assignments on the scale of between a mere 20 pages upwards to 180 pages within about a week’s time. Sorry, not too many pictures and this is single spaced in dry academic books.

2.) Writing assignments as small as 3 pages to as big as 30, depending upon the week and all. Good news though, at least you can double space these but yeah, you’ll still have to finish it within the same week as the reading assignment.

3.) To have to actually understand not only what you are reading but why exactly it was written and how it fits into the course objectives. This can slow reading considerably.

4.) Cold coffee.

5.) Tired eyes.

6.) Stress and frustration that only a sheep herder allergic to wool could relate to.

7.) An irritated spouse who is frustrated at having to spend so much time alone because you have to figure out how to perform the dreaded regression analysis over a seemingly inadequately supplied amount of information.

8.) To form a seemingly unhealthy bond with your laptop or PC.

9.) To gain weight, lose weight or both though not likely at the same time. Possibly neither but given the amount of time you spend at work then at school workouts are definitely going to become a luxury if you are married and/or have kids.

10.) To learn how to have a meal while driving, reading or even typing.

11.) To learn the joys of having slick textbook pages stuck to your face when you wakeup suddenly realizing you wasted precious time on something as trivial as sleep.

12.) To suddenly realize that while you were studying or typing away the sun came up and you haven’t been to bed yet. Oh yeah and you have to be at work in 2 hours.

13.) Long days at work and longer nights at home.

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Interdisciplinary Degrees versus Vocationally Specific Degrees: What should your graduate major be?

Cajun — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:39:00 GMT

I sometimes get asked “what should I major in” to which my reply is universally “well, what do you want to do?” Usually a conversation follows where they are looking for a degree that has utility in their current profession but that will cross over to other careers, public and private if necessary. It’s very rare that I get someone who is firm in what they intend on doing for the next 20 to 40 years. So I decided that I would post on the differences between vocation specific degrees versus interdisciplinary degrees.

Firs a couple of definitions. By vocationally specific degree I mean those degrees that are specific to a career. A good example of this would be a Master of Science in Finance, which while excellent in working in finance would not necessarily be a good choice for someone who then wants to work in IT 5 years later.

By interdisciplinary degree I mean those degrees that can be transposed a little more seamlessly over a wide variety of career choices. A good example of this would be the MBA which as most people know is a business generalist degree. This would be handy to anyone working in finance, banking, IT or even criminal justice as the skills and competencies taught are those that are sought pretty much universally more or less.

To further break things down I consider the pros and cons to a vocational specific degree:

Pros to a vocationally specific degree are:

1.) It shows that you have committed to a career and are growing within that industry.

2.) You may become a subject matter expert in your career choice.

3.) It may allow for licensure, such as a Certified Public Accountant which generally requires a set amount of accounting credit hours before sitting for the exam. Often a specific credential is required as well. Another example is in practicing law, you will need a Juris Doctorate degree and pretty much little else will do.

4.) Often a vocationally specific degree will provide for the hard skills necessary to an industry. For example all the MBAs in the world mean nothing in IT if someone cannot fix and configure a computer. In which case an MSIT would be the better hire.

5.) When it comes to vocationally specific degree holders versus interdisciplinary degree holders for a job the vocationally specific degree will more often than not be the better or more logical choice. Unless the vocationally specific degree is in an unrelated discipline.

Cons to a vocationally specific degree:

1.) Little interchangeability. For example a MS in Accounting is not likely to transition smoothly into a career change into Information Systems for example.

2.) Some people may find that they get pigeon holed if found to be in possession of a certain credential. For example a friend of mine has a Master of Science in Accounting and she is a CPA, however every time she applies for a job they always try and sell her into coming on board as part of their accounting and finance team rather than her chosen profession of human resources. Her belief is that she has done accounting for years and she’s tired of it, she wants to do something else for a while and though she has spent the last 7 years working in human resources yet she gets about 2 calls a month from other personnel within her company and other companies asking her to come to the accounting and finance department or to their company as a CPA. Of course she doesn’t have to list her MS in Accounting or CPA on her resume, but then the years she spent in accounting and finance wouldn’t make too much sense. She feels she is pigeon holed and is constantly fighting pressure to take a job she does not want to do.

Pros of an interdisciplinary degree:

1.) Lots of flexibility. Or at least some, depending upon what degree you actually get.

2.) Some of these degrees command a great deal of respect in certain circles. Such as the MBA at the board room table or the MPA in the city manager’s office. Though these degrees are management and administrative degrees, make no mistake, they are not vocationally specific.

3.) You are less likely to be pigeon holed into a career you don’t want.

4.) Easily augmented or enhanced with hard skill or vocationally specific certificates, industry certifications or even a degree emphasis.

Cons of an interdisciplinary degree:

1.) Don’t count on being the “expert” in a hard skilled or vocationally specific area unless you extend your professional knowledge beyond your MBA/MPA/MSM, etc. education. As such you may not be the logical choice for many professions.

2.) Most of these degrees are management oriented. If you don’t want to work in management you may be out of luck unless majoring in Liberal Arts, Humanities, etc.

3.) These degrees often do not qualify one for licensure.

So as you can see there is some tradeoff no matter which way you go. Some examples of a vocationally specific degree would be a Master of Science or Master of Arts in, Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Information Systems, Programming, Criminal Justice, Marketing, Engineering, etc.

Some examples of an interdisciplinary degree would be: MBA, MPA, Master of Science or Master of Arts in Management, Leadership, etc.

There are some hybrids that do not fit nicely into either category, such as the Master of Science or Master of Arts in Communications (communications may also be considered interdisciplinary) or Human Services. Even a Masters in Education can be something of a hybrid. The reason for this is that some of these degrees are industry specific but provide skills that are universally or at least commonly sought after across multiple types of jobs. For example a Masters in Education may be a great choice for a human resources department looking for an instructor.

By the way it is worth noting that many people who go on to get an interdisciplinary degree already have a vocationally specific undergraduate degree, but then many do not. The same rule applies for undergrad degrees. For example a BS in Accounting is a vocationally specific degree whereas a BS in Business Administration is more interdisciplinary.

Of course this blog post, as are all my blog posts, is strictly my opinion and may not be agreeable to one and all but I hope I could at least shed some light on the topic.

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Considering online college? Here’s a formula to choose the best one for you

Cajun — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:19:00 GMT

In the forums one of the most frequent questions I see is "which school is right for me" or "can you help me choose a school" or "do you know of a school" etc. The problem with answering those questions is that choosing the right school is impossible for someone to do for you. They can suggest, point you in the right direction, even offer options but ultimately it is a personal decision that you, the student has to make. After all it is you that will do the work and ultimately pay the tab.

So here's a little exercise to help you decide on choosing a school.

Write down the top 10 criteria you have for a school. For example when searching out my MBA program some of my criteria was as follow:

I.) The school needs to be regionally accredited.
II.) The MBA needed a Leadership emphasis.
III.) The curriculum needed 12 classes or less.
IV.) The program must be under $15K.
V.) The school needs to be campus based with an online program.
VI.) The school needs to have accelerated courses.
VII.) The school needs to have 1 quantitative course combined finance and accounting.
VIII.) The school needs to have a good reputation.
IX.) The school needs to have a good support program.
X.) The school needs to be AACSB or ACBSP accredited.

I then take these 10 criteria and apply a number in order of priority with "10" being the highest and "1" being the lowest. Think of it in terms of dollars, $10.00 is worth 10 times more than $1.00. Make sense?

So now let's assume my criterion was as follows:

The school needs to be regionally accredited. = 10

The MBA needed a Leadership emphasis. = 7

The curriculum needed 12 classes or less. = 6

The program must be under $15K. = 9

The school needs to be campus based with an online program. = 5

The school needs to have accelerated courses. = 8

The school needs to have 1 quantitative course combined finance and accounting. =2

The school needs to have a good reputation. = 4

The school needs to have a good support program. = 3

The school needs to be AACSB or ACBSP accredited. = 1

As you can see, in my criteria of comparing two different schools I have assigned "The school needs to be AACSB or ACBSP accredited" as the least important of the 10 and "The school needs to be regionally accredited" as the most important at "10". Of course you make your own list and assign your priorities according to your opinions and desires.

Now in comparing two different colleges, for example let's compare Ashford University and Texas A&M Commerce.

Ashford scores in:

The school had to be regionally accredited.

The MBA needed a Leadership emphasis.

The curriculum needed 12 classes or less.

The program must be under $15K.

The school needs to be campus based with an online program.

The school needs to have a good reputation.

The school needs to have a good support program.

The school needs to have accelerated courses.

The total score was: 52 at 3+4+8+5+9+6+7+10

Texas A&M Commerce scores in:

The school needs to be regionally accredited.

The MBA needed a Leadership emphasis.

The program must be under $15K.

The school needs to be campus based with an online program.

The school needs to have a good reputation.

The school needs to be AACSB or ACBSP accredited.

The total score was: 36 at 10+7+9+5+4+1

As you can see Texas A&M Commerce has some things going for it that Ashford does not as Ashford has some things going for it that Texas A&M Commerce lacks in my opinion. But in the end Ashford scores higher overall than Texas A&M Commerce does. Thus Texas A&M Commerce is eliminated from my list.

Just keep going like that until you emerge with a winner. If you end up in a tie extend your criteria to 15 or 20 things instead of just 10.

I hope that helps.

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