It goes without saying, since I suggested this board I am also the first person to post on it,LoL

So hopefully so UoP'ers will find their way to this section and jump into conversation - about anything.  Classes, Instructors, Policies, Grading, Financial Aid, Triumphs,  Struggles, and so on and so forth.

I'm Jessica, BTW, just turned 28 and am a first time college student. Been attending Axia/UoP since September '07.

I am going for my Associates in Psychology and then onto my bachelor's - most likely in communications (but am not decided as of yet on my bachelors). I may or may not go on for my Masters. 

With that being said,hello

Well, I hope you were careful what you wished for, because you got it.  As I'm sure you're aware, as the tallest tree in the forest, the University of Phoenix gets more than its share of lightning strikes.

-=Steve=-

LoL, yea I have heard ...

Right now I am pretty indifferent though 

1% of unhappy students in UoP equals 3000. that alone is enough to get UOPSucks.com going on the web. I think it is unfair to critisize UoP as a substandard school. Some students they simply could not cut. I do agree though, UoP's adminission standards are too low, simply they are a for profit university and they want every one who is willing to pay their tuition. It is not cheap, as we all know.

UOP is not a school for the working professional because of the workload. You have to do 2 posts a day of least 300 words within 4 days. This means if you post one time today and once tomorrow, that will not count. Other probems are with the instructors. The school lets instructors get away with too much. I have had problems with them not responding back to questions until it was too late. Other problems are the team projects. This is usually worth 30% of you grade which is dependent on other students. This means if you do a great job on your part and someone else does bad on their part you suffer.  

kcdpas:

1% of unhappy students in UoP equals 3000. that alone is enough to get UOPSucks.com going on the web. I think it is unfair to critisize UoP as a substandard school. Some students they simply could not cut.

I agree -- all schools have their detractors.  One should take the mere presence of an "anti" site with a grain of salt.

I do agree though, UoP's adminission standards are too low, simply they are a for profit university and they want every one who is willing to pay their tuition. It is not cheap, as we all know.

I don't think that open enrollment is the problem.  The same is true of community colleges, and they're successful in part because they open their doors to all.

-=Steve=- 

hyyella:

UOP is not a school for the working professional because of the workload. You have to do 2 posts a day of least 300 words within 4 days. This means if you post one time today and once tomorrow, that will not count. Other problems are with the instructors. The school lets instructors get away with too much. I have had problems with them not responding back to questions until it was too late. Other problems are the team projects. This is usually worth 30% of you grade which is dependent on other students. This means if you do a great job on your part and someone else does bad on their part you suffer.  

Hum, I took the campus program not on-line. So, I am not sure how UoP is conducting their on-line course. From all my instructors, the response to student's question are usually the same day. I had a couple of UC Irvine's PhD candidate teaching my VB class and system design and she was awesome. Even after I graduated with BSIT, she still answers my questions:).

SteveFoerster:

I don't think that open enrollment is the problem.  The same is true of community colleges, and they're successful in part because they open their doors to all.

-=Steve=- 

That is true. It is a double edged sword; opened up to all, but taking in some who is not qualified at the same time. It would be beneficial that UoP increase the admission standard a little. This will quiet many of UoP's foe and give them a better reputation.   

If you don't like professors having too much power and not enough accountability you had better stear clear of most non-profit state schools with tenured professors.

 

Secondly UofP is an open unviersity.  In fact there are many great open universities out there, one of the largest in fact is the Open University in England http://www.open.ac.uk/ 

I do not equate easy enrollment with easy coursework although too many people do and have only to meet with terrible results which is not the fault of the school but often uninformed students.

Cajun:

If you don't like professors having too much power and not enough accountability you had better stear clear of most non-profit state schools with tenured professors.

Not just state schools, but pretty much any school that's not for profit.

The idea behind tenure is that it protects faculty members from being terminated for pursuing controversial research topics -- or reaching politically incorrect conclusions.  I don't think that's a bad thing.

-=Steve=- 

The idea of being protected from termination in order to explore new or controversial research is a noble cause.  However I am a cynical observer of the greater human nature at work in our world and I believe that many tenured professors hide behind the afore mentioned noble cause in order to do a sub-par job as both an instructor and a researcher.  I have had the misfortune of meeting more than one of these throughout my career as a student, about 50/50 to be more to the point. 

I have yet to see a compelling example of where lifetime tenure in any organization has ever worked out to the betterment of the organization or society at large.  That goes for everyone from the Supreme Court on down...

 
But then that's my .02.  Rant over.
 

 I know about the UoPsucks website, and I can attest to both negative and positive aspects of UoP. Is there anyone that is indifferent or even for Axia or UoP online? 

I did want to comment on one person who said the courseload is not a lot, and I beg to differ.  I think that the courseload is in part, what you make it. They do have a minimum requirement, but how much learning can one do if they only do the minimum? That would prove for somewhat of a boring and pointless environment, don't you think? 

With that being said, the stipulations aren't actually as lenient as they may seem.  Participation and Content is counted (by instructors) and attendence is calculated (by computer). Participation has to be on three seperate days, and has minimum requirement for discussion (you can't just reply with "I agree" and have that suffice).  Under ideal circumstances, that isn't so difficult, but they are pretty strict on the policy - despite the circumstance (being sick, power outages, etc.)  I do have to say though, the overall flexibility is worth it, and it's inspiring to see the progress. Having good instructors make the experience truly authentic, and thus far, interesting and even enjoyable.  I can't really comment on the admissions standards, because it would be pretty similar to open admission I would think, and I can only comment on my admission (which I admit, was much easier than I anticipated).

As for the negative, I agree they are there!

It does not seem to me that there is very much communication between areas of the school - instructors, financial aid, academic advisors, etc., so I do find myself un-necessarily "mentioning" things more than once.  The financial aid is frustrating, and I find that it takes way too long to get email responses or phone responses (I have never actually had my financial aid advisor answer the phone, I always get her voicemail).  My academic advisor is actually pretty cool, as was my enrollment councelor, and there are no significant communication barriers, so that's good. I think that sometimes it's just luck of the draw when it comes to instructors, and that is frustrating because there really is no way of knowing what instructors are good and which ones aren't (I have gone to ratemyprofessor.com and while Axia/UoP is there, I have yet to find any instructors that I have had/do have). 

All in all, I wonder how UoP compares to other online education programs?

 

JessicaElizabeth:

I know about the UoPsucks website, and I can attest to both negative and positive aspects of UoP. Is there anyone that is indifferent or even for Axia or UoP online? 

I suppose I feel pretty neutrally about them.  I don't think they're the best value for most people, but they may be ideal for some and it's not like I think they're not a real school -- they are.

-=Steve=- 

kcdpas:

1% of unhappy students in UoP equals 3000. that alone is enough to get UOPSucks.com going on the web. I think it is unfair to critisize UoP as a substandard school. Some students they simply could not cut. I do agree though, UoP's adminission standards are too low, simply they are a for profit university and they want every one who is willing to pay their tuition. It is not cheap, as we all know.

 

Their standards for admission are too low, however their program is very good and certainly anything but easy. I found most of the subpar students were gone before the first two classes were even finished. We lost about six along the way in that span and since then I have seen about three drop.

The unfortunate thing is being a "for profit" school they are willing to take the money of these individuals that honestly are not committed and will not make it far at all. As for the program though I am happy with it and I am glad it is not a cakewalk because if it were I would have taken myself elsewhere.

I know once I finish the Associates (2009) I will transfer to complete the B.S. but that is more due to the "learning teams". I really do not wish to have much to do with that and would rather be graded on my own merits. That said though, the school is good and as long as a person is committed you can learn a lot. The ones that are not get to sit around with no degree and post on UOPSucks.com, which should really be "WeSucked.com".

 

Rick

 

Good points Rick.  Although I disagree with you on their enrollment process being too easy.  I agree with the open enrollment concept, I disagree however with their marketing tactics.