WGU Layoffs

[sacredrain]

I would definitely stray away from saying that WGU is a diploma mill. That means some very specific things and I don't think any of that criteria is met by WGU. Do they have some distasteful policies? Absolutely. But that doesn't make them a diploma mill.

Can you give some examples of "distasteful policies"?

1. Examity (this is the biggest one)
   
2. Weekly check-ins. Or not. Inconsistent application of this policy probably fails many students.
   
3. No international students, regardless of citizenship. (Except some Canadians because reasons.)
   

All schools have distasteful policies to one degree or another, depending on your point of view. I'd rather be told how to dress than risk having my identity stolen because of a dubious proctor but someone else might feel otherwise.

1. Examity: while many hate the online proctoring it is required, there are other services that are just as bad. Examity is a 3rd party service that WGU contracts with, they cannot help the types of proctors that the service hires. PearsonVue has an online proctoring service as well and students are having issues with that at WGU. Its not a perfect system but it happens.

2. Weekly Check Ins: to me this policy needs to go anyways, there are thousands of students who are graduating around the world with degrees and do not have weekly check ins or the level of babying that is present at WGU. A person should be motivated to complete their degree on their own. If one is not, why even attend university to begin with?

3. International Students: why should they accept international students? It is not a requirement to accept international students, this is an issue that is being talked about on all campuses these days because of the processing and red tape that has increased throughout the years. It can be a nightmare to onboard international students at times, people have no idea.

[collegechick]

I am a contract evalulator at WGU and have some colleagues at the university. AI's are not scanning papers or grading them, this is a false rumor. Nor will they in the future. As for the comments when evaluating papers being automated or the same, an evaulator has to use the rubric provided and the template to select when assessing a student's work.

As for tuition increases, WGU is still one of the most affordable universities in America. I am not sticking up for them, but I work for multiple places and the tution is much higher at many private and public universities where I work. I know people are upset about layoffs but sorry, it does happen. As previously stated, in 2012 I was laid off from Kaplan University, 2 weeks before Christmas, people who had spent their money on Christmas presents, were now out of a job and had to find work.

I had colleagues who were out of jobs when ITT Tech closed without warning. I am now seeing some of my friends who work in K to 12, being told they do not have jobs next year, due to budget cuts and are having to try and find new teaching jobs. No job is a guarantee and as for communication its not required, you can go into work in the morning and before you leave at 5pm at the end of the day, be told you are terminated.

I also was employed at the now defunct Jones International University.  That school was a mismanaged, unprofessional mess that conducted illegal behavior far worse than what I'm reading about WGU.  I had a supervisor who encouraged me not to process payment invoices for professors!  This was just one example.  They also hemorrhaged people before closing the doors.

[rachel83az]

3. International Students: why should they accept international students? It is not a requirement to accept international students, this is an issue that is being talked about on all campuses these days because of the processing and red tape that has increased throughout the years. It can be a nightmare to onboard international students at times, people have no idea.

If you are an American citizen with an American HS diploma/GED (or even a US Bachelor's, in the case of students who want a grad degree) who just happens to be living abroad because that's where your spouse/family/work is, it's a bit silly that WGU doesn't allow you to attend. Other schools have no issues with admitting students who live internationally.

I'm not saying that WGU needs to deal with visas. There are other schools that allow students outside of the US but make it very clear that they won't deal with visas. All I'm saying is that at least allow American citizens, regardless of physical location, to attend.

[sacredrain]

3. International Students: why should they accept international students? It is not a requirement to accept international students, this is an issue that is being talked about on all campuses these days because of the processing and red tape that has increased throughout the years. It can be a nightmare to onboard international students at times, people have no idea.

If you are an American citizen with an American HS diploma/GED (or even a US Bachelor's, in the case of students who want a grad degree) who just happens to be living abroad because that's where your spouse/family/work is, it's a bit silly that WGU doesn't allow you to attend. Other schools have no issues with admitting students who live internationally.

I'm not saying that WGU needs to deal with visas. There are other schools that allow students outside of the US but make it very clear that they won't deal with visas. All I'm saying is that at least allow American citizens, regardless of physical location, to attend.

WGU does accept some American students who are overseas. Overseas stationed military students and their families can attend WGU. 
"At the present time, WGU is accepting applications only from individuals living in the United States. (The exceptions are U.S. active-duty military personnel and their families at overseas installations and individuals living in Guam, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.)"

Where I currently work, while they do accept US citizens who live abroad, if you have lived abroad for more than a year, then you are subject to out of state tuition rates, even if you once lived in the state, this is due to the states "Residency Determination" Policy. Residency also determines if you receive in state financial aid as well, as the state has some educational grants and loan programs, that are separate from the federal government programs. WGU has an NC affiliated university here in NC, where students in this state qualify for additional financial aid from the state.

So say a student from NC is wrongly flagged via the states residency determination policy as having lived internationally. At that point it is up to the student to determine his or her residency and if the student was going to utilize state financial aid, the student would be in limbo because they may not qualify for the additional financial aid if they needed it at not just WGU but any other university in the state. So this could just be one example as to why they are not accepting international students.

[AwardTour]

Hello to All,

Firstly, let me begin by assuring everyone that I am NOT a troll although I did enjoy the movie

Everything that I have written is true, according to my former course instructor.  How much of what this person said is true, I do not know and I would hazard to caution: nor does anyone.  People do and say things all the time - does it make true/valid? Maybe. Sometimes.

And maybe not.

Here is what I DO know (and this information is readily available to anyone with an inclination to research).  The current president of the university is a former VP at Amazon.  Why is this important? Because, first and foremost, a university chose to hire someone who has no understanding of higher education - what IS understood is business.  Is this necessarily a "bad" thing? Well - again, Amazon is unfortunately rather notorious for NOT treating its employees well at all; and most recently, an attempt to unionize by Amazon workers was quashed  - how is this germane to this particular thread? Hmm -  maybe connect the dots - meaning, quite simply this:

When a university president is hired from a company that has a very negative reputation for how it treats the employees who work for said company, one can see why WGU is very much on the precipice of becoming a "diploma mill" and so the callous disregard for how it treats their employees becomes much easier to understand.  It's been interesting to me in reading all these comments that no one seems to suggest something that could have actually negated the bad publicity from what occurred with the recent layoffs.

It's quite simple and if WGU had wise counsel and a good PR person they might have suggested this instead: have the upper senior level management volunteer to take pay cuts so the layoffs do not have to happen.  As another poster made mention of, if there is no physical campus that students must attend then why the million dollar plus salary for those such as Mr. Pulsipher and the others?

"Follow the money" as they say.

I also wonder how many posters on here are aware that a few years ago WGU was audited by the Office of the Inspector General:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019...gs-western

I still believe with my whole heart, that at its core, this school is a scam.  It's just dressed up rather nicely, that's all.  If other students are helped in their professional careers by WGU, then that is wonderful (for them); however, that does not mean that WGU is not a diploma mill.  They are a bloated institution that basically is running a con and so far, it's working.

https://www.bbb.org/us/ut/salt-lake-city...66-4001017


Just to redress the notion that I am somehow a "troll" here are both positive and negative reviews by students, for WGU:

https://www.gradreports.com/colleges/wes...university

Bottom Line: it's a choice, like everything else in life.  Make of it what you will.  Beware though: "A wolf in sheep's clothing"

I find the timing of your account creation and the location of your first post to be very suspect. Almost as if someone already on this site decided to create a new account on a whim to argue these accusations and then run away. Note to Admins: Check the IP addresses to confirm this is not an existing member of this site who has made multiple profiles. Sure, a proxy or and other obfuscations tactics could be at play, but let's make sure at least that obvious evidence is not going unchecked.

[rachel83az]

I find the timing of your account creation and the location of your first post to be very suspect. Almost as if someone already on this site decided to create a new account on a whim to argue these accusations and then run away. Note to Admins: Check the IP addresses to confirm this is not an existing member of this site who has made multiple profiles. Sure, a proxy or and other obfuscations tactics could be at play, but let's make sure at least that obvious evidence is not going unchecked.

This person is using a unique IP address. The IP address does not appear to be a VPN/proxy. There are no other users using the same IP address.

[JusticeNamaste]

Hello to All,

Firstly, let me begin by assuring everyone that I am NOT a troll although I did enjoy the movie

Everything that I have written is true, according to my former course instructor.  How much of what this person said is true, I do not know and I would hazard to caution: nor does anyone.  People do and say things all the time - does it make true/valid? Maybe. Sometimes.

And maybe not.

Here is what I DO know (and this information is readily available to anyone with an inclination to research).  The current president of the university is a former VP at Amazon.  Why is this important? Because, first and foremost, a university chose to hire someone who has no understanding of higher education - what IS understood is business.  Is this necessarily a "bad" thing? Well - again, Amazon is unfortunately rather notorious for NOT treating its employees well at all; and most recently, an attempt to unionize by Amazon workers was quashed  - how is this germane to this particular thread? Hmm -  maybe connect the dots - meaning, quite simply this:

When a university president is hired from a company that has a very negative reputation for how it treats the employees who work for said company, one can see why WGU is very much on the precipice of becoming a "diploma mill" and so the callous disregard for how it treats their employees becomes much easier to understand.  It's been interesting to me in reading all these comments that no one seems to suggest something that could have actually negated the bad publicity from what occurred with the recent layoffs.

It's quite simple and if WGU had wise counsel and a good PR person they might have suggested this instead: have the upper senior level management volunteer to take pay cuts so the layoffs do not have to happen.  As another poster made mention of, if there is no physical campus that students must attend then why the million dollar plus salary for those such as Mr. Pulsipher and the others?

"Follow the money" as they say.

I also wonder how many posters on here are aware that a few years ago WGU was audited by the Office of the Inspector General:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019...gs-western

I still believe with my whole heart, that at its core, this school is a scam.  It's just dressed up rather nicely, that's all.  If other students are helped in their professional careers by WGU, then that is wonderful (for them); however, that does not mean that WGU is not a diploma mill.  They are a bloated institution that basically is running a con and so far, it's working.

https://www.bbb.org/us/ut/salt-lake-city...66-4001017


Just to redress the notion that I am somehow a "troll" here are both positive and negative reviews by students, for WGU:

https://www.gradreports.com/colleges/wes...university

Bottom Line: it's a choice, like everything else in life.  Make of it what you will.  Beware though: "A wolf in sheep's clothing"

I find the timing of your account creation and the location of your first post to be very suspect. Almost as if someone already on this site decided to create a new account on a whim to argue these accusations and then run away. Note to Admins: Check the IP addresses to confirm this is not an existing member of this site who has made multiple profiles. Sure, a proxy or and other obfuscations tactics could be at play, but let's make sure at least that obvious evidence is not going unchecked.

Well, goodness! I'm very glad to know that conspiracy theories are still well and alive! I can assure you (as can the moderator apparently, below,  who has checked my IP address - thank you so much for that, by the way, it's nice to know that "1984" was not just a book by George Orwell).  Look, I'm not trying to change anyone's minds, nor am I a bot, but rather quite simply this: I am a concerned student who has invested time and money that I am now seriously beginning to question and - last time I checked - we still have freedom of speech in this country and I'm just expressing my own thoughts/views/perspectives - that is all

I do find it interesting that so  many individuals here are so quick to jump into the fray and accuse me of various things but I understand: it's scary to be confronted with a different idea, and especially one that does not adhere to certain beliefs.  That is just normal human nature.  Sometimes, in life, people can just have a feeling that something is not quite right - it's not an evidenced based belief that, were it to be presented in a court of law anything that would stand up to scrutiny but what it IS a "gut instinct" of sorts.

Meaning just this: I can't explain in a quantifiable way "why" I feel that WGU is a scam school, rather, it's based on an internal radar of sorts - we all have it - and often, we don't always listen to it when perhaps we should.  So, that was my goal in posting both on here and on Reddit as well - to just make mention of my own concerns about various things and see if anyone else felt the same way.  Obviously, I was incorrect in my thinking that perhaps others might want to engage in a respectful manner.  I will gladly remove my profile on here in 24 hours and will abscond into the tangled web of wires and technology.  I wish everyone the very best

[Flelm]

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Just_asking_questions

EDIT since I don't think that's entirely what you were doing.

The problem is, there's really no discourse to be had when your ideas are opinion-based. You have your opinion, I have mine, and if either of ours aren't based on facts, what is going to change our minds? What is the point of engaging?

[JusticeNamaste]

"What is the point of engaging" - well, for starters, it's better to agree to disagree as it at least gets people talking, you know?

[bjcheung77]

I also was employed at the now defunct Jones International University.  That school was a mismanaged, unprofessional mess that conducted illegal behavior far worse than what I'm reading about WGU.  I had a supervisor who encouraged me not to process payment invoices for professors!  This was just one example.  They also hemorrhaged people before closing the doors.

Really?? Nostalgia! I was taking a course at Jones International University when they closed, it was part of a grad cert in Business. A good thing I didn't have to continue with them... I thought they were pretty good from the "outside" looking in. I mean they even had a learning platform that would rival Moodle and was selling that platform to other colleges/universities. Heck, at one point in time, I thought they would really rival SNHU and WGU, but I guess what we see on the outside is just the tip of the iceberg.