What could UMPI do better?

[ss20ts]

I've never heard of a B&M school that gives you your courses without any choices, except possibly the 3 big academies.

I've been to several b&m schools like this. They're part of the SUNY system. Like I said state university systems frequently are like this. Welcome to the Northeast!

[dfrecore]

I've never heard of a B&M school that gives you your courses without any choices, except possibly the 3 big academies.

I've been to several b&m schools like this. They're part of the SUNY system. Like I said state university systems frequently are like this. Welcome to the Northeast!

So 2 states. I wonder how prevalent it is.

[bjcheung77]

Weird! I would have thought it was MORE schools in various states that would have a specific set course load for any of their respective programs. Most Masters/PhD programs have a set course load and requirements that must be completed in order, only the minor electives are optional courses you select from a small list of options. Their curriculum and syllabus indicates what courses are required and what can be optional choices to select from. For most schools I've seen, at the undergrad level, the majority of courses are "set", only the general education/free electives - this is true for associates/bachelors and certificates. An example would be the BOG AAS at Pierpont, they have a set of 21 credits you need and 39 are electives that can be anything.

[dfrecore]

Weird! I would have thought it was MORE schools in various states that would have a specific set course load for any of their respective programs.  Most Masters/PhD programs have a set course load and requirements that must be completed in order, only the minor electives are optional courses you select from a small list of options.  Their curriculum and syllabus indicates what courses are required and what can be optional choices to select from.  For most schools I've seen, at the undergrad level, the majority of courses are "set", only the general education/free electives - this is true for associates/bachelors and certificates.  An example would be the BOG AAS at Pierpont, they have a set of 21 credits you need and 39 are electives that can be anything.

The BOG AAS Pierpont degree does not have a set of courses you have to complete.  They have requirements you have to meet, and categories you need things in, but not specific courses.  Most schools have much more flexibility to them that I've seen; sure, you have to take English Comp I in semester 1 and Comp 2 in Semester 2, or something like that - but they don't tell you each and every course you have to take each term, they just generally give you guidelines on what you need and when you should take them.

[ashkir]

I took a few classes with CalState. They choose for me. I didn't have a say in the matter.

[dfrecore]

I took a few classes with CalState. They choose for me. I didn't have a say in the matter.

CalState what? There are 23 campuses.  I've helped many kids in a bunch of UC and CSU schools, none had their courses chosen for them.

[rachel83az]

From what I have seen, it's not unusual for schools to dictate that you specifically need classes A, B, C, X, Y, and Z for a degree. But it does seem to be unusual for the school to dictate (prereqs notwithstanding) that you need to follow that specific order instead of choosing to take X, A, C, Y, Z, B.

[ss20ts]

Even students on campus don't have 100% freedom in choosing their classes. They make a Wish List in their student account online and their advisor signs them up for their classes. The advisor can reject their Wish List. My academic advisor is pretty strict on sticking with what is required for your degree and only what's required for the degree. I asked for an extra class last term because I knew it was my final term and I needed 4 classes to be considered full time for financial aid. I didn't want to lose any of my Pell Grant. I've paid a boatload in taxes over the last 30 years and was happy to get some back. My advisor had to check with financial aid about this. She only allowed me to take the extra class because financial aid said I would be dropped down to part time and it would impact my aid package.

[ashkir]

I have been quite happy, on the whole with UMPI YourPace. Things that I would like to see added/changed:

Category A (relatively easy/feasible):

1.  Offer Cost Accounting: this is a major subject in accounting, is tested on the CPA exam, and is a required prerequisite course for many graduate programs in accounting.

2. Make syllabi/more information about course requirements available BEFORE you add a competency.

3. Offer Statistics: As with 1, this is a very important course for students in a number of disciplines. Stinks that it isn’t offered through UMPI YourPace.

4. Improve transcripting of transferred courses: It seems that courses that are not offered at UMPI (and thus don’t have a course number) come in as general transfer credit or a duplicate course. I had Cost Accounting from a prior college and Sophia stats. Cost came in as a duplicate of managerial accounting and stats as general credit.

5. More minors using available resources: UMPI offers minors in at least 5 fields (English, history, political science, social studies, and criminal justice) on-campus that could, it seems, be very easily offered using the competencies already available through the YourPace platform. Also, would seem likely to attract more students. I haven’t asked about potentially pursuing one of these minors as they don’t interest me, particularly.

Category B (more difficult):

6. More competencies/minor/concentration/major in finance, marketing, and economics: I appreciate the course they offer in these areas, would love to see more.

7. Competencies/minor/concentration/major in agribusiness or agricultural economics: I am probably the only one who would want these, but I would love them to be offered. UMPI offers this coursework on-campus, so it isn’t an absurd proposition. These are also fields that are not widely offered by other online universities.

8. CBE MBA and/or masters in management, accounting, finance, or marketing. They do have the MAOL, so are developing the institutional competency to eventually offer one of these. The biggest problem would be lack of programmatic  accreditation, but brings us to number 9.

9.  ACBSP or IACBE accreditation: AACSB won’t accredit competency-based programs (which stinks), but this would be a very nice addition.

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[Cofffeee]

I would love to see math degree. Its hard to find online option for low cost. Nearly impossible in CBE format