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+--- Thread: Health issues recently, trying to regroup and pivot in my HR journey (/Thread-Health-issues-recently-trying-to-regroup-and-pivot-in-my-HR-journey)
Health issues recently, trying to regroup and pivot in my HR journey - newlion - 05-27-2022
Hello all! Thank you for your previous help in going over my undergrad options. My situation has changed a lot since then, and I haven’t made much new progress, so I was hoping to get some degree and life advice. Especially from anyone in the HR field (though on how best to finish the degree, I’m all ears all around!).
I’ve been dealing with some weird health issues that started honestly right when I made my post last year in October. We’ve narrowed it down likely to some type of autoimmune disease, but it is a work in progress. Imagine brain fog, extreme fatigue at times, unpredictable days and weeks, slightly reduced cognitive ability and memory, etc. This has made any attempt to stick to a rigid schedule much harder than it used to be for me.
As I’m dealing with this and still wanting to finish a degree, with the unpredictable nature of my health and brainpower from day to day, it makes me wonder if anything on the CBE side of things should be avoided. I had enrolled in UMPI’s YourPace but realized the 8-week terms could slip away from me since I am not as dedicated as I need to be.
So cost-wise, I was thinking that maybe sticking with something like TESU and working on the final credits needed from third-party sources would provide me with a little more flexibility with the pacing of everything. I’d obviously still have to do the cornerstone and capstone at minimum, but I can make some big pushes when I am near the end of a big goal.
If that’s probably the best route, are there certain places to get credits that are better for this setup? For instance, SDC worries me with the monthly fee, though I like being able to get through the bite-sized chunks that can even help in future courses for sure.
To give you a little extra background, I was actually let go from my job last December, which I was worried about, and was why I was wanting to finish a degree ASAP. So when that happened, I switched gears and got the SHRM-SCP certification, which required 2-3 months of studying plus taking a 4-hour proctored test. So tests are doable, and writing is doable as well once I find the push to get started on it.
Knowing all of the above, are there any other options that pop into your head that might work well for someone going through some health issues with a more unpredictable schedule? My backup option is to continue on at UMPI and see if I can get dedicated enough to power through classes like I used to at WGU.
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Being let go from my job, I kind of had to figure out what I wanted to do when I grow up a lot faster than I wanted to (I’m 42 btw, ha). I went all in on the HR route since I leaned towards that anyway in my past jobs.
My job history is a bit unique as well in that I basically worked for two startup-type companies for 21 years. I’m finding out that I lack a variety of experience on the hands-on side of things, but I am very adept on the management, leadership, and strategy side.
Right now, as I passed the SHRM-SCP to help land a job, I’m the Director of HR for another small startup. This means I’m doing everything myself, which is actually great in terms of getting some of that experience in. It’s not what I want to do forever, but I am appreciating it for what it is right now.
With all that being said, I’m still trying to narrow down which degree to go for ultimately here. Last year, being in a time crunch, I was thinking that just an Interdisciplinary Studies type degree would be good enough since it was really just a checkbox on my resume with the type of experience I had. However, now that I have a little bit of breathing room on the time side, I’m wondering if a Business Administration or HRM degree specifically would do me better in the long run? My first thought is yes, definitely. But I am open to thoughts and ideas from you all.
Since I lean towards the big picture planning, management, and strategy, I don’t know if that means I’ll likely need something like an MBA to round out my resume for this field. If so, does that change your Bachelor’s degree recommendation at all?
So all things considered, I’m open to your thoughts and suggestions on how to tackle this and where is best to get it. I’ll attach some of my degree plans from last year for reference. The only addition to this is an Employment Law course I finished from WGU.
Sorry for the long post. On top of everything, my mom passed away last month, and I tested positive for COVID on Tuesday this week. My focus is fuzzier than ever, but I do have time to be idly browsing school options at least.
Thank you all for your help for all of us! I’m normally the type who can dig in and understand everything after some time, but lately, when there are so many options, it’s tougher for me to get that full understanding like I used to. So I’m hoping some simple ideas jump out for you experts right away. Thanks again!
PS - in case it helps at all, I had also put together a Google spreadsheet last year listing all my classes grouped by school which you can view here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LslNf75LtbNgxxL8Z4oyB5-nMYszC_M299L6TtWFH6c/edit?usp=sharing
RE: Health issues recently, trying to regroup and pivot in my HR journey - bjcheung77 - 05-28-2022
My condolences and I hope you have a speedy recovery from COVID, in terms of which school you might want to investigate is still a coin toss between alternative credit transfer credit or competency based. You're basically 3/4th of a degree done, if you have more energy, time to complete courses, then UMPI would be a good choice to finish in 2-3 sessions. If you want to take it slow and take alternative credits (ACE & NCCRS), Exclesior/TESU would be the recommendation.
RE: Health issues recently, trying to regroup and pivot in my HR journey - rachel83az - 05-28-2022
I would definitely avoid WGU if you're dealing with those kinds of health issues. WGU could get very expensive, very fast, if time winds up slipping away from you.
SDC does have a monthly fee, but it does work out to be not that much more expensive (in the grand scheme of things) if you wind up paying for a month or two where you don't take any exams.
Did you already have an Associate's degree? If not, I'd go for the free Pierpont BOG AAS degree while you're working on finishing up your Bachelor's degree.
Personally, I would go for the HRM degree. That's what it sounds like you'd like to do and you're getting the experience to make that degree go further in the future. You can use these pages on the wiki to help fill in the blanks of what's missing:
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sample_TESU_General_Education_Requirements_Roadmap
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sample_TESU_Business_Core_Roadmap
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sample_TESU_BSBA_HR/Organizational_Management_Degree_Plan
RE: Health issues recently, trying to regroup and pivot in my HR journey - newlion - 05-30-2022
Thank you!! As far as HRM degrees go, assuming I'm avoiding WGU, it looks like it is basically an option at TESU and COSC, correct?
And from what I've read before, COSC is on the more difficult side the past year or two.
I see Excelsior offers an HRM concentration in their business program, but I'd avoided going too far along looking into that option since I believe their Business degree requires the Business classes to be less than 10 years old (where a lot of my basic business courses are (yikes!!) 20+ years old at this point - micro/macroeconomics, business communication, business law, financial accounting, intro to computers). Their BPS was the option I looked into, but that is more of a general business and management degree.
So does that leave TESU as my main option on the HRM side? I could obviously try to continue at UMPI or switch to TESU and go the more general business management route, but are there any other HRM based options I should look into that come to mind? Especially since I really am essentially 3/4 of the way through a degree and could theoretically look into programs that accept fewer than 113-114 credits in transfer probably. Though I'm sure the cost would go up overall.
RE: Health issues recently, trying to regroup and pivot in my HR journey - carrythenothing - 05-30-2022
FHSU's BBA in Management with a concentration in HRM might be worth considering: https://www.fhsu.edu/management/academic-programs/human-resource-management/
Transferring credit and to request an unofficial transcript evaluation: https://www.fhsu.edu/transfer-military-center/transfer-credits/
RE: Health issues recently, trying to regroup and pivot in my HR journey - dfrecore - 05-30-2022
EC will not be a great option, due to the age of your courses, and to the HRM concentration, which is not available completely alternatively, so you're going to have to take at least 1 course there.
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UMPI does not have an HR concentration, not sure how important that is to you.
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For TESU, since you already have an eval, and you know exactly what you need, this is a great option. Here's what you still need (and I'll include several options, although there may be more out there):
Oral Comm
COM 120: Presentation Skills in the Work Place (SDC)
Public Speaking (Sophia)
Prin of Public Speaking (DSST)
Civic Engagement
POLS 103: Comparative Politics (SDC)
American Govt (CLEP, ICC)
BUSINESS CORE (you can use all LL since you already have 1 UL course in the core):
Managerial Acct
ACC 102: Intro to Managerial Accounting (SDC)
BUS105: Managerial Accounting (Saylor)
Finance
FIN 104: Financial Management (SDC)
Principles of Finance (Sophia, DSST, Saylor)
Int'l Business
BUS 120: International Business (SDC)
BUS-210: Quantitative Skills for Business
CSM Learn Course for $39
MAT-303: Quantitative Analysis (Coopersmith)
Stats
STAT 101: Principles of Statistics (SDC)
Intro to Statistics (Sophia)
Principles of Statistics (DSST)
Org Theory - Required in the AoS
BUS 323: Organizational Theory (UL - SDC)
Choose 3 UL HR Electives (you already have the max 2 LL courses in the AoS):
BUS 306: Strategic Human Resources Management (UL - SDC)
BUS 311: Project Management (UL - SDC), BUS402: Project Management (UL - Saylor)
BUS 319: Negotiations & Conflict Management (UL - SDC)
BUS 307: Leadership and Organizational Behavior (UL - SDC)
Cornerstone & Capstone at TESU.
Tuition cost if you do the per-credit option: $6,654
Tuition cost if you do the 16cr single term at TESU: $4,639