Mailbox

Workforce, April, 2001

Misplaced Critique

The article "Evaluating E-degrees" in the February issue wrongly criticizes the University of Phoenix Online's MBA program. The article cites an MBA student at the university, Alex Zai, who was disappointed in the "Online" program's lack of interaction among students and between students and faculty. Mr. Zai, however, was not a student in UoP's Online MBA program.

Rather, he was enrolled in a separate program called the Center for Distance Education, a directed study course designed for independent learning. That program, which no longer accepts new students, is entirely distinct from the online MBA. Our online MBA programs are specifically designed for small group interaction and are well known for their highly interactive format.

Now the largest private online university, UoP Online was one of the first to offer degree programs online, and has been a pioneer in developing new pedagogies and formats that deliver on the promise of accessible education for adults. We enjoy the respect of businesses and the support of adult learners because our programs continue to evolve to meet the needs of both.

Russ Paden

Regional Executive Director Of Academic Affairs

University of Phoenix Online

In addition to Mr. Paden's letter, we received several others about UoP program, including the following one:

I'd like to comment on the Workforce article "Evaluating Online Degrees." I believe the single person's account of the University of Phoenix Online MBA program was an unfair presentation of the school and the program.

I have been enrolled in Phoenix's Online MBA in Technical Management for a little over two years, and it has been anything but disappointing.

The reference to "no interaction with the other students" is most certainly an unusual case.

In the 15 courses I have completed so far, there has been continuous trading of opinions and ideas on topics ranging from Inte lectual Property to Workforce Motivation and Compensation. In the six-week-long Marketing Management class I just completed, there were 806 submissions to the main discussion... Some were just banter typical of any classroom, but most were serious, well-thought-out contributions to whatever topic we were discussing at the time.

Most of the participants in this course have at least 15 years of work experience in fields including medicine (ophthalmologist), telecom, military, and IT... This added greatly to the class content.

While I doubt Mr. Zai's experience with the Phoenix curriculum is completely unique, I do believe it was unusual. Ms. Caudron's inclusion of only one person's experience did not present a true picture of the education available from Phoenix.

Jim Tankersley

via the Internet