Setting the Record Straight
Some time ago The New York Times wrote an article on UoP that was for the most part unflattering. The article was, of course, banned from any discussion or mention. This is a practice continued with every and any perceived negative report on the Unversity of Phoenix. Any perceived positive report would be carefully cut and pasted so that a marginally neutral writing becomes a glowing accolade. All references to author, dates, volume, or any crucial identifying information is carefully removed. All that is left is the UoP version of their grandeur.in fact, even the official newsletters are strikingly devoid of any editors name. One simply cannot identify the source to contact to affirm or refute what is printed.
The UoP philosophy, as ardently expressed in training is:
We dont teach, we dont instruct; we put adults into study groups and let them teach themselves. This axiom is uttered enough times that only an idiot would not grasp the import of it. This is followed by a sigh of exasperation that those other institutions dont understand us. What's not to understand? UoP sells degrees. "Our students get As."
To be sure that there is no misunderstanding of the philosophy, it is said that John Sperling himself has addressed meetings with We are not about education; we about getting degrees The credibility of this hear-say, lies in the mission statement:
Students will get an education experience (not an education?).
UoP students would not have the where-with-al to understand that crossing the campus grounds is an education experience. This is the UoPs chief strength: word manipulation. They claim to use Practitioners from the field. (Not practitioners in the field. Consider that the majority of the instructors are former some-thing or others who have been downsized, right sized, laid off or fired. This is not to suggest that the laying off was through fault of their own. It is only to illustrate the nuances of choosing the precise word.
Another interesting word manipulation comes in listing credentials. Because many instructors and most managers, directors, coordinators on the Apollo payroll received one or both degrees from UoP itself, this would make for poor advertising. How could they brag about the quality of instructors oops facilitators - (they dont instruct) if they are all products of the U?
Heres how it is done: Suppose Mr. Q received BS from XYZ University in Podunk Junction, and an MBA from UoP. Q would be listed in the directory as having a BS and MBA with the implication that they theyre from XYZ University. It would look like this:
Mr. Q, BS, MBA, XYZ University. Notice it does not say from XYZ University. The reader is left to draw his own inference, and of course they want him to infer that the MBS was from XYZ. Otherwise nearly the entire roster would read from UoP, even though that is most likely the case. No dates are listed, nor is any field of study listed. Hotheyver, the roster will look quite impressive. Im not sure that anyone has taken an accurate count, but it appears given that the "managers, directors, coordinators and whatever the prevailing title of the theyek is have a UoP degree.in fact by unofficial count one could say they are top heavy with UoP degrees. This would support the contention of pure street gossip and hear say that John (Sperling) doesnt want professionally educated persons in any key positions.
Why would the NCA not know this? Well, it is easy to keep just enough files on persons with legitimate degrees from those other institutions, highly credentialed, that it is only necessary to pull those files should anyone need proof of the high caliber of faculty, and their diversity.
This leads me to your comment that no one come close to having Sperlings credentials. Actually they do. But (and heres the good part) they are most likely female, and by that characteristic alone would not be recognized. (Sexist? You bet. Very much so. The differential for salary can be in the thousands. An independent contract for course development ranges from $100 to $450 for females; $1500 to $5000 for the white men. Same job. Same skill.)
Trying to keep this information from the general public requires the dedicated vigilance of an entire staff whose job it is to see that UoP is always presented in the best light. It is an obsession that dominates every decision. Any campus visit would get a carefully choreographed, orchestrated vision of academic performance carefully staged by Apollo Group. Most of the other classes are canceled, as is the practice to prevent any accidental interview with anyone not on the Apollo payroll. Yes, staged classes; staged performance.
An article on the Internet from Forbes quoted faculty pay at $class. This word manipulation to the letter is true. The $2000 figure is for those FT employees (who call themselves "the in crowd") who can approve themselves for classes, assign themselves to a class, and pay themselves double what the adjunct faculty get, which starts at $800 and tops out at $1000. If you talk with any of the Continuing Education faculty they will tell you the pay rate has been at $900 for close to fifteen years. It has just been increased to $1000 (out of appreciation for hard work)
The campuses: Lets be very clear. Everyone works for the same boss, they all function the same way. But it is beneficial to call the different departments campuses because it is one more method by which to hide information (cover-up?). A complaint of any sort, no matter how minor, is always attributed to the other campus. No one, anywhere, any time takes responsibility for anything. The problem is always with the other campus. An even worse scenario is trying to get info from Human Resources, which I am convinced does not exist, at least not in any recognizable form. From this department one will be sent to Academic Affairs, which in turn will send you right back to HR. This could go on forever, and for many has. It is obvious to the astute listener that the Apollo employees get training in this sort of thing. When fresh from a meeting, they will all use what the rest of us laughingly refer to as phraseology of the day, then return for another shot. One week we were amused with control issues; the next week they were socializing our ideas. Its only laughable if you dont actually require any definitive response.
Theres more but it gets ugly. Do not expect anyone to say anything or corroborate the info here. One portion of the employees are desperate for their jobs or wouldnt be hired anywhere else. Over riding those minions is the excessive layer of managers, and directors and others with over-inflated egos who can make a substantial income by playing the game, regardless the ethics at stake. It is reported that recruiters can make upwards of $100,000, which may account for why the caliber of student is so low. Managers, who are also faculty, and who can pay themselves double, can make easily as much. This place is not only a snake pit, but also a money pot.
It is definitely a for profit organization. But note: they do not use words like integrity, academic excellence, quality of educationIn other years we would call this place a correspondence school (and not a very good one). We would find its ads in the TV Guide and not on every web site.
Students and Group Process:
About 5-6 out of every 25 students fit the UoP claimes profile: articulate and already skilled and employed in their field. They attend the University because it is fast, provides little challenge and will net them the piece of paper that authenticates what they knew before they got there.
The next 11 students are generally average in intelligence and performance with very mediocre skill and a painful lack of critical thinking skills. They will get by in the study group because it will take the 4 or 5 of them to produce a worthy product. Typical assignments are for the group to read a chapter and write a one-page summary.
The bottom 6-7 could, would and should not be on any university campus anywhere. Nor would they be admitted to any of the other places. They simply lack literacy skills, and are incredibly poor thinkers. And no group process will save them. Yet they will be passed
along with an A. These groups are very likely to ask what Summa Cum Laude means. They dont know but theyre going to get it-whatever it is.in the other institutions these students would be Special Education and placed accordingly in developmental studies. At the UoP where customer service is paramount, they will send them to a Student Success Workshop where they are encouraged to bring their actual assignments, which are then done for them. Voila: Summa cum Laude. Everything is smoke and mirrors. And everyone knows. Check out the tactics of a cult. You will begin to understand why it is so difficult to ferret out the truth. The boys are not to be trusted, and it is well understood that they will go to any lengths to protect their hefty, albeit unwarranted salaries. Students come out stupider than when they went in, but they have the paper they paid for. Well, the wizard of Oz did give the Scarecrow a piece of paper to make him smart. At UoP, Sperling is the Wizard.
No where in my professional career have I consistently heard the education faculty at ALL other institutions arbitrarily called jerks:, pompous jerks know-it-all-jerks. No one outside of Apollo escapes the epithets. Student orientations are worse. Students get a heavy dose of you dont need no stinkin teacher (emphasis on teacher) Students enter the classroom armed with opinions, often poorly conceived, with little grounding in fact, and the belief that that is all there is to getting an education. Students mistake getting a degree at UoP, which truly only requires money, with getting an education, which they do not provide, nor do they pretend to.
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