Degree Completion Advice Pierpont/TESU

[shadowgem]

Shadowgem, I have homework for you (man, that's like my catchphrase on here).  Do you have a spreadsheet created to document what courses are required for which cert, associates, bachelors?  If not, make one!  Read post 27/28 in the Beginners Guide and get a copy of the My Degree Plan! spreadsheet, I made that specifically for my cousin who wanted certs to go along with 2 associates, 2 bachelors.  It's not easy to picture how far along your husband is and how many credits/courses he requires without one...

I usually tell people to use the My Degree Plan! worksheet as their own and the rest are used as a reference template, however; in your case, you can modify the Certs/Associates/Bachelors and use the My Degree Plan! as a reference for which course goes where... from a quick glance last time, he requires 4 courses for ASNSM Bio and 4 for ASNSM Math... document it completely.  If you already have a spreadsheet, post it so I can see what may be done to get things completed faster.

Basically, this is the reason I tell my cousin - and now, you/your hubby, why I would recommend the Bio+Math vs a Comp Sci, it's because of subject specialization and recognition of those subjects in an Associates degree.  The Comp Sci is available to you already through either Bachelors and through the CIS/CS certs.  For Bio and Math, neither of them have a Cert option at TESU, and the Biology BA is hard to complete through test out options.

Not everyone would do this, but for my cousin, he wanted more subject specializations (two secondary subjects) and one major specialization.  He also wanted a BALS NSM with mainly CS/CIS courses.  So I said to him, he can focus on his BSBA GM/CIS and on his way to that degree, pick up ASNSM Bio and Math.  He can also use 9 credits AOS credits and 90 credits from the BSBA into his BALS NSM and pick up the CIS/CS certs, and that's where the spreadsheet comes into play, it shows how it's done to max overlapping credit.

I recommend finishing the two ASNSM right away - your hubby can finish those required courses from SL/Study.com all in one month if he is taking his time off from work and using that downtime correctly, apply for graduation before Oct 1 and complete everything by the end of October, so he can transfer them into the two ASNSM for December graduation.  If he has the time, he can do the CS/CIS certs as well, it's not a priority, it can be completed before the Bachelors - but I recommend more time should be spent on finishing the Bachelors.

Final thoughts:  I think having ASNSM Bio and Math, along with the CIS/CS certificates would be more marketable for prospective jobs, it should look better on a resume than having an Associates Comp Sci, a redundant CIS/CS certificates and a BS Tech Studies with mainly CS/CIS courses showing on the transcript.  Furthermore, there are secondary specializations he'll be qualified for, instead of just CS/CIS related positions.

That's exactly what he is going to try to do. He's not taking off of work, already put in 72 hours this week, but that's normal. However he is not currently taking anymore classes at Baker until he get's his evaluation back from TESU on the BSTC/BACS. And that is "his short break" at the moment. lol 

As for marketability, I wholeheartedly agree that the ASNSM Bio/Math would be the way to go. And I am reworking "new plans" for him based on the suggestions here towards those two degrees. I'll post them when I've finished for any suggestions or feedback. If he has to make a choice between one of the three because graduating from TESU by December is impractical, then he plans to stick with the Pierpont BOG AAS as a "for now" degree. In that instance, he would be limited to only one ASNSM from TESU down the road. The ASNSM Biology would possibly be the most useful to him in that case, over the ASNSM Math. He's already completed the ASNSM CS but that would just be redundant in less than a yea anyways lol

Hopefully my best guesses as to where his courses may fall for either of these two are somewhat close. As I mentioned in the other thread the quarter hours were making it even more challenging for me to figure out what TESU may do with them. They fall both within the AOS for any of the ASNSMs as well as the required general ed courses. Even if TESU does allow him to use one residency waiver for two separate graduations, he still needs to know what is missing and what to take long before they are done with his evaluation since he would need to apply to graduate by Oct 1. 

BJ, am I understanding you correctly that he would have until the end of October to complete and submit any of the missing courses? The TESU graduation deadline webpage https://www.tesu.edu/current-students/gr...nformation states all applications, fees, and official transcripts would need to be submitted by Oct. 1. So we were under the impression he only would have until about mid September to finish any missing courses in order to get official transcripts delivered in time. I don't even know if they will have his initial evaluation completed by mid September, so this was another concern as to the feasibility of completing these two degrees in time for December graduation.

We also just have to wait to hear back from TESU regarding whether paying one residency waiver will in fact cover two graduations in the same year, as davewill suggested may be possible. Fingers crossed!

And once again, thank you to all. Your suggestions and advice have been super helpful!