Degree plan help for COSC Public Safety Admin.

[DrJohn]

Hello, this is my first post on this forum, although I have visited the different topics over the past couple of weeks as I am preparing for my first CLEP exam. Please forgive the writing, as I am trying to pound this out using my iPads keyboard.

I have in enrolled in COSC in their B.S. degree program in Public Safety Administration. I have 45 hrs transferred into COSC and have met all my free electives. I'm missing my GenEd and the liberal arts requirements plus the course load for the concentration. My background is as a paramedic and now currently as a full time senior police officer.

The liberal arts requirements will largely be met thru all the GenEd requirements as well as some of the major course work. I have planned out nine (9) CLEP & DSST exams to meet the requirements I am missing. I have planned on taking the concentration courses thru COSC as it seems that they now require a minimum of 27 hrs be completed via COSC courses. The oral communication requirement is planned on being waived, I have prepared the packet to send to the provost for approval.

Can y'all look over this and give me some advise on if I have planned the right exams, I honestly am looking for the easier exams that I can knock out quickly so I can spend my time focused on the course work. My weak area in this whole thing will be the math requirement. Here is the list of exams in the order I am thinking of taking them in.

A&I lit -6hrs
American Govt - 3 hrs
College Comp -6
Intro to Criminal Justice (DSST) -3 hrs
Intro to world religions (DSST) -3 hrs
Astronomy (DSST) -3 hrs
Physical geology (DSST) -3 hrs
Human growth & Development -3 hrs
College Math - 6hrs ( put it to last because I am dreading this one)

[rebel100]

You and I share very similar backgrounds...,though I did police work first then later became a firefighter and paramedic. I now work as an Emergency Manager for a Hospital...a job I feel I landed, in part, as a result of attaining my COSC degree.

I considered both the Public Safety and Business Management tracks for my degree but I wound up pursuing a different course of study. Like you I needed 30 UL credits in a major. I was able to cobble together a dual major in Organizational Leadership and Health Care. The Org Leadership I fulfilled with business courses (many UL exams are available) and the Health Care I filed with my Paramedic coursework and a few UL courses. Remember that in the end COSC only confers Liberal Studies degree's, Your focus of study is only reflected in your transcript via the classes you take...the sheepskin will simply say "Bachelor of Science" or "Bachelor of Arts". If you step away from the Public Safety Degree you will really open up the possibility of using cheaper courses and credit by exam...I think this is something you should really consider. It sounds like you already have the work experience to support public safety....like me, you simply need a bachelors to move up. If your interested in pursuing this I can help you develop a more cost effective plan.

Your listed exams reflect a doable plan. I might approach the Math requirement differently. ALEKS...or Straighterline are perhaps more viable options....though the CLEP is a good choice too.

COSC accepts College Algebra from ALEKS which is self paced and $20/month. I would urge you to sign up, take the initial assesment, then find a tutor to help you through it....once your at 70% your done. Consider ALEKS Statistics too, some find it easier to bear than Algebra and it will satisfy the COSC Math requirement.

I managed to complete the Straighterline College Algebra with a "B" in 28 days....I would again recommend a tutor and just bust it out...don't let the Math beat you!

[rebel100]

They would likely let you complete a dual major Public Safety/Organizational Leadership. I believe it could be 18 UL credits in Org Leadership (Human resources, management, organizational behavior), 9 UL in Public Safety (COSC or other coursework) and 9 LL Public Safety (FEMA for free), and then 9 UL electives in anything of your choosing.

You would need to run it by an advisor, but I bet it would work....you could accelerate with Credit by Exam and self paced courses at CSU-Pueblo, LSU Independent Study, University of Idaho Independent study, etc...

You would speed up the process, reduce the cost, and still put Public Safety /Organizational Leadership on the resume.

[DrJohn]

Forgive my naivety in COSC degrees as well as a few other things such as ALEKS and Straighterline. Let me ask first, does your transcript for COSC show the concentration? As in would it read Bachelor of Science in Public Safety Admin.? Or would it only read as B.S. in Liberal Arts with no mention of the concentration? Leaving the reader to infer what you studied by looking at the courses you took?

I am also concerned about having a high GPA for Grad School purposes. on this same subject does COSC award honors like Cum Laude or Magna Cum Laude? I currently have a GPA of 3.05 based on transfered course work, I would like to raise the GPA to a 3.5 or higher by graduation.

I am not tied to a specific degree plan, although the time to change it might be soon. I start the Cornerstone course August 27th. I would be interested in at least hearing your alternative approach to a degree. I chose the PSA degree because it would look better on my resume for promotions versus a degree in History or English, although having a degree is the main thing.

Ok, on to the things that will make me look kinda foolish.....what is an ALEKS & what is Straighterline? I know about CLEP and I know about DSST exams, I know about GRE Subject exams and I am a member of IC as well as Petersons but I confess, for a guy who thought he knew a lot about non traditional education I am in the dark when it comes to those two terms.

Thanks for the help...

[DrJohn]

Can you walk me thru the process of doing that duel major? It sounds interesting and would look great on a resume when I compete for promotions.

As of right now all my free electives are met, I have 4 hrs towards the 60 hr Liberal Arts requirement. I transferred in 39 hrs from Rio Salado College from the Law Enforcement Technology program. The credits are listed on their website if you need to see a list of the course. My pilots license granted me another 6 hrs of credit. I sent in my scuba diver cert for 1 hr but that isn't listed yet. I'm also trying to get an ACE Military program for 5 hrs added to the credits but so far they have not added it. I have heard it would show as elective credit only, so it may not be beneficial for me.

I'm planning on taking A&I Lit by the first week of August and then take American Govt by the end of Aug were I will start the Cornerstone Course. I then plan to take the College Comp exam right after to get it knocked out of the way. From there I guess I will play it by ear & knock the rest out.

Let me know of this helps you out in planning what I should do, as always I greatly appreciate the help. Sometimes this process can make you realize how much you don't know, that is where I am at now.

[rebel100]

ALEKS is self paced math instruction that the big 3 all award credit for (specific classes). You pay $20/month and take assessments/ work on learning math until you reach 70%....then your done, send it to ACE and record the credit. If your good at Math, or just determined to get through it it can be a great way to earn the required credit cheaply...with a tutor I think anyone should be able to get it done quickly! ALEKS Course Products You will need College Algebra or Statistics at a minimal.

Straighterline is self paced education that is also accepted by all of the Big3 and several other colleges. It's all lower level, but there are some courses to consider like College Algebra (instead of ALEKS) and English Comp 1 and 2. Aleks is $99/month (recurring) plus $40 per course (once per course) I did my math this way in 28 days....$138 for three credits...good deal. Online College Courses - Take College Courses Through Our Distance Learning Courses - StraighterLine

The only official GPA will be for courses you take at COSC...cornerstone and capstone. But my transcript reflects an overall GPA. They show the grade for Straighlerline and a few older DSST's and all transfer work. ALEKS and most exams are Pass/fail only.

[rebel100]

The dual Major was recommended to me by Terrel Adgers at COSC, it was supported throughout my CPS. You will write up the degree paln including the courses you want to take and where they are coming from in the cornerstone course as you develop your individual CPS (concentration plan of study).

In general you will need to justify in writing why you are pursuing the major or dual major and how your going to apply it. They really just want to be sure you have thought it out and have a reasonable plan to finish...it's not all that complicated. There are a few general guidelines:

30 hours at the Upper Level will be required. 3 will come from your Capstone course and that will also apply to at least one of your majors.

If you seek a dual major you will need 30 credits (I think) in each mixture of Upper and lower level.

You will need 18 UL credits in one concentration, 9 (I think) in the other, with 9 possible as UL electives.

So for example, my Organizational Leadership concentration included lower level business courses like marketing (3), management (3), economics (3), and 18 UL course like Organizational Theory (3) taken at CSU-Pueblo via distance, Human resource management UL (3), and Advertising.

My second concentration was Health Care so I used all the credits from Paramedic for LL, and added 9 UL credits from CSU-Publo Health Care Ethics (satisfied both ethics requirement and concentration UL), Health Aging and Society, and some other course...I forget now what it was.

For you you already have all that LL Public Service/Health/Criminal Justice Credit....add 9-18 credits there for one concentration then 9-18 in Organizational Leadership which can include a bunch of business credits available via exam or cheaply at some other school via distance and your there.

[rebel100]

PM me your e-mail and I will try and dig up my CPS so you can see it.

You can make this easier on yourself if you choose. Who do you have for cornerstone? I still chat back and forth with my instructor from that course, it was a great class and I became a better more focused student by taking it.

[rebel100]

Here are two courses that are self paced and around $300 that could be applied as UL in the Organizational Leadership Concentration (you need to verify of course, but I'm pretty certain) Political Science-Independent Study in Idaho-University of Idaho look at the 300 and 400 level courses.

CSU Pueblo has UL courses for around $500/course....much cheaper than COSC Colorado State University-Pueblo > Sociology look at all the UL CJ offerings. I completed 6 courses at CSU-Pueblo in my ambulance between calls while working 24 hour shifts. COSC worked out a consortium agreement and I was able to apply my financial aid to these courses. My employer was quick to provide tuition assistance for these classes too...they won't for CLEP/DSST.

Just some ideas for you...

[DrJohn]

Thanks for the information, lots to digest. I need to re-read all that info. I'm sending you a PM with my email address. You never touched on the question I asked about the COSC transcripts and what they actually read. Would be interested in knowing more, either way, I'm kinda locked into COSC now.....the wife would shoot me if I even considered changing schools at this point in the game.....money has already been spent!

I'm paying out of pocket, I don't want to go down the path of Federal student loans, too much to worry about. Been thru that once, not doing it again. Have a friend who has $150,000 in student loans not counting interest for his Undergrad & his Masters degree. He went to St Edwards University in Austin Texas, a small private college.

Not worth the $100,000 for a bachelors degree in my opinion. Outside of Austin and the central Texas area, I'm not sure how well known St Edwards University is, it certainly doesn't have the name recognition of say The Univerity of Texas at Austin, or Texas A&M University or maybe ..... Charter Oak State College...lol.