This Leadership Course is Torture

[sanantone]

Some of you might know that I don't have a high opinion of leadership programs. This thread is not to disparage those who find the topic interesting enough to get a whole degree in it. This is just a rant. In order to be a full-time research assistant, I need to be a full-time student, meaning that I have to take 9 credit hours per semester. I want to get my required courses out of the way as soon as possible because I don't know when they'll be offered again. Only two required courses I haven't taken yet were offered this semester, so I had to choose an elective as a third course. The only two options I had were environmental criminology and leadership and management. I wasn't excited about either of those, but a professor encouraged me to take environmental criminology because the professor teaching it is world-renowned in the field. Honestly, the subject matter doesn't sound so bad in comparison to leadership and management. However, environmental criminology was being taught on the day of one of my required courses, so I had to choose leadership and management.

One would think that someone who is interested in psychology would enjoy this course, but it's soooo boring. My professor is funny, but there is only so much you can do to make this subject interesting. I even hated organizational behavior when I took it at a community college. This course is basically organizational behavior at an advanced level. I can't wait until this semester is over.

On a similar note, I am angry that this university advertises GIS and information technology courses in the criminal justice program, but they have no one who is qualified to teach them.

[mrs.b]

I finished my undergrad in HR with a personal vow that I would never again take another HR-like course. And, leadership applies. I am convinced that Organizational Theory was my own personal hell. I cannot imagine it at a graduate level. It's part of what led me to my final decision to put a fork in the road and go the Accounting route longer-term; numbers have always been my "thing," and I need not worry about the emotional well-being of the figures I'm manipulating, nor whether they feel motivated to cooperate. I like numbers, but the more I delved into the subject matter of leadership/HR/org mgmt., the more I realized my time in the field is limited. (I do office mgmt., where most of my day-to-day is acct anyway...HR is just a tiny fraction and I'm actively working to make it less!)

Some of your 'gruntle might also have to do with the fact that you're taking a 3rd-string course on your wish list (it wasn't even on the wish list). Have you voiced your complaint about the false advertisement? Maybe they had someone they once had access to that they could point you to for an online course? Maybe you could make a case for accepting a transferred course of something you really want? (I doubt it, but never hurts to ask!)

[sanantone]

The doctoral program coordinator said he doesn't know why they designed those information technology courses when they had no one to teach them. It might sound weird to have information technology in a criminal justice program, but GIS is used in crime mapping, and one course covered information security. GIS is a valuable skill I wanted to learn. They should definitely remove them from the catalog.

They'll accept up to 6 transfer credits from a regionally accredited school. I was even encouraged to look at other departments at Texas State University and University of Texas. They'll take anything that is semi-related to criminal justice such as psychology, sociology, social work, education, political science, and even geography depending on the subject matter. The problem is that Texas State University doesn't have many doctoral programs, so they don't have many doctoral courses to choose from in other departments. I don't want to deal with the Austin traffic to travel to University of Texas. I already took one independent study course, so I only have one left. We're allowed two of those to count toward the degree. I'm saving that for the summer when there are hardly any options. I might try to find something online for next summer. I'm taking all required courses in the spring.

[jallen]

Hang in there my brother took crime mapping in his criminal justice program as well and didn't have anything positive to say about it. His
instructor was foreign which didn't help either.

[sanantone]

Thanks. I'm not really interested in crime mapping, but at least it's a marketable skill. The leadership and management course doesn't really serve a purpose for me. It's more helpful for people wanting to do research in that area or future criminal justice administrators.

[soliloquy]

I feel your pain. I just finished a course in contract management and it was a total snooze fest. I can barely think of anything more boring than the UCC and FAR. Ugh! I thought there was a possibility that I could work in contract administration at a corporate level. I know the material well enough but I don't know if I could stay awake to do that job.

[sanantone]

I feel your pain. I just finished a course in contract management and it was a total snooze fest. I can barely think of anything more boring than the UCC and FAR. Ugh! I thought there was a possibility that I could work in contract administration at a corporate level. I know the material well enough but I don't know if I could stay awake to do that job.

At least you now know that is not a career for you. I now know that human resources is not a career for me.

[UptonSinclair]

I learned a long time ago that I am much better at followership than leadership. I hate telling people what to do.

[sanantone]

I love telling people what to do.

[Johann]

I love telling people what to do.

So do I - but they never do it!

Johann