UMPI

[ss20ts]

Well, my first week at UMPI is coming to an end. All of my credits were transferred in so my transcripts at UMPI show 186 credits so it looks liek a credit bank. I still need to complete 30 credits at UMPI. I have a few more gen eds to complete at Sophia and InstantCert and will transfer those in. I am in the BLS Management Information Systems concentration program. This is a competency based program with 8 week terms which cost $1400 with no additional fees and all course material is included in each course so no buying or renting textbooks.

The application process was a bit slow. But I did apply the last week of July in hopes of starting with the August 31st term. It took time for all of my transcripts to be sent. One school still sends them via snail mail and takes 3 weeks to mail them.   They only have 1 person who deals with transcripts and she rotates between 2 UM campuses. COVID has made things take longer in general as many of the staff are working from home.

UMPI did not create their competency based learning program. It's all through a company named Sagence Learning. Each class is made up of a series of learning outcomes. Each learning outcome has concepts and ends with a quiz which you can take over and over. The quizzes do not count towards your final grade. Each course ends with a assessment which is multiple choice exam, project, or paper. Your final grade is completely determined by this final assessment. The papers are following APA 6 formatting.

The course titles in the online course don't necessarily match the course title in the campus and the descriptions don't match at all. It's a bit disappointing to be honest. I am bummed that I am not using the Microsoft Office 365 and Project like I expected. I complete my first class in less than 2 days and am now working on my assessment paper. 

You can enroll in 2 courses at a time which is good because I finished one course and it will take time to get the rough draft reviewed and make corrections then submit the final paper. In the meantime, I can start working on the other course. Once my paper is graded I can then ask for another course to be added by my advisor. That takes a full day to happen so you have to request it the day before you want it. It goes live overnight. You have to request Monday - Friday also. 

So far the course content is fairly simple, but I have had experience in courses with similar content in the past. These are also 100 level courses. I will adding a 200 level course next week hopefully. They don't require a lot of UL courses which is kind of nice. 

Each course has questions for you to think about with the readings and videos. Some you respond to in a discussion and others go into your learning journal which is like an electronic notebook. The discussions do not appear to be moderated. No one chats with each other.

We are assigned a professor for each course and can email them with questions. We can also submit our papers for a rough draft review before submitting the final version. I am interested to see how this works out. 

So that's my first week. Overall I am happy with the program. I will get over my disappointment and take some more LinkedIn Learning courses and maybe some Udemy courses to fill in where I feel like I'm missing out. Not a big deal as I would probably do that anyway. I now feel bored when I don't have classwork for a few days and get bored watching tv at night. Let me know if you have any UMPI questions. I will do my best to answer them. Oh I transferred here from CSU Global and can tell you about my experience there as well. I also have 2 associate degrees from community colleges from waaaaay back.

[ss20ts]

Just finished my second week. Things are going much smoother now that I have the hang of the system! I'm finalizing my first paper for my first class. I have completed the course content on one class. I'm 25% through a second course. My advisor has added a third class to my schedule. I still have 6 weeks left in the term and should be able to add a few more classes. I'm also working on a few Sophia courses to transfer over. Yes, you can transfer courses to UMPI even AFTER you're enrolled and actively taking classes.

Learned some things this week.....

The discussions and learning journal (an area in the course for note taking) are NOT required. The discussions aren't responded to and it doesn't look like anyone reads them anyway. The learning journal is basically your course notepad. I started keeping my notes in Word so I could organize and format them how I wanted.

You cannot finish a BLS or a BAS degree at UMPI and a second degree. Not even if you graduate and reapply. They are considered terminal degrees. I am in the BLS program which is a Bachelor of Liberal Studies. I'm not uber thrilled with this because I'm thinking IT jobs in the future. How many people outside of us and academia knows what a BLS is? You have a minor in the BLS degree. You can actually have multiple minors.

There is also a BA in Business Administration program which has concentrations. You can have multiple concentrations as well. With multiple minors and concentrations you do NOT need to complete 30 additional credits. If you do complete 2 degrees such as a BA in English and a BA in Business Administration, you will need to complete an additional 30 credits for the second degree.

I reached out to my academic coach, advisor, and one of my professors this week. All responded in a timely manner. My advisor even emailed me over the weekend and set up a phone meeting because emailing back and forth my questions wasn't working well. Some topics just work better over the phone. My professor responded within a day to my email. She answered all of my questions and checked back to make sure I understand what she was trying to communicate.

Overall, I am really enjoying UMPI. I like it far better than. CSU Global. One 8 week term at UMPI costs $1400. One 3 credit course at CSU was $1050 and it lasted 8 weeks. Every week we had to write a paper and cited discussions with responses. I soooooo do not miss that! I am enjoying working on my own pace.

[rachel83az]

You cannot finish a BLS or a BAS degree at UMPI and a second degree. Not even if you graduate and reapply. They are considered terminal degrees. I am in the BLS program which is a Bachelor of Liberal Studies. I'm not uber thrilled with this because I'm thinking IT jobs in the future. How many people outside of us and academia knows what a BLS is? You have a minor in the BLS degree. You can actually have multiple minors.

I could understand not being able to get a different degree and then getting a BLS (like TESU does). But not being able to get another degree after obtaining a BLS seems odd to me. A BLS is often considered by people to be the "easy" non-specific degree that you get when you have no ability to get a "real" degree. Note: this is NOT my opinion - it is simply something I have heard over the years from random sources. I know that you have to work just as hard for a BLS as for any other degree but not everyone else realizes this.

[ss20ts]

You cannot finish a BLS or a BAS degree at UMPI and a second degree. Not even if you graduate and reapply. They are considered terminal degrees. I am in the BLS program which is a Bachelor of Liberal Studies. I'm not uber thrilled with this because I'm thinking IT jobs in the future. How many people outside of us and academia knows what a BLS is? You have a minor in the BLS degree. You can actually have multiple minors.

I could understand not being able to get a different degree and then getting a BLS (like TESU does). But not being able to get another degree after obtaining a BLS seems odd to me. A BLS is often considered by people to be the "easy" non-specific degree that you get when you have no ability to get a "real" degree. Note: this is NOT my opinion - it is simply something I have heard over the years from random sources. I know that you have to work just as hard for a BLS as for any other degree but not everyone else realizes this.

UMPI considers BLS and BAS degrees to be terminal degrees. That's why you cannot complete another degree with them if you complete one of these degrees with them. Their program does have a required minor so it's not just an easy non specific degree. It's not just a random sampling of gen eds.

[Stoic]

You cannot finish a BLS or a BAS degree at UMPI and a second degree. Not even if you graduate and reapply. They are considered terminal degrees. I am in the BLS program which is a Bachelor of Liberal Studies. I'm not uber thrilled with this because I'm thinking IT jobs in the future. How many people outside of us and academia knows what a BLS is? You have a minor in the BLS degree. You can actually have multiple minors.

I could understand not being able to get a different degree and then getting a BLS (like TESU does). But not being able to get another degree after obtaining a BLS seems odd to me. A BLS is often considered by people to be the "easy" non-specific degree that you get when you have no ability to get a "real" degree. Note: this is NOT my opinion - it is simply something I have heard over the years from random sources. I know that you have to work just as hard for a BLS as for any other degree but not everyone else realizes this.

The people who think that way are mostly kids who have never actually worked, or stay at home moms and dads who never actually got a career going and they still think that the type of bachelors they get determines their worth in the market place.

No one, absolutely no one will give a flying you know what about your degree if you're already working and have some experience. They don't care if it's a BLS or BA, or BS etc. As a matter fact most companies will not even verify if you actually have one or not.

It's just a check in the box to get through a filter now in days. With that,  a BLS from a state school is totally fine. It doesn't matter.  Now, if those "degree elitist" were 18 years old and in competition to get into UPENN with dreams of landing some "elitist" position in Wall Street after graduation, then that's a different story. For them a BLS from a state school would be the opposite of what they need, since in that game it's all about the value of your initial credential early on to get through the hiring filters. But if you're like 30+ and you have been working for $15 dollars an hour for the past few years, then even a degree from UPENN won't make a difference in 2020 over a BLS from UMPI, just get anything and you'll see some improvements in your life. But at 30+ is all about your working experience and what you have done, you're not a kid anymore.

[ss20ts]

I have submitted my first paper to UMPI. Something nice they do is allow you to submit the paper as a draft and get feedback on it. Then you make your revisions and submit the final paper. Your entire grade for the course is based on this paper. If you fail the paper, you fail the course. If you get a 95, then you get an A in the course. So it's nice they give you feedback and let you know if you're on the right path and what you need to improve upon. I'll report back after my draft comes back. I'm working on my second class and 2 Sophia classes at the same time. Can't wait to finish English Comp II and Stats at Sophia so I can just focus on UMPI.

[a4tunatemom]

I have submitted my first paper to UMPI. Something nice they do is allow you to submit the paper as a draft and get feedback on it. Then you make your revisions and submit the final paper. Your entire grade for the course is based on this paper. If you fail the paper, you fail the course. If you get a 95, then you get an A in the course. So it's nice they give you feedback and let you know if you're on the right path and what you need to improve upon. I'll report back after my draft comes back. I'm working on my second class and 2 Sophia classes at the same time. Can't wait to finish English Comp II and Stats at Sophia so I can just focus on UMPI.

Will you please let me know how long the papers are expected to be?

[ss20ts]

I have submitted my first paper to UMPI. Something nice they do is allow you to submit the paper as a draft and get feedback on it. Then you make your revisions and submit the final paper. Your entire grade for the course is based on this paper. If you fail the paper, you fail the course. If you get a 95, then you get an A in the course. So it's nice they give you feedback and let you know if you're on the right path and what you need to improve upon. I'll report back after my draft comes back. I'm working on my second class and 2 Sophia classes at the same time. Can't wait to finish English Comp II and Stats at Sophia so I can just focus on UMPI.

Will you please let me know how long the papers are expected to be?

The paper length varies by class. Every class has a very different final assessment. So far the lengths for my classes are 11-16 pages and 15-20 pages. I have another class with a project as the final assessment. The project consists of a 2 page executive summary, an ERD model, an Access database, a series of SQL queries, and reports. This is the only paper you write for the entire class. Your final grade is the grade you receive on the final assessment. There aren't many classes which have a final exam. You must receive an 80 or higher on the final assessment to pass the class. If you fail an exam, you can take it over, but I think you need to talk to your advisor or coach first. I'm not sure what happens if you fail the paper/project since you get to submit it as a rough draft first.

[Teacherwannabe19]

I have submitted my first paper to UMPI. Something nice they do is allow you to submit the paper as a draft and get feedback on it. Then you make your revisions and submit the final paper. Your entire grade for the course is based on this paper. If you fail the paper, you fail the course. If you get a 95, then you get an A in the course. So it's nice they give you feedback and let you know if you're on the right path and what you need to improve upon. I'll report back after my draft comes back. I'm working on my second class and 2 Sophia classes at the same time. Can't wait to finish English Comp II and Stats at Sophia so I can just focus on UMPI.

Will you please let me know how long the papers are expected to be?

The paper length varies by class. Every class has a very different final assessment. So far the lengths for my classes are 11-16 pages and 15-20 pages. I have another class with a project as the final assessment. The project consists of a 2 page executive summary, an ERD model, an Access database, a series of SQL queries, and reports. This is the only paper you write for the entire class. Your final grade is the grade you receive on the final assessment. There aren't many classes which have a final exam. You must receive an 80 or higher on the final assessment to pass the class. If you fail an exam, you can take it over, but I think you need to talk to your advisor or coach first. I'm not sure what happens if you fail the paper/project since you get to submit it as a rough draft first.

What courses are you taking right now at UMPI? I start October 26th BLS in Educational Studies. Trying to figure out what UL courses to take.

[ss20ts]

I have submitted my first paper to UMPI. Something nice they do is allow you to submit the paper as a draft and get feedback on it. Then you make your revisions and submit the final paper. Your entire grade for the course is based on this paper. If you fail the paper, you fail the course. If you get a 95, then you get an A in the course. So it's nice they give you feedback and let you know if you're on the right path and what you need to improve upon. I'll report back after my draft comes back. I'm working on my second class and 2 Sophia classes at the same time. Can't wait to finish English Comp II and Stats at Sophia so I can just focus on UMPI.

Will you please let me know how long the papers are expected to be?

The paper length varies by class. Every class has a very different final assessment. So far the lengths for my classes are 11-16 pages and 15-20 pages. I have another class with a project as the final assessment. The project consists of a 2 page executive summary, an ERD model, an Access database, a series of SQL queries, and reports. This is the only paper you write for the entire class. Your final grade is the grade you receive on the final assessment. There aren't many classes which have a final exam. You must receive an 80 or higher on the final assessment to pass the class. If you fail an exam, you can take it over, but I think you need to talk to your advisor or coach first. I'm not sure what happens if you fail the paper/project since you get to submit it as a rough draft first.

What courses are you taking right now at UMPI? I start October 26th BLS in Educational Studies. Trying to figure out what UL courses to take.

I am finishing up BUS200 Intermediate Business Computing and working on BUS141 Introduction to Project Management with Microsoft Project and BUS345 Database Management Systems.