University of Wisconsin has a self-paced, competency-based program

[bjcheung77]

@Claudia P, in your shoes, you have 35 RA from other sources and 45 RA with UMPI, that gives you 80 credits. Generally, most schools will only require the last 30 credits for calculation on GPA and to verify you have completed the prerequisites. If you're going into Law or something selective, they would look at the final 60 credits, you've reached over those 60 RA credits, the threshold isn't all that important either as they need to look at your entire application package. Again, most schools know about the CLEP/DSST, it's the ACE/NCCRS credits that they will look at and critique...

[Claudia P]

@Claudia P, in your shoes, you have 35 RA from other sources and 45 RA with UMPI, that gives you 80 credits.  Generally, most schools will only require the last 30 credits for calculation on GPA and to verify you have completed the prerequisites.  If you're going into Law or something selective, they would look at the final 60 credits, you've reached over those 60 RA credits, the threshold isn't all that important either as they need to look at your entire application package.  Again, most schools know about the CLEP/DSST, it's the ACE/NCCRS credits that they will look at and critique...

Good to know.  Thanks BJCheung77.

[RbxFunRocks]

Considering enrolling in the Health Sciences program beginning in September.

I asked the enrollment advisor about degree requirements (upper division courses, required classes, etc). I wasn't able to get specifics

I looked at the on-campus version of the degree to get an idea of how things might be. That degree program requires 27 upper division credits and 27 more lower division (on top of electives + gen eds, which I'd probably fulfill anyways). I know flex programs like these sometimes have different requirements, so I'm not sure if I should really expect that or not.

I'll probably just apply and see what happens. I really hope it's doable in 1 term. Reviews of the school really don't get my hopes up. I'll just apply & see what happens


Attached is the list of classes I was sent.

[bjcheung77]

@RbxFunRocks, with enough RA credits, you can transfer in the max of two years into this four year degree. You've got a few Bachelors degrees completed in 2022, is there a specific reason for this degree here? I looked at this one and it does seem interesting, I see it as the RA equivalent to the NA option from Beal (who apparently has an articulation agreement with UMPI, and an agreement with a Canadian institution for Nursing)...

[RbxFunRocks]

Got accepted for the September term! I've been looking around the website to learn more about the specifics of the Health Sciences program.

Coursework
Beyond general education requirements, there are 14 required classes for the major:

Lower Division Coursework

• HS 102X: Healthcare Delivery in the US
  
• BMS 205X: Introduction to Diagnostic Medicine
  
• BMS 245X: Client Diversity in the Health Professions
  
• CGS MAT 215X: Statistics (or equivalent)
  
• ENGLISH 206X: Technical Writing, OR ENGLISH 207X: Health Science Writing
  
• HCA 220X: Leading Healthcare Professional
  
• BMS 260X: Introduction to Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  
• TherRec 202X: Disability, Society, and the Person
  

Even though the degree requirements can be met with either Technical Writing or Health Science Writing, only Technical Writing seems to be available.

Upper Division Coursework

• BMS 314X: Human Pathophysiology I
  
• KIN 400X: Ethics and Values in the Health and Fitness Profession
  
• HS 311X: Law for Healthcare Professionals
  
• BMS 434X: Professional Development in the Health Professions
  
• BMS 433X: Teamwork in the Health Professions
  
• THERREC 303X: Inclusive Disability
  

In my situation, I transferred in Statistics. This leaves me with 13 classes left, personally.

Besides the one exception mentioned just now, all classes are available. This means that at least in theory, it should be possible to complete the entire program in a single term (whether or not this is actually feasible, I'm still unsure of).

Other Notes
Unlike UMPI, you can actually scroll through all of the available classes through the class search. It looks like you manually sign up for the classes you want (also unlike UMPI).

Almost all of my classes from previous universities were accepted as transfer credits. The one exception is the graduate-level class I look at TAMUC during the Winter Mini term (doesn't show up anywhere in the website or my transcript). The transfer credits are capped at 90.

After getting accepted, I received an email with an activation code. Every time I tried entering the code into the activation website I was sent, I kept getting an error message telling me that my session had timed out. I was able to fix this by opening the page in Microsoft Edge (I was originally trying in Chrome).

Curious to see how this program goes. I'll be sure to document my experiences here!

[rachel83az]

Ooh, looking forward to seeing how this compares to UMPI in terms of speed, promptness of grading, etc.

[RbxFunRocks]

Bit of an update on what's happened with the program so far.

Orientation
All students who enter a UW Flex program have to complete an orientation on Canvas. It's basically a handful of lessons explaining what Competency-Based Education (CBE) is and other important school-specific information.

At the end, there is a quiz you have to do. Also, don't forget the closing survey (it didn't count as complete for me until I submitted my survey).

All students have to have a call with a success coach in order to begin signing up for classes. I have my phone call with mine on Monday (and I'll be sure to update after). During the call, I will be required to make a four-term Academic Plan of Study (APS) with her.

I was emailed an Excel sheet with the requirements for the Health Sciences major. Interestingly, I didn't see Statistics or Technical/Health Science Writing mentioned anywhere. From the document I was sent, it appears I'll only have to take 12 classes. I've attached the spreadsheet to this reply w/ personal info censored.

PR Grade
One of the most interesting parts of the program I learned about in orientation is the unique "PR" grade AKA In Progress. Unlike UMPI, UW Flex lets you carry over course progress between subscription periods. PR is a placeholder grade that doesn't have a negative impact on your GPA. As long as you make enough progress in a class when the subscription period ends, you are able to continue it anytime within 1 year of initial enrollment. It should also be noted that you have a limited number of attempts for each course.

Honestly, I like this system because it means you don't have to rush through a course in the last couple weeks just to avoid failing.

Other Notes
It isn't exactly clear if I will be able to sign up for classes entirely on my own or if I need to reach out to the success coach for each one (in a similar way to UMPI).

I should have a more clear picture of the Health Sciences degree program (and of UW Flex in general) after the phone meeting. Classes start on September 5th!

[RbxFunRocks]

Okay, so I finished my call with the success coach earlier today. Here's what I learned.

The Call
The call went how you'd expect. From asking questions, I learned a bit more about the program. Here are some highlights:

• Most students complete 2-3 classes per subscription period. Some have even managed to get to 6.
  
• One of the hardest classes is Law for Health Care Consumers & Professionals.
  
• One of the most popular classes to start off is Human Pathophysiology I, ironically an upper-division course. It's popular because it has less assessments than other classes & has an easy-to-follow structure.
  
• Teachers return your work in about 3 - 4 days on average.
  

I am currently working on my 4 Term Plan. I have the opportunity to choose whichever classes I want to begin with (minus one of them, which has a prerequisite). You can work faster than the plan, but you do have to update it to account for any changes. The plan is not binding. I have to contact the success coach each time I add a new class.

Certificate - HEALTH CARE INFORMATICS
From the follow-up email to the call, I was encouraged to look into the Health Care Informatics certificate.

Link - https://flex.wisconsin.edu/degrees-programs/health-care-informatics/#curriculum

This certificate has 6 classes, only 2 of which are part of the degree program. I probably won't do it for that reason. Still, it seems like an interesting credential to have if anyone wants to add it to their resume.

Syllabi
I was sent each course syllabus for my major's required classes. I won't upload them all since that would clutter the post (just putting one). Here are the number of assessments for each Health Sciences course.

• Introduction to Diagnostic Medicine - 6
  
• Leading Healthcare Professionals - 6
  
• Healthcare Delivery in the United States - 7
  
• Introduction to Complementary and Alternative Medicine - 5
  
• Disability: Society and the Person - 5
  
• Inclusive and Disability Programs in the Community - 6
  
• Human Pathophysiology I - 4
  
• Ethics and Values in the Health and Fitness Professions - 6
  
• Law for Health Care Consumers and Professionals - 7
  
• Teamwork in the Health Professions - 4
  
• Professional Development in the Health Professions - 9
  
• Introduction to Client Diversity for the Health Professions - 4
  

This puts the total number of assessments at 69.

The syllabus I've uploaded is for Human Pathophysiology I. I'm open to sending the others to anyone interested.

Other Notes
Since a session is 84 days long (12 weeks), someone should be able to complete the degree in one term if they were to average 0.82 assignments per day. If you were to complete one assignment per day, you would have 15 days remaining in the term. Now we just have to see if I'm able to advance through the courses while waiting for teacher feedback (which will make a huge difference).

There is a payment plan that lets you pay the $2,250 tuition in two installments.

Well, I'm off to work on that 4 Term Plan now!

[bjcheung77]

That's a pretty good deal for this degree... I guess it'll be close to $4500/term flat for a RA Health Sciences degree. Hopefully you can be the guinea pig to see if that is possible or not, but even if you have to go a second term, it's a very good degree for the price! I would use the 15 day buffer just to make sure everything is done...

[RbxFunRocks]

I've taken a look at the syllabi and it appears there are 2 required book readings. One class requires reading through a 288-page book. The other class lets you choose between either a 381-page or 368-page book. Of course, I've yet to figure out how much of these I'll actually have to read. Guess I'll just have to plan/order them ahead of time and figure it out later.